no wonder my car ran hot... Options

[stecz]

I've been having trouble with my '73 2.0 running hot... while I was under it I realized that one of the heat exchangers doesn't have the heater hose attached, so it just allows air to escape. I temporarily plugged the hole and low and behold it now doesn't run as hot (210 after 30 minutes of 80mph highway) and it cools down quickly when I slow down.


moral of the story... check the stinkin' obvious...

[Dave_Darling]

Aaahndy, he's talking about the ones down underneath, at the bottom of the fan shroud. The engine cooling fan does indeed push air into the heat exchangers at all times. When the flapper valves are closed, this air (by now hot) gets dumped out underneath the engine. While it is not a ton of air, it is indeed some. Pull up on the heater lever, and stop just before the fan comes on. You'll find that some hot air does come out of the vents. Also, all 73-74 914s came with the passenger's side J-tube blocked (just where your illustration shows, but on the passenger's side). The pax can actually get some heat in those cars, which also shows that the engine cooling fan does move some air through the exchangers.

I doubt it's enough for its lack to cause overheating. But if you have no heat exchangers, it's a good idea to plug up the holes in the bottom of the fan shroud anyway.

--DD