Vintage Air heater control valve not working?

[aussietony]

Ive fitted a gen4 system to my 69 with a ls1 in it. The cooling side works brilliantly but the heater side doesnt get very warm at all. Ive tried swapping the hoses on the water pump but got no change. There is power to the tap. And the earth is ok. Anyone have any advice?

[dontlifttoshift]

Did you retrofit the stock controls with the slide potentiometers? Did you program the ecm after you did that?

Is the engine up to temperature. LS1 should idle all day at 195 and should make real good heat at that temp.

The small hose on the water pump is the hot side and that is the one that should have the control valve in line. The larger fitting is the return. There is an arrow cast into the control valve itself, desregard cast in arrow, the valve should be installed opposite of that.

[aussietony]

Hi donny,
In answer to your questions ,
Slide controls to original, yes
Reprogram the unit, yes
Engine up to temp as I took it for a drive,
I will double check my hoses are set up correctly. Tell me Donny does it matter which pipe is which going into the unit? After the heater tap.

[dontlifttoshift]

I don't believe it matters but VinAir shows it a specific way in the instructions...I think hot side is the top fitting on the unit, which is opposite from early, stock GM stuff.

Also, if you turn the heater on, is the AC clutch engaged. If engine is up to temp the only thing that would cause cold air is the AC running. Maybe a glitch in the programming or possible a bad slide control.

[sjaroslo]

There is an arrow cast into the control valve itself, disregard cast in arrow, the valve should be installed opposite of that.

Donny, do you have something to support this? I don't think that I've heard this before anywhere.... Thanks.

[dontlifttoshift]

Yeah, its in the instructions and the heater valves ship with a sticker on them with a new arrow pointing the other way. This is for GENIV units, GENII installs follow the arrow.

[sjaroslo]

OK, must have missed that in my kit, but I haven't looked at it in a while, plus I've had it sitting around for a while, as well. Thanks, I'll check it out.

[aussietony]

Did you retrofit the stock controls with the slide potentiometers? Did you program the ecm after you did that?

Is the engine up to temperature. LS1 should idle all day at 195 and should make real good heat at that temp.

The small hose on the water pump is the hot side and that is the one that should have the control valve in line. The larger fitting is the return. There is an arrow cast into the control valve itself, desregard cast in arrow, the valve should be installed opposite of that.

Hi Donny,
I got a chance to check the heater lines and it turns out i had the hoses setup incorrect. Fixed that and ran the car but the heater still only gets luke warm. Do you think i might have a faulty valve?

[dontlifttoshift]

Do you have an infrared temperature gun? Check hose temperatures before and after the valve and then after the heater core. See if the valve is opening with your temp readings.

The GENIV system uses a blend door between the heater and evaporator cores. Does your mode switch and fan switch work properly? Just wondering if programming was done correctly on the slide potentiometers.

[aussietony]

Thanks Donny,
Ive got hold of a temp gun today im planning on checking it out tomorrow. i am alsoi going to try reprogramming the unit again.
I appreciate your help with this mate.

[aussietony]

Hi guys just an update on my lack of heating. What I found was the thermostat was stuck internally in a position that it wouldn't let hot enough water flow thru the heater core. I replaced the thermostat and its now toasty and warm.. Thanks to everyone for the help and advice.

[Classic Nova & Performance]

Great advice Donny. Hadn't had time to get on the site for a while, so trying to get back up to speed.