Alright here is another problem,

the engine does not like to get warm, I changed the thermastat, nothing is working, the car just sits at 40 deg. than mabye goes up to 60 if the car is sitting but when its sitting it does get warmer, but if I drive the car gets cold its always cold, I got no heat at all now.

have you check the coolant levels, is there air in your system

also re-check that the thermostat is seated in the housing properly and is the correct #.
Check the overflow bottle that it is expanding and contracting between the hot and cold marks. Is the radiator cap holding 15 psi?

Yeah , cap is one good one to check, the stat not seating is another one since they do tend to float if not seated properly.

On your engine temp gage, what does it show as your temp?? Just to let you know mine and others on our pre 92 cars anyhow, show at the 1/4 mark or just above and that is normal.

Does your car have the auto climate control?? Reason I ask is that my car gets hotter than the temp that is shown on the screen then drops off. I end up having to turn it up to 31 just to get heat when it gets really cold outside and have to drive more than 30 mins in one shot.
So I think my inside temp sensor or something behind the dash is affecting my sensor.


Also your heater core could be plugged which will not allow the full amount of nice toasty coolant to circulate through it and thus allowing your blower motor to blow through it.


Just a few thoughts.

SSE1990: Try taking a shop vac to those little holes on the passenger'* side of the dash. There is dust on the interior temp sensor, thus giving a false reading. Unfortunately, this does not get all of the dust out, and probably won't make much of a difference. The best way, is to remove it.. and that requires some creative hands, reaching up the glovebox.. I do not recommend this. Just try the vacuuming and see what happens.

Where are you getting these 40* and 60* temps? The temp gauge on the dash only displays > 100*.. and there is no way an engine can only stay at 40*.. so I am wondering where you are getting these figures from.

If you are worried about the temps, you can put cardboard in front of the radiator.. this is kinda difficult on our cars, since you cannot put the cardboard between the fans and engine. The only way I think you can do it, is by unbolting the top radiator bracket, pushing the radiator towards the engine [don't force it too much, just enough to slide the cardboard in], then bolt it back up. I don't know how safe this is.. especially if your core support is rusted through. You may be able to slide it up from the bottom, but I have never done this.. somebody who has should chime in.. or somebody to confirm or disagree my opinions.


-justin

I have had the sensor right out of the dash and it was cleaned then. Still no help.

I think it is just age.

I know the termostat is fine because its an easy fix and it was done properly.
I have no air in the system, the rad is new and filled, the over flow is where its suppost to be leveled at, the heater core is one thing I dont know about..

My car is Canadian so my temp gauge but the numbers labelled are 40-90 (I think its 90) and 125 hottest..
It shoudl be running in the middle instead the car just sits anywhere from 40-60 which is not letting in any heat.

If I let the car idle for a long time it would heat up, but it has stopped doing that also.

I know the heater core is a hell of a job, is it worth the fix? whats the cost for one of them?

Ahh, these temps are in Celsius.. heh, no wonder. If your temp gauge is labeled 40-125.. 40 would be 100*F, and 125 would be the 210.. or maybe I have the oddball Bonneville, and it would be 260*F So.. I think around 50-60*C.. wouldn't that be the normal temp? So, if the engine is warmed up, the cooling system is in good working order.. what'* left? Heater core.. I don't know how much of a job it would be to replace one.. it couldn't be that bad.


-justin

OK I know the numbers are different on the temp gage as are mine since i also live in Ontario, yours should read 40 as the first line and 125 as the red line. But look at this pic


And tell me if your temp is around there on the gage ( ignore the numbers) or is it higher or lower.

If your are sitting around the 1/4 mark to the half mark your engine is holding proper heat. If it will not even get that high then my guess is going to be that your stat is not seating properly, you may need to add a bit of electrical tape around the edge of the stat to help the seal. If it was air in the system you would see that your temp would get really high and not come down.


If it is getting to the proper temp then my guess is either the heater core or maybe the mixing door ( allowing heat to come in).

hey great pic, but mine sits lower just at the 40 mark, not any higher when it idled for a good 20 min. it would climb a bit than the car would be nice and warm but than it would just drop down once I would start driving (like its suppost to ) but the heat would also weaken. So the heater core is what we can agree on?
ill see if I can grab some time and change the stat.
il ltake it into crappy tire and pay the 40 bux to find out whats wrong.
iF its heatercore than bye bye car buying the newer bonerville.

Thanks for your helps guys!