1995 camaro 3.8 heater problem

[jhousman6]

I just bought my daughter a 95 camaro. Ok this is the thing. If the heater core is bad I would suspect that the passenger side floor would be wet or I would smell antifreeze, but none of that is happening. When you are idle. the temp gauge will get up about mid ways where it should be, it never overheats, but when you start driving the temp goes down to right above the first notch.. right above 160, and at no given time, even when it's at the right temp ( in the middle zone) or when it lowers , no heat coming from the heater, every once in a while you get a lukewarm (barely lukewarm) feel to it, then quickly it gets cold. Could anyone tell me what to try first and how to do it, before I have to pull out the dash and try to replace the heater core on it, because that is a job. The thermostat and waterpump have just been changed, and still nothing. Any ideas at all would be GREATLY appreciated.

Oh yeah when you lift the hood you kinda sorta smell antifreeze. You catch a wiff of it not real strong but strong enough to know what it is, but no leaks on the ground as of now?????

Thanks so very much
Julia

[DaMoNe6969]

its not your heater core

you could have a lot of air in the cooling system from changing the pump/t-stat.. try burping the system

do you know if the car had this problem before you changed the t-stat? you could have gotten a bad one, it happens.. thats what it sounds like to me anyway.. thats the easiest, and cheapest thing to replace so that'd be the 2nd thing i checked

[scoobytuff]

I would check the coolant level. If it has a slow leak, one you can smell but do not notice a puddle, The radiator could just be low. Keep in mind that when the gauge reads low it is probably because of air that is passing the temp. sensor and not liquid. When the coolant passes back over the sensor it reads a closer to normal temp. The reason the heater blows cool is because there is not enough water passing through the coils of the heater core to heat the air blowing through it.

[jhousman6]

Originally Posted by scoobytuff

I would check the coolant level. If it has a slow leak, one you can smell but do not notice a puddle, The radiator could just be low. Keep in mind that when the gauge reads low it is probably because of air that is passing the temp. sensor and not liquid. When the coolant passes back over the sensor it reads a closer to normal temp. The reason the heater blows cool is because there is not enough water passing through the coils of the heater core to heat the air blowing through it.

Thanks so much for your time and help guys. I fixed it. I took both hoses off and blew air through one side and it blew out some gunk. Now heating.. THANK GOD.. lol.. ty so much for your help and time.