Reputable Heater Repair Shop around PDX

My '97 Cherokee Sport has been w/o heat for a while, so I took it to a local Meineke to see what's up, and they spent 4 hours trying to figure out what the issue is with no luck.

I'm looking for a good, relatively inexpensive shop in the Portland area that can hopefully diagnose what the issue is.


In the hopes that someone here can help:
Original diagnosis: Clogged heater core: apply pressurized water in bursts to clear blockage, flush system through to clean out the rest.

What they found:
- No apparent blockages (ergo, didn't flush system - unlikely to fix anything)
- both hoses in/out of the heater core cold to the touch
- no obvious leaks
- Water pump fine/functional, but bearings appear to shake when grabbed + rattled around
- Radiator fluid warm to the touch underneath the radiator cap, not boiling hot like it should be.

Pretty much everything else fine as usual, runs great, only obvious other thing in need of repair is a squeaky belt on startup.


Thanks for any help in advance

If the heater hoses are cold in/out of the heater, that makes me think there is a blockage preventing hot water from flowing that way.

For your belt: if you only get squeeling on startup or when AC is turned on (AC or defrost which uses AC) then usually you just need to tighten the belt a little bit. The XJ belts needs to be damn tight compared to any other car I have ever seen.

Maybe water pump blades are worn off and it is moving enough water to drive but not circulate to the core. So it does get up to operating temps? If not, thermostat. Hmmm...

Los Dobos - It runs fine temp wise, the water pump is the biggest suspect at this point. Sorta scared to find out what repair costs are for that, not to mention an initial diagnosis to confirm.

the_weirdo - The guys at Meineke said they tested for a blockage and found none, so they didn't proceed with a system flush. That's what lead them to the water pump or thermostat. How do I test if the thermostat works or not?

Funnily enough, hot air does flow through for the first ~5 seconds after the heater is turned on, then quickly goes to shooting cool (not cold) air through.

And yes, the belt squeak problem only occurs when started up with the A/C or defroster on. Will tighten that puppy up n see what happens.

Never trust meineke.
WQhat they quoted me on my Honda was 960 when I brought it in for a brake job. They said both control arms needed to be replace n they didn't think it was safe not to, and that it needed new calipers cuz they weren't safe.
Took 'er to a local mechanic and he saw nothing wrong at all with anything and the brakes still had pad left. Did the pads anyway for 80 bucks.
I whelled the piss outta that Accord on super rocky forest roads it had no business on for 3 years after and never needed control arms. Screw Meineke.

Just change the thermostat yourself. That could cause a lack of coolant to the heater core. 2 bolts, some RTV and a gasket.

I would start with thermostat and water pump

Couple hours on a Saturday might get you pretty far with this problem

Gonna give the Thermostat a go. Will come back with results.
Thanks for your input so far.