Little heat from heater

[thoughtitsacadillac]

i have owned a pontiac sunbird 1992. I am in the midst of purchasing a 1995 Grand Am 3.1l and the seller tells me the heat is not that great. It seems similar to the Sunbird as it takes a long time to heat the interior. Is there a fix? i know the thermostat may be at fault or the heater core but can a simple air blocker from beneath the car help keep the rad from cooling help? we live in Alberta Canada and it will get below 0 very soon.

thanks,
Dale

 

[melsg5]

As you already stated it could be a faulty thermostat or the air selector door. The other thing it could be is low coolant and air pockets caused by a cooling system leak. Have the car checked before you buy it.

 

[thoughtitsacadillac]

i definitely am having it checked, always do. is this a common problem with late model Pontiacs?

 

[melsg5]

Certain engines had a history of bad intake gaskets or intake manifolds. Here is a link concerning the 3.1

http://williamgreen.hubpages.com/hu...aking-Intake-Manifold-Gasket-and-Warped-Heads

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[thoughtitsacadillac]

Thanks for the article, i am going to as the mechs in the morning to check if there is any issue related to a head problem. its been a long time since i rebuilt an engine, i do not have much time to mess around.

 

[Zimgxp]

If the oil looks normal, chances are the lower intake gaskets are good. If they leak internaly, the oil will look like a milkshake.

 

[thoughtitsacadillac]

all checked out well no intake issues, the mech figures the head must have newer gaskets or he would have nothiced leak signs under the hood. I changed the thermostat myself and the veh now warms up higher than the 40 deg it was prior. My only issue now is: from a cold start it revs high 1900rpm and only goes down once driven then all is back to normal Rpm and there is an fluctuation in the rpm it goes up slightly then down slightly repeatedly, is this an air pocket? or could it be a pcv,or vacuum leak?and does this happen commonly after changing a faulty thermostat?

 

[melsg5]

It's not directly related to the thermostat. Did you accidently disconnect any vacuum lines during the process of changing the thermostat?

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[thoughtitsacadillac]

It's not directly related to the thermostat. Did you accidently disconnect any vacuum lines during the process of changing the thermostat?

not that i am aware of , i took the connectors off the rubber throttle body conector between the air filter and throttle body. there were 3 quick disconnects and one plug on top that i disconnected. i put all back. Is there any vacuum lines near the thermostat housing that may have been pulled as i pryed on the lower bolt? is there any other reason for the fluctuation it is not major just annoying to me.

 

[thoughtitsacadillac]

no problem

it must have been an air pocket, all systems go now the car runs fine.