Pontiac Repair: 1992 Pontiac Grand Prix heating malfunction., pontiac grand prix, automechanic

Question
QUESTION: I have a 1992 Pontiac Grand Prix with about 140,000 original miles on it and it has a motor with about 40,000 miles. the heat worked last winter but it just stopped working one day. the blower still works, and i think the thermostat is still good because it is not stuck open. the heater core hoses feel warm and like they have pressure built up in them... its getting pretty cold here, what do i do?

ANSWER: Hi Cahrles:

Well it looks like you did a bit of fact finding before you sent me the question. It could be a few things.. if you have no heat at all in the car and the hoses are "warm" then more than likely you have some sort of a temperature door issue inside the car like a actuator bad for the heater door or the door is binding up. If you have "warm" air inside the car but not how and the hoses are only "warm" then you could have either a plugged/restricted heater core or a thermostat that is opening too soon not stuck open. If this car has a full gauge cluster were you can see the temp that would be a good indication. but without actually seeing this car it's hard to say for sure but at least you sort of narrowed it down already. Good luck :)


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: thank you very much. now im going to school to be an automechanic. im still trying to learn things. how would i find out if an actuator is bad? i have to get to the heater core to find out if its actually getting hot or if the hoses are just warm from engine temperature. i have to tear out my whole dash for that though and if it was something easier i  would gladly try it. but thank you for your help if you cant help me any further.

Answer
You can take the lower hush panels off either side of the dash and look up to see in the door/actuator is moving when you change the temp on the hvac head. depending on the year and application it's either a vacuum actuator or it's an electric motor I can't remember which one that year has. Glad I could try to help!