2008 Uplander Heat Problem?
February 14th, 2016, 8:05 AM
#81
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It's not a head gasket!!!!!!
[QUOTE=Addison;87464]Hello, and thanks for the reply!
I also found that post on another forum while doing searches... no, it isn't me. I only posted the question one other time at 2carpros.com, and it was pretty much identical to the post I made here.
Doing searches, I found several other people with similar problems... and, to be honest, it's a bit disconcerting.
The engine temp seems to be normal... it peaks at a hair above the 50% mark. It does seem as though the vehicle takes forever to warm up, as I've left it running for 30 minutes and the temp gauge never seemed to get past the 30% mark. It will eventually reach normal levels, but only after driving it.
Now that the weather is a tad warmer, the problem is definitely harder to identify, and seemed to disappear completely once again the other night.
It's frustrating.
We were in contact with the dealership again, and they think they might have a fix for the problem this time... a new head gasket and bolts? Seems like a pretty extreme fix, but if it works, that's all we care about right now.
I'll keep you posted as to the outcome.
That is ridiculous. Obviously this is a common problem. Our Uplander is also doing the same thing and another one is only making heat when driving it. I can't believe a dealership could be so ignorant. A head gasket problem might stop the heater but the cooling system would increase pressure and overheat the engine and also likely blow up the radiator. It's not the head bolts and head gasket. What's that cost-$2000? Ask a different dealer. There must be a recall on this problem by now. I have not solved it yet but I am leaning towards water dhutoff valve, a vacuum hose, or whatever shunts the heat outside when idling or stopped. Never heard of a component that would do that on any other car. Sounds like a bad engineering defect or it might just be a vacuum problem. At idle there is high vacuum. Vacuum doors are activated when idling. Look in that area and check for recall or service bulletin. Ask a different dealer[/B]
I also found that post on another forum while doing searches... no, it isn't me. I only posted the question one other time at 2carpros.com, and it was pretty much identical to the post I made here.
Doing searches, I found several other people with similar problems... and, to be honest, it's a bit disconcerting.
The engine temp seems to be normal... it peaks at a hair above the 50% mark. It does seem as though the vehicle takes forever to warm up, as I've left it running for 30 minutes and the temp gauge never seemed to get past the 30% mark. It will eventually reach normal levels, but only after driving it.
Now that the weather is a tad warmer, the problem is definitely harder to identify, and seemed to disappear completely once again the other night.
It's frustrating.
We were in contact with the dealership again, and they think they might have a fix for the problem this time... a new head gasket and bolts? Seems like a pretty extreme fix, but if it works, that's all we care about right now.
I'll keep you posted as to the outcome.
That is ridiculous. Obviously this is a common problem. Our Uplander is also doing the same thing and another one is only making heat when driving it. I can't believe a dealership could be so ignorant. A head gasket problem might stop the heater but the cooling system would increase pressure and overheat the engine and also likely blow up the radiator. It's not the head bolts and head gasket. What's that cost-$2000? Ask a different dealer. There must be a recall on this problem by now. I have not solved it yet but I am leaning towards water dhutoff valve, a vacuum hose, or whatever shunts the heat outside when idling or stopped. Never heard of a component that would do that on any other car. Sounds like a bad engineering defect or it might just be a vacuum problem. At idle there is high vacuum. Vacuum doors are activated when idling. Look in that area and check for recall or service bulletin. Ask a different dealer[/B]
Hello, and thanks for the reply!
I also found that post on another forum while doing searches... no, it isn't me. I only posted the question one other time at 2carpros.com, and it was pretty much identical to the post I made here.
Doing searches, I found several other people with similar problems... and, to be honest, it's a bit disconcerting.
The engine temp seems to be normal... it peaks at a hair above the 50% mark. It does seem as though the vehicle takes forever to warm up, as I've left it running for 30 minutes and the temp gauge never seemed to get past the 30% mark. It will eventually reach normal levels, but only after driving it.
Now that the weather is a tad warmer, the problem is definitely harder to identify, and seemed to disappear completely once again the other night.
It's frustrating.
We were in contact with the dealership again, and they think they might have a fix for the problem this time... a new head gasket and bolts? Seems like a pretty extreme fix, but if it works, that's all we care about right now.
I'll keep you posted as to the outcome.
