Hello all,

Looking for anyone that can help me to diagnose a problem with the heater in my 1998 SL2.

Symptoms - no heat (or very little heat) and a regular (every 20 seconds) clunking sound. The clunking sound occurs only when the mode selector is set to outside air (not recirculate) and the blower works well in both modes.

The temperature gauge shows the needle at about 1/3 scale (normal, as far as I can remember) and I''ve just had the engine coolant flushed and refilled (3rd party, not Saturn service).

The A/C seems to work well and the engine seems to warm-up in a reasonable amount of time.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!
Patrick

 

So, I am assuming from reading your posting, that if you set the heater to max, and select recirculate, that your ''clunking'' sound disappears ???

 

Yes, that''s correct. Blower speed is not an issue; the clunking happens at any speed as long as the mode is not recirculate.

 

Well, from what you relate in your message, I suspect that the clunking sound is the sound of the recirculating door opening and closing.


It appears that something has happened in the wiring going to the FRESH/RECIRC switch (or possibly the switch itself) that is causing the door motor to constantly run.


Now, as far as the heater itself ... could be one of two things: a blocked/restricted flow of water through the heater core, or the cable that opens and closes the heater valve has come loose. When was the last time you had your coolant system flushed and cleaned?

 

Cooling system was flushed and refilled about a month ago. The control lever for temperature seems to be connected. (it''s not loose and has normal resistance when sliding from cold to host and back) The fresh/recirc switch seems to be functioning correctly as I can hear a change in the airflow when changing from fresh to recirc and back.

Just had a friend look at the car and he noticed a lot of foam in the coolant reservoir and suggested that the flush/refill was done improperly. Is there a way that I can resolve this problem without taking it to get flushed/refilled again?

Thanks for the help...

 

Short answer here - nope.


If it was a dealer, I would be on the phone to Saturn. If it was an after-market service bay, I would be in their face immediately