That's where mine runs. Looks normal to me.

Ok thanks that tells me it has to be my heater core is plugged or something

Ok it was my blend door not shutting all the way , got it fixed and now it's better just not what I would think but that could be because it's been super cold and it's just not heating up like normal

My experience with these little trucks (1st and 2nd gen) is they don't heat or cool exceptionally well when it is really hot or really cold unless you are running down the road at speed.

They are utility vehicles... so I just accept this fact.  On hot muggy days the A/C can almost freeze me while on the highway but it still makes driving more comfortable when at slower speeds in town when it can't.  The A/C still reduces the humidity level well enough.   Same with the heater.

My wife has commented many times that my Tracker's heat production is either too cool or runs her out of the truck.  Same with the A/C.  It works well enough for me anyway because the truck's performance and ability more than makes up for these slight short falls in my opinion.

 

you could do an coolant flush/clean. i do one every couple of years on my vehicles. drain the coolant out  and mix some cascade (must be dishwasher machine detergent or it will froth up with bubbles) in a bottle of hot water and pure it in the rad. i put about three to four table spoon in when do mine, I'll mix it in a couple of bottles so it is dissolved good. then fill the rest of the system with water. run the engine up to temperature so your thermostat opens and let it run for around a 15 mins to a half hour. then drain the water mix and let your engine cool down. when the engine is cool add straight water fill it up and drain it out a couple of times to get as much soap and dirt out of the system.then add straight water and run it up to temperature to open the thermostat. to that a couple times until you think all the soap and dirt is removed. then i usually add a gallon of straight antifreeze to compensate for the water in the block then mix 50/50 for the rest of the system. i have seen a lot funky stuff come out of clean looking cooling system. also if their is a weak point in your system you will get a leak soon after, dirt will seal small holes. i put a water pump in my 88 fiero this summer so i flushed the system after that, a week later one of my line had a few pin hole leaks.

i find the heat heat in my 01 four door 2L tracker pretty good. i don't do a lot of highway driving. after about five minutes driving in the winter the hand is about 1/4 up and heat is flowing good out of the vent. the only complaint i have is the floor vents aren't that great.

Anyone else use detergent to flush their cooling systems? 

I've been driving four decades now (and wrenching before I had a driver's license), and this is the first time I'm hearing of this - I've flushed cooling systems before (with fresh water only) and yes, you can get a lot of crap out of the old cast-iron engines, but the all aluminum engines I've been dealing with it over the past two decades have always seemed pretty clean.

This is a sealed system, where's the dirt coming from?  On the old cast iron engines, corrosion could be an issue, (especially if it was a cast iron block with an alloy head), but, on all aluminum, and running a decent coolant with corrosion inhibitors???

 Caterpillar actually had a part number for cascade not sure if they still do or not. engine company's like cat, Detroit diesel, ect buy cascade by the skid,  very common practice with engine company's. i just flushed a 500 cat in a 01 Kenworth last week at work. oil cooler leak. as for where would dirt come from genius, their are steel pipes that do corrode have had a couple rust out on my tracker. cylinder liners are steel, never seen one of the magical all aluminum engines before. plus all these rubber hose or are they all aluminum on yours too. rubber is on of the things in a coolant system that breaks down the most from my experience. another factor to consider is are you the original owner. if not what has the PO done to it? once again the dick factory that know everything makes his useless comments. no wonder this site has been hacked so many times.

Just thought I would mention it - googling Cascade & Caterpillar produces no hits worth discussing, Cascade & Kenworth and Cascade & Detroit Diesel showed similar results.  Including cooling "system flush" in the search string did produce what I consider anecdotal reports from several diesel related forums that suggest that detergent is commonly used to flush large diesel cooling systems specifically to deal with the oil/coolant contamination that results from failed oil coolers (diesels commonly use oil/water heat exchangers), but nothing from any "manufacturer authorized sources" - very few of the results related to gasoline engines, and there were several asking the same question I am - are you serious?

I also went to the trouble of asking a friend who runs a radiator manufacturing business for both automotive and stationary power applications - his reply was that it's not very effective.

http://www.thedieselstop.com/forums/f23/more-coolant-flush-301344/#/forumsite/20512/topics/520218?page=1://www.steelsoldiers.com/showthread.php?58868-Radiator-Flushing-with-Cascade-Dishwashing-Detergent

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2934343

http://landroverforums.com/forum/discovery-ii-18/anyone-ever-do-cooling-system-flush-cascade-detergent-53958/

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/tech-help/284550-coolant-flush-notes-de-oiling-surprises.html

http://www.thedieselstop.com/forums/f23/more-coolant-flush-301344/#/forumsite/20512/topics/389674?page=1

You want me to keep going. Go over to zuwharrie in the diesel section and ask the question. I listen to the journeymen automotive and HDET that I know and work with over you any day. They seem to pick up new tricks that the heat about then to criticize every technique that is new to them. It's alright to ask questions, but to acting like a dick when you do it is cool.