No heat, bad thermostat? but the gauge is fine. Options

[czwalga]

Alright the Temp gauge moves to middle of the gauge after the car heats up. However I still have no or minimal heat.

I obviously though that the heater core is clogged. Nope, I was able to run a pretty good stream of water through it with really no resistance. The valve is working and is open.


The only thing I can think of is that the temp gauge is 'wrong', and the thermostat is stuck open. It's a 3sge, and I did a lot of wire/dash ripping, but I dont think that has anythin to do with it. Removed the AC core, but I built ducting from the blower after I relocated it. Air is blowing out of the vents. Its my understanding that all the air passes through the heater core to the front vents no matter what. The heat is controlled by the valve in the engine bay.

[Cuts_the_Pilot]

So the gauge reads normal but the air from the heater when on hot is still cold? Is it cold or just luke warm?

Was the blown air hot before you did the dash ripping and A/C core delete?

Assuming the engine is actually at operating temperature the only things you can deduce is:

The core is blocked (proved not to be the case).
The core is clogged (you are checking this now).
Something you did when you pulled the dash apart has changed.
Coolant is not actually getting to the heater itself (or is only getting there with a small flow and not enough to heat up the core), perhaps the heater hoses to the tap or the coolant hoses or metal coolant pipes on the engine are blocked.