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Heater will not work on high? 97 se

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Old Mar 3, 2008 | 11:19 AM
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Default Heater will not work on high? 97 se

The blower works on the first three setting but not on high? also my car takes 30 mins to warm up to even get luke warm air out?
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Old Mar 3, 2008 | 06:47 PM
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Default Re: Heater will not work on high? 97 se

Originally Posted by morsmortis
The blower works on the first three setting but not on high? also my car takes 30 mins to warm up to even get luke warm air out?
For the blower, GM'* "SOP" in wiring the blower is to use a pack of resistors for the lower speeds on the blower, and a relay for the "High" setting (bypassing the resistors)..so having a blower that works in the for the first three, but not in high, tells me the relay isn't closing, or no juice is getting to that relay.

The way to check, is to start at the blower and work your way back in the wiring till you find the relay. Re-seat that relay and see if it starts working in the "high" setting.

Does your car actually take 30 minutes to warm up? or are you saying it takes 30 minutes till you get hot air out the heater ducts?

My guess is the latter.... In which case you need to check the coolant hoses back to the heater core. Typically you will find a vac operated valve that cuts off the flow of hot coolant to the heater core...if it'* not working, you are not going to get heat. You can also have a shutter inside the HVAC ducts under the dash stuck in place..blocking the flow of air over the heater core.

..if the car'* coolant is taking 30 minutes to come up to temp, then the reverse situation is true...coolant is being circulated through the radiator 100% of the time. The main thermostat in the outlet of the engine block can be stuck in the open position, or the valve that cycles coolant to the heater core can be stuck open. End result being the coolant is comming out of the block, through the heater core, through the radiator, and back into the block all the time. In that case, the engine will not come up to temp quickly as it'* heat is always being dissipated by the radiator until ALL the coolant is hot. You would also see the temp gauge on the dash bouncing around a lot instead of holding steady around a single value.
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Old Mar 4, 2008 | 10:49 AM
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Alright thanks alot and it takes about 30 mins to get to about 120-150
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Old Mar 4, 2008 | 09:06 PM
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Originally Posted by morsmortis
Alright thanks alot and it takes about 30 mins to get to about 120-150
No sweat. I'm betting it'* going to be the thermostat. One quick test would be slipping a piece of cardboard over the front of the radiator to block some of the airflow through the core. If the engine temps come up quicker, then the problem is the thermostat is stuck open and the coolant isn't staying in the block during the initial warm up of the motor. Good news is that thermostats are pretty cheap and easy to replace.

BTW, once you find the blower relay, you can force it on high by putting a jumper in in place of the relay. Typically, the wire to the blower is purple, and the power to the relay contacts is orange, red, or pink wire. Most of the time, the contacts on the relay have corroded, cutting off the flow of current to the blower. Reseating the relay usually makes it start working again.
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