1964 Econoline/Falcon van heater valve trouble

Hello,

My dad has a '64 Falcon Van with the original floor box heater. A couple of years ago I found and NOS heater valve and it's installed. I recently had the heater core flushed, checked for leaks and repaired by a great radiator shop. Hot water is getting to the valve but will not go through. I disconnected the valve and flushed cold water through the core but hot antifreeze will not go through. The core doesn't get warm at all.

I installed a rear heater and it is working great so I know there is plenty of flow through the block and intake lines. Has anyone experienced this problem before? Is it possible that the valve gets hot and swells shut? Are there any other cores that will fit the floor box heater to replace the valve? I am thinking about having another core with an inlet and outlet soldered into place to bypass the valve altogether.

I am just wondering what solutions others have or what suggestions you may have. Thank you in advance.

Scott

The rear heater was installed after every attempt at getting the front heater to work. The hose going to the valve gets very hot but the core does not. I am stumped. I would love to eliminate the valve but the core would have to be modified to include an inlet tube.

We put in a new thermostat. It is working great. The rear heater is blowing real hot now. The hose running out to the heater valve gets almost too hot to touch but it stops at the valve. The weird thing is that cold water ran through just fine. If I unhook the front heat and bypass it the hose get hot all the way back to the water pump return hose. Everything is flowing fine except hot water through that valve. Has this happened to anyone else? Are those valves available anywhere?

Yeah, that is why I posted to see what others have done. The valve and the inlet tube are one part and bolted to the core. It would be great is another core would drop into place until I can figure out what is going on with the valve or find a replacement.

This is probably gonna sound stupid but you may have the hoses reversed running to the heater core. I read a thread in the past where somebody said it made a difference. You would think it wouldnt but they said it did. The heater control you soldered to it may have a one way check valve in it or something. As far as substitute cores,a Granada one fits in the box but you have to install an inline valve under the floor since theres no place on it for the Econo valve to fit. 65-67 Econos used this type of valve under the floor with the underdash heater.

My dad was going to reverse the hoses to see if it made a difference but I don't know if he's done that yet. The heater control isn't soldered into place, it is only bolted. The weird thing is that I was able to run cold water in both directions. What year Granada core fits the box?

Thank you!

You know, I wondered about this... my 64 Ford had a heater core with no regulator on it, and I found one that did. Now with the 65, I understand what that separate valve is. I have seen them for sale on eBay and also listed at Mac's. I must have had a Granada core with no control, didn't realize I could just use a later coolant valve. Cool.

It is very difficult to burp the coolant system! Try having the front wheels elevated as high as you can and letting the engine run at a few extra rpm to try to get the pump to purge the air from the front heater core! That's quite a common problem, a lot of trial and error when I flushed my cooling system after removing my head for some work.

Not sure what year Granada but I know several people have stated it works.

We had the van elevated in front as high as we could get it and ran it at a high RPM to push the coolant. I wondered if his radiator cap wasn't rated at a high enough pressure to equalize the entire system. I think it is 13 LBS.

I would love to get a Granada core without a valve and see if he gets heat, then I will know it is the valve malfunctioning.

Hey Tim, did you get that Chevy V8 doghouse installed that I sold you?

Thanks.

Scott

13lb rad cap sounds right. No, getting all the air into the rad is the tricky part, even though it's the highest point in the system. It may also have something to do with which pipe is supposed to be the heater core inlet, like Tim suggests. So maybe try swapping the hoses and burping the system again.

I just removed the heater from my 65, and put a copper plumbing elbow in it's place so I can continue working on my engine... at least you would easily detect heat from the hoses while you figure out what's up with your core if you have to go that far. Then you can check out your core on the bench.

I just checked a couple of part sites and it looks there are 2 types of Granada cores. Hopefully someone can chime in with the correct one. I guess I could order both and return the wrong one.

The current core and valve work great on the bench. We just need to get them working in the van.

I don't quite follow that one, sorry.

If it flows on the bench (like when you flushed it out), it will flow in the van... they are just super stubborn to burp. Do what Donivan says... on the bench, I would try to force water through the core in either direction to test whether the valve will close by itself when flow is backwards... but that doesn't make sense to me, they aren't that high-tech.

When I did mine, I would keep topping up the rad while the engine ran, and right at the point where I thought it might be full, it was like all of a sudden the level would drop (as air from the heater core was circulating (burping) into the rad). That's when I knew. I did it like I explained with the wheels elevated, never let the engine warm up too much to make the coolant expand and bubble out the filler neck (maybe 5 minutes at a time, every hour?). Literally took me 2-3 hours of doing that before I had purged the air from the front heater core. PITA, but necessary.

I had the front end elevated but wouldn't it be better to rear so the core was lower than the opening on the radiator? Air bubbles move up not down.

Never thought of that Donivan!

I think with elevating the front of the van, the first thing that happens is that the water passages in the block and head fill and circulate. This is also where the heater hoses come off is at the high point of the engine. Without the block being full, coolant will just slosh back and forth through the lower rad hose and the engine will overheat... and never be able to push the little available coolant through the heater core... it would just slosh around too.

Maybe it's because the top of the radiator is almost even with the top of the engine where the heater hoses come off, and the radiator must be the highest point in the system in order to trap all the air in the system.

Okay, so swapping the hoses didn't fix the problem, however just like when we first hooked up the core there was warmth for a short time and then nothing. It was like something swelled shut or like Donivan said, under pressure the valve somehow closes. Apparently my dad cast some sort of gasket to go between the core and the valve out of a flexible latex material. He now thinks that something in that material may be causing the issue and cutting flow. He is working on a replacement core to test tomorrow. I will keep you all posted.

Good luck! I took apart my heater and found that my core is mashed, so I guess I found my leak! Arrgh! Plus the rust inside the housing! I was thinking it wasn't going to take very long to get the 65 on the road!