Questions and Answers

Prizm Leaves Her Cold Q. My car is a 1990 Geo Prizm, automatic transmission, 123,000 miles, fuel injection, four cylinder. Recently I replaced the radiator. Soon after I discovered my heat was not working properly, not getting any heat in the car. Thought it might be the thermostat, which I also replaced.

Still no heat. Now I am thinking of trying to flush out the heater core. Any suggestions?

Rose

A. I don't believe the heater core suddenly became clogged by replacing the radiator. I believe it's an air bubble trapped in the core that is keeping you from getting any heat.

I would suggest taking off the radiator cap and letting the engine run until it gets hot. Put the temperature selector on the heater control to full hot and blower off while it is running. This will bleed of any air trapped inside the heater core.

Once it has been running for a while, top off the radiator and fill the reserve bottle up past the MAX line. Put the radiator cap back on and let the engine cool off. As it cools it will draw coolant in from the reserve tank and insure no air can get back into the system. By this time it should be giving you good heat.

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