Chrysler Repair: heater not putting out heat: Cirrus, ventilator unit, air pathways

Question
I have a 1997 chrysler cirrus 2.5. The heater throws out plenty of air but no heat.I had the thermostat changed and no luck. I am on limited income and cannot afford to take my car to a shop. Thank you.

Answer
Hi Luis,
There are two possibilities, one that the core of the heater is plugged up or has an air bubble, the other that the air handling door is not connected. Lets take the second one first:
There are two separate air pathways in the ventilator unit, one for the a/c evaporator and one for the heater core. Incoming air is directed to one or the other or split and sent to both of them to give you intermediate temperatures of outlet air. Chances are that the door that splits the air is positioned so that none is going thru the heater core. It is called the temperature door and the lever to operate it is on the front left side of the unit, under the dash. There is a cable from the temp control to the door that is decoupled, most likely.
To get to all this you begin by removing the bezel around the control panel and radio. Then there are three screws for the cluster hood to remove and two screws for the ventilation control module to remove. You may also have to remove the cubby bin/cigar lighter bezel which is held in place by a couple of screws. Remove that bezel and wiring.
You should then be able to pull out the control module and disconnect the wiring plug for it. Then you will see a cable from the temp control that goes to the temp door lever. The plastic arm to open/close flow through the heating core may be broken at the point of attachment for the cable to the temperature selector on the climate control module. Or the clamp on the outside sheath of the cable may be unclipped from its attachment to the module and thus the cable is not moving the actuator arm
to the heat position, thus no heat. So adjust the cable in the clamp so that when it is attached you get the full range of motion of the lever. If you still don't have heat let me know and I can xerox a couple of pages from the manual that show how to deal with the cable for the temperature door.
You can tell if the heater core is the problem by feeling the temperature difference between the ingoing and outcoming heater hoses where they pass thru the firewall in the engine compartment. If one is significantly cooler than the other the the core may clogged.
Roland