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Not Much heat up front

Our '89 GTV with the 8.2 DD doesn't put out much heat up front, even with the water heater route turned off. The rear radiator has two electric fans on the back side and one mechanical fan on the engine side. The dash temp gage reads about 180 operating temp and the trans gage seems to follow temp of engine even tho it has its own fan.

Would it be advantageous to insulate the hose going to the front from the engine? The return hose not necessary to insulate.
Nitehawk,  Demolition Lady, & our NEW master, Zippy the speeding BB cat.
1989 Grand Villa 36' ORED
Oshkosh chassis, 8.2 DD V8
2006 Saturn Vue AWD

Re: Not Much heat up front

Reply #1 –
I have never heard of insulating the heater hose.  I'm sure it could be done.  I would guess it would take a lot of work.
You always want to make sure there's nothing else wrong with your current system.  I would suggest verifying the heater valve (located at near the dash heater core) is fully open and there are no kinks or pinches in the heater hose.  I suppose the heater core could be blocked with scale.  People often rod, re-core or replace the engine radiator but seldom consider if the heater core needs replacement unless it leaks.  Hate to see you go to all the trouble of insulating the hose only to find it does no good due to some other component limiting the flow.  I would be inclined to pull the hoses off the heater core and view the tube insides.

My coach has an OEM heater hose pump that I replaced in '06:  http://commerce1.cera.net/tacbusparts/sections/catalog/catalog.asp?cat_id=1531
Some coaches have the pump and others don't.  I suspect this might be because some engine designs have a stronger water pump than others.  Length of coach comes into play too but I've seen other 40' coaches (with a Cummins) that don't have a pump.  This would be a possible solution if you think there is an OEM design weakness.
John Fitzgerald
1991 U300 (SAI) Side Aisle Island Bed 40'
Detroit 6V92 with Allison Retarder
Meridian (Boise), Idaho

Re: Not Much heat up front

Reply #2 –
Quote from: nitehawk –
Our '89 GTV with the 8.2 DD doesn't put out much heat up front, even with the water heater route turned off. The rear radiator has two electric fans on the back side and one mechanical fan on the engine side. The dash temp gage reads about 180 operating temp and the trans gage seems to follow temp of engine even tho it has its own fan.

Would it be advantageous to insulate the hose going to the front from the engine? The return hose not necessary to insulate.

Not readily accessible to insulate if memory serves me.  A boost pump might help or fail the old hose.  The mixing valve in the front might be an issue..
"Riding and rejoicing"
Bob
1997 U320 40' Mid entry, build 5132,  wtbi ce27, 4th owner
2007 Solara convertible
2 prodeco tech outlaw ss electric bikes

1095 watts solar
08 Ls 460 and a sc430
2000 Ford F-250 superduty 4x4

Re: Not Much heat up front

Reply #3 –
In our 91GV, the dash heat is slow to respond to any attempts to change the heat level.  I believe that for us a booster pump would be the proper solution.  In your coach, are you seeing a slow response or a "no" response??  Have a great day  ----  Fritz
Fritz & Kathy Johnson
1991 36'

Re: Not Much heat up front

Reply #4 –
My 88 had 2 stanless plugs in the lines that prevented any flow to heater, GA coach always titled there.

2 quick couplers heat flowed when we were up north, then in summer selecter valve didn't work well so had to put a shut off cause still got heat through the exchanger. ^.^d

Now the U280, seems ok had heat and truned off valve at water heater.
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My advice and experiences are Free, you decide if they are worth anything .

John - driving Old Faithful
1994 U280 GV
C8.3, Banks, Pacbrake, 900 watts, Resonator, XLHD tow dolly
Retired Army Warrant Officer

Life is what you make of it - if it is lemons, make lemonade!
Former Coaches:
1988 GV 40' ORED 300HP CAT - 9 years
1990 Winnebago LeSharo - 3 years
2000 Newmar London Aire - 3 years (#18 of 23 produced)