heat problem in 98 safari

Anyone have any idea on this? Our 98 safari wasn't coming up to temperature, the gauge stayed near the bottom and there wasn't much heat. So I changed the thermostat and the gauge came up where it should , near 100 C, and the heat pored out of the heater. Then the air cooled off but the engine stayed up to temp. I thought maybe the heater core was plugged so I flushed it out with the garden hose, put it back together and lots of heat again. Then on the next drive, no hot air again. There are no leaks, could it be an air lock?? Driving me nuts.

Had the same problem last fall with mine after replacing thermostat and fluid. Buddy runs a rad shop here and told me that these are one of the worst for this problem. Mine had air, so upon his advice I drove it and filled it over 3 days and it has been fine. Also do a quick math on how much fluid u put back in. I know with rear heat they hold quite a bit (Check your book on exact amount). Good Luck!

[QUOTE=chaqueno]Had the same problem last fall with mine after replacing thermostat and fluid. Buddy runs a rad shop here and told me that these are one of the worst for this problem. Mine had air, so upon his advice I drove it and filled it over 3 days and it has been fine. Also do a quick math on how much fluid u put back in. I know with rear heat they hold quite a bit (Check your book on exact amount). Good Luck![/QUOTE
Thanks for the reply chaqueno... Havn't fixed it yet, my wife drives it and we're on different shifts but I'm sure that's the problem. I'll get at it by the weekend... she's freezing her butt off lol, we live in Ontario and it's quite cool around here. Funny thing was I put the new thermostat in to give her more heat... imagine how happy she is.

I had the same trouble in my '99 safari. This sounds wierd but try pushing in the rotary knob that controls the air temperature while setting the temperature...hold it in for a few seconds after the adjustment is made.....apparently this is electronic and happens quite often. I didn't believe it either but it worked for me

I got this help from astrosafari.com which is a great site

DN