That is ridiculous. Obviously this is a common problem. Our Uplander is also doing the same thing and another one is only making heat when driving it. I can't believe a dealership could be so ignorant. A head gasket problem might stop the heater but the cooling system would increase pressure and overheat the engine and also likely blow up the radiator. It's not the head bolts and head gasket. What's that cost-$2000? Ask a different dealer. There must be a recall on this problem by now. I have not solved it yet but I am leaning towards water dhutoff valve, a vacuum hose, or whatever shunts the heat outside when idling or stopped. Never heard of a component that would do that on any other car. Sounds like a bad engineering defect or it might just be a vacuum problem. At idle there is high vacuum. Vacuum doors are activated when idling. Look in that area and check for recall or service bulletin. Ask a different dealer.
Thanks again for your reply!
I also found that post on another forum while doing searches... no, it isn't me. I only posted the question one other time at 2carpros.com, and it was pretty much identical to the post I made here.
Doing searches, I found several other people with similar problems... and, to be honest, it's a bit disconcerting.
The engine temp seems to be normal... it peaks at a hair above the 50% mark. It does seem as though the vehicle takes forever to warm up, as I've left it running for 30 minutes and the temp gauge never seemed to get past the 30% mark. It will eventually reach normal levels, but only after driving it.
Now that the weather is a tad warmer, the problem is definitely harder to identify, and seemed to disappear completely once again the other night.
It's frustrating.
We were in contact with the dealership again, and they think they might have a fix for the problem this time... a new head gasket and bolts? Seems like a pretty extreme fix, but if it works, that's all we care about right now.
I'll keep you posted as to the outcome.
That is ridiculous. Obviously this is a common problem. Our Uplander is also doing the same thing and another one is only making heat when driving it. I can't believe a dealership could be so ignorant. A head gasket problem might stop the heater but the cooling system would increase pressure and overheat the engine and also likely blow up the radiator. It's not the head bolts and head gasket. What's that cost-$2000? Ask a different dealer. There must be a recall on this problem by now. I have not solved it yet but I am leaning towards water dhutoff valve, a vacuum hose, or whatever shunts the heat outside when idling or stopped. Never heard of a component that would do that on any other car. Sounds like a bad engineering defect or it might just be a vacuum problem. At idle there is high vacuum. Vacuum doors are activated when idling. Look in that area and check for recall or service bulletin. Ask a different dealer.
Thanks again for your reply!
February 15th, 2016, 10:27 AM
#82
Heat problems solved
The best thing I did to fix the Uplander was to get rid of it. After a half dozen thermostats, water pump, backflushing the heater core, burping it endlessly for the heat issues on top of all the other stuff that went wrong (abs harness x2, wheel hub sensor x3, sliding door bolt broke, steering gear x 2) trading it off was the best choice. Mine only had 86,000 miles on it when I traded it and was 7 years old. Everything was done at the dealership. They eventually gave up on it. They showed me the service bulletin about it being prone to air lock. GM extended the warranty on the hvac system for me but that was useless since they didn't know what to fix. Good luck. It is nice to have a vehicle with heat again and to only go to the shop for routine maintenance.
February 16th, 2016, 7:36 AM
#83
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2007 Uplander poor heating is not head gasket!!!
Every Uplander has a problem with its heater. We got both of ours to work by burping and getting air out of the heater lines. It is an engineering mistake by GM. Installing straight heater hoses helps. The problem is that air gets in the hoses and water never makes it through the heater core. Many Uplanders will produce good heat when they are being driven so if you get stuck in winter you would have to rev the engine to have heat. The extra pressure of the water pump will pump water up into the heater. I would try a small low pressure inline water pump as used in a bilge pump in a boat. Wire it so it is on when ignition is on. It is never a head gasket ir cracked head. That is just the dealership grasping at straws and also hoping you will go away. If you have a cracked head, your vehicle will not only overheat, but it will build pressure in your cooling system until it blows up your plastic radiator. Go to a marine site, buy a small booster pump( universal 12 volt water bilge pump with 2 outlets.
I have the same problem as others have written in this form. Here is a list to what has been done over the last two years....replaced head gasket. ..replaced water pump. ...replaced thermostat....replaced heater core....been burpped acouple times....coolant flushed And Still inconsistent heat. All work has been done at dealership. Dealership now says there's nothing else they know to do. So where does that leave me....SCREWED and no reliable heat
February 17th, 2016, 5:34 AM
#84
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I have owned and driven my 2009 Uplander for well over 3 years now, and could not agree more with Husky390. I burp it once a month during the winter and I get fantastic heat, even when the motor is idling. Before I started doing this the van was always cold to drive in the winter. I have not added hoses or extra water pumps.
