My 2008 2 door is blowing out cool to mildly warm air with the knob turned all the way to hot. Does anyone have any ideas of what I could try before bringing it into the dealer? I was thinking about switching out the thermostat but wanted some other opinions before giving it a shot. It's getting pretty cold in Ma so any quick advise would be great.

Ed

 

This is a stupud question to ask but is the needle on the temp gauge close to half way? I find that even when its just past quarter the air is cool - mildly warm during the colder months.

 

have heard stories about the back seat in a 4dr to be much cooler. but i'm runnin a 2dr and i knew when i bought it that jeeps arn't the best at the heat thing, but mine warms up quicker than any other vehicle i've owned. i live in northern albert(4hours north of edmonton) and my jeep is like a sauna in no time.

 

down to the 20's so far. Warms up very quickly and mid point on the temp scale (straight up) is all the heat I can stand. Check your thermostat and, if you have recently drained your radiator or heater, check for air in the system.

 

Yeah, definitely check out your coolant level and thermostat. Not only does my Jeep warm up fast, but when it is fully warmed up it is almost burning hot air coming from the vents if I put the dial all the way to the hot side. Usually on long car trips up here in PA when it is in the 20s - 30s out, I keep the dial straight up and down (right between the red and blue side of the dial) and the fan speed on medium/low to keep the Jeep comfortable.

 

yeah, temp needle right in the middle.
This is my 2nd winter and last year it got super hot. I haven't had any radiator work.
Is the consensus to change the thermostat?

 

Well I would check it before you go out and just buy one. They are cheap but they are also easy to check if they are working correctly. Best way to do this is to take out the thermostat and if it is open when you take it out (at room temp) you need to replace it. If it is closed when you take it out, use a thermometer (a meat thermometer should even work) to measure the temp of a pot of water, put your thermostat in, and start heating up the water. Measure the temperature that the thermostat opens up at. I am not sure of the exact temp of the JK thermostats but if it is in the 180 - 210 degree F range it should be good as most t-stats are in this range.

By the way, go out and buy a thermostat gasket before you do this! They are only $.99 last time I checked and it saves you from having to worry about a leaky t-stat.

 

I have the exact issue on my 08' Rubicon....hotter air on the right side of the center console and very cool air on the far left vent?? don't think this could be a thermostat issue due to the fact that i get really hot air out of the right side but not the left even though the air flow is the same????

 

Actually, sorry I didn't see that your temp needle was right in the middle (your talking the engine temp needle right?). I would guess if that is the case that your heater core may be clogged. If you have enough coolant in your system and your temperature gauge is indicating that your engine is up to temp, then the only thing that could be keeping it from getting hot (aside from an electronics control problem) would be if your heater core is clogged. That way there isn't as much coolant going through your heater core so it isn't getting as hot. If that's not the case the seriously the only other possibility I can think of is a controls issue which gets into dealership work

 

have you made sure that the a/c button is turned off? it can be possible for the little light to go out on that button and you think its off when its really on. try turning the knob all the way to heat, fan full blast and then press the a/c button and see what happens.
personally i start with the idiotic simple stuff and then go from there.