kcac Posted November 27, 2008 Report Share Posted November 27, 2008 I've been looking at '98 and '99 Lumina LTZ's, and the ones I've driven had heaters that put out warm but not hot air. Definitely not adequate for the winter temperatures ahead. The salespersons' diagnosis have been "needs a new thermostat", which seems logical. That seems like the best case scenario. What is the worst this could be? A symptom of lower intake manifold gasket failure? Does the heat coming out of these LTZ's (3800 engine) tend to be lukewarm? That doesn't seem right - every car I've had heaters that could turn your eyeballs into raisins when they were running at full heat. When I did the test drives, I drove the cars for about 20 minutes, 10 of which was at highway speeds, so the engine was warmed up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockfangd Posted November 27, 2008 Report Share Posted November 27, 2008 i dont know both my cutlass and my intrepid get pretty toasty. They make me feel like i am going to pass out lol. When the coolant is good and the system is purged properly it should heat up nicely with a good thermostat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89SupremeCutty Posted November 27, 2008 Report Share Posted November 27, 2008 my lumina gets so warm i gotta turn off the fan and turn the temp down. i havn't touched the thermostat ever on this car and i've put about 30k miles on it since i bought it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spectrum Posted November 27, 2008 Report Share Posted November 27, 2008 If I keep it at full heat, fan on 1 blowing on my feet and the windows, I have to crack a window every now and then or turn the fan off to keep from dying on a 2 hour drive. That's in a 1997 Lumina LTZ (3100). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
9lumina6 Posted November 27, 2008 Report Share Posted November 27, 2008 The heat in my Z-34 is very hot......smells like oil badly when u turn the fan on .............but if u need hot air.....she gives it to ya. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88red4cyl Posted November 27, 2008 Report Share Posted November 27, 2008 I have absolutely no scientific method for this, it is just my opinion.. Personally, the heat coming out of my 3100 95 lumina seems a lot warmer than the heat on my 3800 99 lumina... I replaced the thermostat in mine last winter, so I know it is good... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
9lumina6 Posted November 28, 2008 Report Share Posted November 28, 2008 I have absolutely no scientific method for this, it is just my opinion.. Personally, the heat coming out of my 3100 95 lumina seems a lot warmer than the heat on my 3800 99 lumina... I replaced the thermostat in mine last winter, so I know it is good... My LQ1 has alot better heat then my L-67...........but then again my L-67 has a 180 stat......but even up to temp......its not as hot as the LQ1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addicted to eaton Posted November 28, 2008 Report Share Posted November 28, 2008 my l67 has a Very warm heater!! I always turn in on "max ac" and put it on 1 and wow it will cook you out of it! the Monte had a very warm heater to though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19Cutlass94 Posted November 28, 2008 Report Share Posted November 28, 2008 Mines takes a while for it to get warm, but when it does, its freaking hot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfewtrail Posted November 28, 2008 Report Share Posted November 28, 2008 I've never seen a discernable difference between the heat in ANY w-body of the year(s) you're asking about. With the stock temp t-stats, the heat should be really hot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ismellrealbad Posted November 28, 2008 Report Share Posted November 28, 2008 I've never seen a discernable difference between the heat in ANY w-body of the year(s) you're asking about. With the stock temp t-stats, the heat should be really hot. im going to agree, but also add: in ANY car....as long as everythings ok, the heat is always hot enough to get too hot quickly enough even on a lower setting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AL Posted November 28, 2008 Report Share Posted November 28, 2008 the heat in the vents is pretty warm... it will almost burn my hand if my hand is on the steering wheel in front of the vent... my seat warmers tho get hot in about 30 sec. and they will make you sweat like crazy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
runt Posted November 28, 2008 Report Share Posted November 28, 2008 My car with the 180* doesn't get nearly as warm as my finacee's Intrepid with the 195*. Although, I guess that only makes sense. But, the 180* beat the snot out of the 195* that I HAD in there that went bad! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Venom Posted November 28, 2008 Report Share Posted November 28, 2008 Something is wrong with the heater in my car because nothing comes out of any of the vents when I turn the setting, but I never use the heater anyways because Im such a big guy I generated enough of my own body heat to keep myself warm in the car LOL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3pt1lumina Posted November 29, 2008 Report Share Posted November 29, 2008 In my 96 and in my 97 LS, the heat is awesome. In my other 97 and the 90, the heat is fair...meaning if it is cold out you better wear some extra layers because it is never going to warm up to the point where you can turn it down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addicted To Boost Posted November 29, 2008 Report Share Posted November 29, 2008 My old 89 threw some really hot heat, but took a while to warm up. The TGP on the other hand warms up very quickly and turns the interior into a sauna momentarily Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfewtrail Posted November 29, 2008 Report Share Posted November 29, 2008 FWIW, my '93 GP with a 180* t-stat is plenty warm enough after 3-4 minutes idling in 20-30*F temperatures. If I'm wearing a long sleeved shirt or light jacket, I have to turn the heat completely off after initially warming up the car or I start sweating. My parent's '94 Buick Regal with a 195* t-stat will burn your ass up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addicted To Boost Posted November 29, 2008 Report Share Posted November 29, 2008 I should add that most of the time I owned my 89, it was seldom above freezing. It was even -50* for a good week straight and it managed to throw heat after about 5-10 minutes then.. Took 20 minutes of driving for it to start to get up to operating temp with a 195* T-stat.. I'm glad I won't be in mn this winter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1990lumina Posted November 29, 2008 Report Share Posted November 29, 2008 I put a 195º star in the Lumina a few years ago and it is really hot after 10 mins or so. The 3.1 takes forever to warm itself up though - my TSX will start throwing heat after about 2 mins and it's only a 4 cylinder. The Millenia would warm up fast too - but I'm sure the forced induction helped with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88Regal Limited Posted November 29, 2008 Report Share Posted November 29, 2008 ya my regal takes a good 5-10 mins of idle time to warm up, or about 3-5 of driving time if you don't let it sit and idle. Motors warm up fast under load Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kcac Posted November 30, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2008 Thanks everyone for the heater info. From what most of you said, lukewarm heat is not the norm, which is what I would have expected. My 95 Cutlass had a low heat problem that had nothing to do with the thermostat or the cooling system - there was a problem with a control valve or something like that under the dash - it's been four year so I don't remember exactly. Ended up having to spend a couple hundred dollars at the dealer to get it fixed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schurkey Posted December 6, 2008 Report Share Posted December 6, 2008 Shove a thermometer in the heater duct. Given "room temperature" ambient air, you should have air temp within about 20 degrees of the thermostat rating. Maybe within about ten degrees. Run the engine hard, and the actual engine temp may be higher than the thermostat rating--and therefore the heater will be similarly hotter. A 195 thermostat = 175 degrees minimum at the heater duct. Possibly hotter. 175 degree air temp does not feel as hot as 120 degree water temp if you move your hand quickly through either one; and it's less likely to burn you--but--it will "get your respect." 'Course, when the outside air temp is -40, the heater outlet temp won't be as high. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodgethis Posted December 6, 2008 Report Share Posted December 6, 2008 My lumina is always good about burning out of the car. I got the 3100 and it only took 5min to get it pretty hot. I will say this I had a 1995 cutlass ciera and had the thermostat replaced because of the temp gauge would say its over heating, but once it was changed it never got as hot as it normally did. I dont know if thats the reason why being the thermostat was changed, but that just my two cents on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Fury Posted December 6, 2008 Report Share Posted December 6, 2008 My CS gets TOASTY! Even on the first setting it will cook you out within minutes... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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