December 14th, 2016, 7:42 PM
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Kcarlen has the correct fix and I'm glad I found this thread before I almost removed heads on a customers uplander. Seems like everyone's tried everything with no fixes and I was a bit nervous to take this customers money after doing multiple flushes already with no luck. After reading this thread I installed clear hoses going from the heater core to the steel coolant lines where the factory heater hoses normally clip into. I observed no flow at idle and flow when you increase rpms. Then i ran a clear hose from the Lower heater core outlet across the engine down to a T connector near the water pump and thermostat which bypasses both steel lines on the return side. Then I removed the steel lines that run under the throttle body and I installed a clear hose at the heater core Inlet and ran it near the brake master cylinder and under the intake boot resting against the intake box and connected it to the lower steel coolant pipe mounted on the valve cover. After re routing both hoses the vehicle now has flow at idle and is producing heat very well. Due to all the restrictions with the factory steel lines and the way they are routed, the water pump just simply cannot push coolant Into the heater core at idle. By doing it the way I did you are eliminating 3 out of the 4 steel coolant pipes and making the coolant passages much less restricted allowing coolant to flow at idle. If u do this, its a good idea to wrap heat tape around the heater hose that runs under the intake near the exhaust crossover pipe. Hope this saves people some money. By the sounds of it u can probably get away with only re routing the one hose but I wanted to eliminate all the restrictions to make sure my customer wasn't coming back It's not hard to do, make sure system is bled after and your good to go. Thanks kcarlen for putting me in the right direction.
January 12th, 2017, 8:33 PM
#89
If you haven't installed a new 3/4 heater pipe yet...do it. The parts are all under $10 bucks. It is easy and it works. I have had heat and no issues since my post.
No excuse for freezing anymore.
No excuse for freezing anymore.
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cconlin99 (January 19th, 2020)
January 20th, 2018, 3:32 PM
#90
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Hello!
We are on our SECOND 2008 Uplander, and both have had the same exact problem.
While idling, the heater will not blow heat. Once you touch the accelerator and rev the engine, heat will flow... upon releasing the accelerator, the air will slowly cool after about 30 seconds, and after about a minute, it will blow continuous cold air until you hit the accelerator again.
The problem seems to be intermittent.
The thermostat has been changed, the coolant has been flushed and all air has been removed from the lines, the water pump has been changed and nothing has fixed the problem. The dealership identified the problem and agrees that it is an issue, and says that all fixes provided by the manufacturer have not worked, so they gave us an entirely different vehicle with LESS mileage, and it worked ok for about a week... it now has the SAME exact problem.
After doing some research online, I have found several other people with the same issue... has anyone found a fix for this? Does anyone here have a similar problem?
We do NOT want to go through the hassle of having to get into another vehicle, and would prefer it if the problem would just be fixed. We live in North Dakota and have a baby, so you can understand that not having any heat in our vehicle is a very important issue to us... especially in -20° to -40° degree weather.
If anyone can help or offer any additional information on this, I would greatly appreciate it!
We are on our SECOND 2008 Uplander, and both have had the same exact problem.
While idling, the heater will not blow heat. Once you touch the accelerator and rev the engine, heat will flow... upon releasing the accelerator, the air will slowly cool after about 30 seconds, and after about a minute, it will blow continuous cold air until you hit the accelerator again.
The problem seems to be intermittent.
The thermostat has been changed, the coolant has been flushed and all air has been removed from the lines, the water pump has been changed and nothing has fixed the problem. The dealership identified the problem and agrees that it is an issue, and says that all fixes provided by the manufacturer have not worked, so they gave us an entirely different vehicle with LESS mileage, and it worked ok for about a week... it now has the SAME exact problem.
After doing some research online, I have found several other people with the same issue... has anyone found a fix for this? Does anyone here have a similar problem?
We do NOT want to go through the hassle of having to get into another vehicle, and would prefer it if the problem would just be fixed. We live in North Dakota and have a baby, so you can understand that not having any heat in our vehicle is a very important issue to us... especially in -20° to -40° degree weather.
If anyone can help or offer any additional information on this, I would greatly appreciate it!