Last week I had my 2013 Radiator/cap, oil cooler and heater core replaced under warranty for the very common "Heater Issue" that we JK'ers have been experiencing. I made an interesting observation over the last week. Driving to work and making short trips around town (getting to operating temperature), I noticed no change in the performance of the heater. It was behaving exactly as it did prior to "surgery". Needless to say, I was P!$$ED OFF. I already have an appointment to bring it in again for this issue and considering my dealership is an hour away, it's really inconvenient. However: I noticed on a 50 minute drive that after about 35 minutes, I started getting very warm all of a sudden. I played with the heater controls and found the heat was working perfectly! I was getting good heat on all settings, not just max. Wow, I guess the system needed to "burp" or something, I couldn't explain it, but Hooray! It's working now. Well, not so much. Next time I drove to work and back home it wasn't working again - well now what in the fresh hell is going on with this thing?!?! Later in the week I had to make a bunch of stops around town and noticed that after I restarted the Jeep, as long as I was at operating temp prior to shutting it off, the heat would work as designed...? A couple days ago I checked the coolant bottle and discovered it was a bit low, so I added some distilled water up to the "min" line when cold. I've been smelling coolant each time I shut it off, but I'm not seeing any leaks or spots on the garage floor and it doesn't appear to be using any, either. Perhaps someone else has noticed this? Thanks for any input. I don't know what to tell my service guy at this point. He'll just test it and tell me I'm crazy in kinder words...
Last week I had my 2013 Radiator/cap, oil cooler and heater core replaced under warranty for the very common "Heater Issue" that we JK'ers have been experiencing. I made an interesting observation over the last week. Driving to work and making short trips around town (getting to operating temperature), I noticed no change in the performance of the heater. It was behaving exactly as it did prior to "surgery". Needless to say, I was P!$$ED OFF. I already have an appointment to bring it in again for this issue and considering my dealership is an hour away, it's really inconvenient. However: I noticed on a 50 minute drive that after about 35 minutes, I started getting very warm all of a sudden. I played with the heater controls and found the heat was working perfectly! I was getting good heat on all settings, not just max. Wow, I guess the system needed to "burp" or something, I couldn't explain it, but Hooray! It's working now. Well, not so much. Next time I drove to work and back home it wasn't working again - well now what in the fresh hell is going on with this thing?!?! Later in the week I had to make a bunch of stops around town and noticed that after I restarted the Jeep, as long as I was at operating temp prior to shutting it off, the heat would work as designed...? A couple days ago I checked the coolant bottle and discovered it was a bit low, so I added some distilled water up to the "min" line when cold. I've been smelling coolant each time I shut it off, but I'm not seeing any leaks or spots on the garage floor and it doesn't appear to be using any, either. Perhaps someone else has noticed this? Thanks for any input. I don't know what to tell my service guy at this point. He'll just test it and tell me I'm crazy in kinder words...
It's been an ongoing issue for several years now, seems to be effecting 2012's the most but is not limited to them. As for the OP it's possible the system was airlocked due to air in the system and that it just worked it's way out, however it should not keep repeating the problem... Do you have manual controls or auto control??
Manual. I can recreate the condition at will now. Upon first start, good heat only at max. After restart, heat works as it should. I did it again today after I had to make a 40 minute drive to the mall. When I came back out and restarted the Jeep, I was sweating in no time on the way back home and the heat worked on all settings from max to middle.
At least you have your jeep! My '13 is in for the third time centering around the heat issue. First was blowing me off. The second was replacing the heater core and radiator cap. Not sure why they didn't change the radiator and other items that other people have which makes me nervous. The third was after I left the defrost button light blinked at startup. They have replaced the control head unit and they also discovered some problem with the wiring harness to the passenger door. Not sure what thats all about. Tomorrow marks 12 days without my jeep and I'm still not convinced its going to have the heat my wife's '14 has. I am starting to have that same feeling you get after having a vehicle repaired after an accident.... send it down the road....
Scott2373;8356017 I've been smelling coolant each time I shut it off said:
Yes, this is normal, and is caused from the fumes, that comes out of the overflow bottle vent pipe. (The OAT Antifreeze has this odor).
Mine has that ODOR, and I smell it on other 2013, 2014s in parking lots.
This can't be normal. I never smelled it until after I had everything replaced. I park in a garage every night, so I definitely would have smelled it previously. No vehicle is supposed to smell like coolant when you park it. You may want to have yours checked out to ensure it's not leaking.
The heat issue that started with me about 2 weeks ago is, if I turn it on and have it at say high 70s, it blows cold. I have to crank to max heat for a second before real hot air blows and then I can back it down to upper 70s.
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