So i had the radiator flushed, the heater core flushed and the t-stat changed out and my 96 Camaro RS still wont put out heat. It puts out lukewarm air but thats about it! IF anyone has any suggestions on what to do i would really appreciate it. TIA!

 

what temp thermo is in the car?

How cold is it there?

I can't imagine getting any decent heat with a 180 degree thermo

do you feel hot water coming back OUT from the heater core? If so, then it's not the heater core as it's just a "radiator" and air is passed over it and blown inside your car.

 

The tstat is a 195 and today it was about 25F all day. I can feel the inlet hose hot and the outlet hose is warmish.

 

make sure the heat door is working. when you push the heat controls from warm to cold do you hear a door close/open.

 

have a look here and see if any helps. explains door/valve slam. https://camaroforums.com/forum/lt1-l...84/#post587081

 

hmmm

warmish would be the wrong answer.

Allow me to try and draw a mental picture for you.

First, the heating is simply for passenger comfort and not needed for the engine. That being said, you could bypass the heating and it has no adverse affect on the cooling system of the car. All that occurs is an extension of coolant, flowing in a unidirectional manner (one way) is "piped" off in an additional "branch" and sent to the heater core. The heater core is just a metal box with tubing inside and some fins (for radiating heat). A fan then blows air over that box and thus you get hot air directed into the vehicle.

Some, perhaps even many have a valve which actually stops coolant from flowing into the heater core unless heat is being "called". That stops hot coolant from entering the passenger cabin and making your passenger's feet all toasty on hot summer days. Some vehicles do not have that and coolant always flows through the core.

Ok, you now picture that it's unidirectional flow and if 190-200 degree coolant enters the heater core there is little chance that 120 degree coolant exits. It would be much hotter.

So what does this mean? It sounds like you have blockage given that the coolant is hot before entering the cabin but the return pipe is "warmish"

In other words, it's not flowing despite the "flush" of the heater core for which you paid.

If you haven't the money to get it fixed, or the wherewithal to do it yourself, then perhaps one of these?

 

replaced the heater core and all is hot again. haha thanks everyone.

 

Darn is this true? I always swapped a 160 in the summer and a 180 in the winter. My heat has never been that great, and when it's REALLY cold, the heat is even worse. I always figured the heater core needed replaced. I actually didn't think I could run a hotter thermo than 180 lol. I may try that. But I def don't want anything hotter in the summer.

 

yeah, I have a 180 in a few of my vehicles includng the 95Z and one time here in FL when it got real cold 32F (hey, that's cold here), I barely had heat. I couldn't imagine 10 degree or colder outside temperatures.

 

It does good above freezing and seems okay just below, like in the high 20's but it was 0 here in MO on Monday and the heat just wasn't liking it at all. I even kept the rpms up to see if that would help but it didn't lol. Well maybe I'll see about getting a 195 in and see if that helps. Winter shouldn't last too much longer this year though, I hope!!!