re: no heat in a 4kq

[C1J1Miller@aol.com]

This time of year, when you first start needing heat, a typical problem in a
4kq (and probably others) is that heat output is slight or reduced when the
control lever is pushed fully to hot.

Open the hood and find the metal cable leading to the valve controling flow
through the heater core; it is under the coil area/rear center firewall on the
4kq, in one of two coolant hoses entering the firewall.  The control valve
gets dirty and may work better if cleaned and lubed.  The control cable outer
casing is held down by a clip.  Turn the heat to fully on, and check the
position of the valve lever, then try fully cold and check again.  Likely, the
valve lever doesn't get to the plastic stop, and is limiting the flow of hot
coolant into the car.
Easy fix:  remove the clip, reposition the wire to allow the valve to open
fully, reattach the clip.  The clip is difficult to snap shut; I've used
needle nose pliers and fingers with success.  You may need to readjust the
cable in the spring to allow the coolant flow to be fully shut off... or, you
could change the valve and cable to get proper function back.
HTH, Chris Miller, Windham NH, c1j1miller@aol.com
former '86 4000csq
'91 200q ==> http://members.aol.com/c1j1miller/index.html