Heater hose rout

[79oldj]

Just wandering if I had my heater hoses hooked up correctly on my 1980 k20. I have one hose coming out of my water pump going to the top of my heater core, the other is coming out of the bottom of my heater core and going into the front of my intake manifold. The reason I am not sure is I dont seem to be getting much heat at all. Any input would be great!

[BLE 'BURBAN]

Sounds right to me. The one comming out of the intake is the feed line to the heater and the one to the water pump is the return line. Although on some models the return line feeds straight into the radiator just below the Rad cap. Evidently yours doesn't.
I'd start by making sure all the air is out of the system by letting it run at a high idle for about 5-10 minutes AFTER it comes up to normal operating temperature with the Radiator cap off.
Keep an eye on the fluid level and top it off as needed. Check the temp of both heater hoses... Are they the same? or is the return hose considerably cooler than the feed hose? If so you've got a blocked up heater core and will need to flush it out or replace it.
If still no heat, your next course of action would be to replace your thermostat thats obviously stuck open and not allowing the coolant to remain in the engine long enough to get hot. In the summer time this can also cause overheating because again the coolant isn't staying in the Radiator long enough to be properly cooled down.

[gchemist]

I don't need a lot of heat. I run the supply from the radiator. Return to the front of intake, directly before thermostat.




Plenty of heat too.

[BLE 'BURBAN]

Originally Posted by gchemist

I don't need a lot of heat. I run the supply from the radiator. Return to the front of intake, directly before thermostat.




Plenty of heat too.

The supply line comes FROM THE INTAKE not from the radiator or water pump. As the coolant heats up in the engines water jackets, the water pump is pulling colder fluid from the bottom of the radiator and pushing it into the engine. It then exists the engine by way of the thermostat and upper radiator hose and the heater hose on the intake manifold. After it runs through the heater core, it's deposited either back into circulation at the water pump-as is the case with 79oldj's set up-or into the top of the radiator like mine and yours do.
There's more forced flow coming out of the intake than there is coming out of the radiator.