Heater Issues

My heater has been acting weird lately. I have a remote start and at night I crank the heat all the way up for the next morning when I start it up. I let it run 20-30min in the morning, go out to my car and it's not warm at all. I start driving, and after about 3-5 min it starts blowing warm air, then a few minutes later it's blowing cooler air. The car is stored in the garage by the way, so it's not nearly as cold as it would be if it were outside all night.

Now it's not winter yet here in MN, but it will be ice cold before I know it, so I am trying to fix the problem now before the harsh cold comes.

Background:
Year: 2002
Engine: 3400
Mileage: 85,000

Any thoughts as to what the problem could be or possible remedy?

Please let me know.
Thanks!

[doubleN0alero]

thromometer...

[brsexton]

It sounds like you may need a coolant flush. If the coolant has trash in it, it may be clogging the heater core at times and start blowing the cold air. I have a co-worker that has a Blazer that had the same issue. He had the dealer flush the system and it has worked great since.

Thanks!

[AftermathAlero]

does ur car warm up to the normal temp range on ur gauge? If not then your thermostat is stuck open. So your car isn't really warming up at all.

[sound_xtreme]

ya, it's proly the stat. mine did that until i changed it.

Yes, the guage is still warming up to the normal temp. So is a new thermostat expensive? Could I do it myself?

I see that they aren't very expensive at all, but does anyone know how hard it is to replace?

[brsexton]

Originally posted by allshownogo02@Nov 10 2005, 02:15 PM
Yes, the guage is still warming up to the normal temp. So is a new thermostat expensive? Could I do it myself?

I see that they aren't very expensive at all, but does anyone know how hard it is to replace?

Quoted post

If the guage is going to normal temp, then a thermostat is probably not your problem.

Well, since I already bought the thermo, and it was only $6, I will just put it in and see if it fixes, if not, coolant flush it is!

Thanks.

Upon further investigation, it appears that I was VERY low on engine coolant. I give everyone permission to shake their head and think "what an idiot" :Noooo:

Anyway, could this be the problem? I filled it back up, and will see what happens tomorrow morning, I will let you all know.

Thanks!

[brsexton]

Have you ever had your lower intake manifold gasket replaced? Since this gasket goes bad on almost all 2003 and below 3400's, I would be concerned about where the coolent went.

And one other thing. When you added coolent, did you use orange Dexcool or did you use the green stuff? Since your car uses the orange stuff, if you mix them, it will make sluge out of your coolent.

I used the orange stuff. That was my next question about where the coolent went? Do you think I should take it in? I have not had the lower intake gasket replaced.

And that did solve the problem by the way

[sound_xtreme]

ya, if ur low on coolant heater obviously wouldnt work as it uses hot coolant to heat. anyways, if you havent seen any leaks on the ground or anything, see if your coolant level continues to drop. if it does get the gasket replaced. my guess is youll need to replaced, if you're still under warranty by any chance, just go get it done.

Thanks for the info. I filled it last night, and when I got home from work today, I was working on it in my garage, and I notice a puddle of coolant underneath it, then I looked in the reservoir and it was pretty much empty, so i dropped it off at the shop down the street.

[PlainOldOlds]

That's good. My old Dodge had a coolant leak that only happened when parked on an upgrade, and the mechanic had trouble finding it. It leaked like a siv in my driveway, but not a drop after idling for hours at 2 different shops. The way I knew I needed to add some, was when the heater went hot/cold/hot/cold while driving! It's the first thing I thought of when I saw your post.

Anyway, not being one to drop poison all over, and being fed up with driving a POS that had broken a/c and a slight oil drip, and a random uphill coolant drop... I told the dealer that sold me my Alero "I don't care if you can't give me book, or even anything at all... just dispose of it damnit! I'm not insuring two cars, and I want the Alero." They said they may donate it to charity, but in the end, they just gave me $100 for it, and had it junked. I had 7 thousand invested in between my purchase of it a few years ago and an accident repair where someone hit me but I got screwed, but I didn't care anymore. I was just happy to get a good deal on the hoe!

[AftermathAlero]

Originally posted by allshownogo02@Nov 12 2005, 03:24 AM
Thanks for the info. I filled it last night, and when I got home from work today, I was working on it in my garage, and I notice a puddle of coolant underneath it, then I looked in the reservoir and it was pretty much empty, so i dropped it off at the shop down the street.

Quoted post

My guess would be your hoses has a hole in it. If it was the water pump, (V6) it would spray all under the hood. And if it was the Lower intake manifold leak, it would be in the engine.

Thats good that ya spotted the leak.

Well when I was trying to find where the leak was coming from, it didn't look like it was a hose. I did see there was coolant in a few spots on the engine. So I doubt it's as simple as a hose....not that I don't want it to be, believe me. I will let you know when the shop calls tomorrow what it turns out to be.

[sound_xtreme]

my intake manifold gasket actually leaked out as well as in. i had puddles under the car but also had it in the oil. wont really know till ya really look it over

Thats what it was sound_xtreme....intake gasket

[dbailey]

The tell tale sign of the lower intake manifold gaskets leaking is sludge in the recovery tank. Take the cap off and look under it. If there is sludge on it, it's prolly the lower intake manifold gaskets. I had to have mine replaced and that's how I noticed it.