Heater doesn't work
 

I have a 2000 3.8l mustang. I hydro-planed and cracked a rim and probably bent the control arm on the passenger side in the front. I took it to a ford dealer to get it fixed and for some reason my A/C stopped working. They said I needed a new chip. They fixed what NEEDED to be fixed and I left. About 2 weeks later my heater stopped working. During the dead of summer this was not a problem, but now that winter is here I need my heater back. I can put it on max heat and it blows really hard but there is almost no heat. I flushed my A/C system out and it's all rusty, but still no heat. I have some basic hand tools and need to know if I can check it myself or have to take it in.

Check your coolant level. If its low, the 'puter won't let the heater work. When you flushed the A/C system, do you mean you flushed the coolant? Did you flush it until no more rust came out? You probably have a clogged heater core. Search the forum, there are a couple posts floating around about how to pack-flush your heater core with a garden hose.

Good luck...

What I mean is that I took all the orange coolant out(yes I know it's supposed to be neon yellow but there was ALOT of rust) and flushed it with a garden hose, then refilled it with good coolant.

Does the motor get to proper operating temps when your driving? Have you checked the coolant level since you flushed it? There will be some bubbles in the system when you added new coolant and it takes a decent amount of miles for them to work themselves out (even if you properly bled the system). If the level is good, then I think you have a clogged heater core especially since you found a lot of rust in the old coolant.

The heater core is essentially a mini-radiator inside the dash. The blower motor fan blows air across the heater core (heating the air) and the air flows out through the vents. If the heater core is not getting hot, you won't get heat. The heater core gets hot by engine coolant flowing through it via two hoses going from the engine block to the firewall. Coolant flows in one hose and out the other. Both should be hot when the motor is hot. If only one is hot, then you have a clogged heater core.

Good luck...