93 Escort 1.9L Will not heat up?

[seand43]

Hey Guys
Just thought I would throw this one out there. My 93 Escort will not heat up. After 15 min the temp gauge is just above cold. It almost never goes into the normal range. Now before you all say it's the thermostat, I have changed 3 in a row to try and get it to heat up. I don't know what the probability is on 3 new thermostats being bad but I'm sure it's not good. It is definitely not faulty indications because no heat comes out of the heater in the winter. The rad is full and the water pump is working? Any ideas?

[BroncoJoe19]

Ideas:
Faulty temp guage, or sender, and clogged heater core or faulty blend door.

Check the heater guage by grounding it out. It should go to HOT.

[seand43]

I will try that but do you mean the temp gauge?

[Cuda_Jim]

Do both heater hoses feel the same temp? Caution may be hot.

[BroncoJoe19]

yes I meant temp guage.

[seand43]

All these idea are good but the car is away for now so I can' t post what I found, but I will.

[Ford Man 59]

Some models of Escorts have a wax pellet inside the thermostat housing where melts and allows the coolant to by pass the thermostat if it ever overheats. If the '93's had this it's possible the wax pellet has melted allowing the coolant to by pass and never reaching it's maximum temperature. I know all the 3rd generation Escorts have this, but I don't know whether the 2nd generations did or not. I think it would be worth checking into before spending lots of money on other things. If it has the wax pellet in it and it's not melted the housing will rattle when you shake it.

[Intuit]

Originally Posted by Ford Man 59

Some models of Escorts have a wax pellet inside the thermostat housing where melts and allows the coolant to by pass the thermostat if it ever overheats. If the '93's had this it's possible the wax pellet has melted allowing the coolant to by pass and never reaching it's maximum temperature. I know all the 3rd generation Escorts have this, but I don't know whether the 2nd generations did or not. I think it would be worth checking into before spending lots of money on other things. If it has the wax pellet in it and it's not melted the housing will rattle when you shake it.

Seconding FordMan59. I have a '94 LX that doesn't heat up and know for a fact that it is the prophylactic thermostat bypass valve. This valve gradually opened even though the vehicle wasn't overheating. I've intentionally not replaced the special "Water Outlet" (part name used in stores) due to the headgasket, thermal-expansion failure issues related to aluminum head on iron block. Reduced heat-cycling ranges results in less thermal expansion and contraction. Should translate into longer lifetime for the headgasket.