Hey guys, i'm new here, and just made this today . I've had my Camaro for almost a year now, and recently while driving, it has had unimaginable heat, and it makes it worse that i haven't put my new (working) doors on. But the heat is blasting on my legs, and it comes in faster, the faster i go, letting me believe it's just the Engine heat, not being blocked by insulation. If i'm correct i'd like to know and would the instalation be troublesome? Thanks!!!

 

Although I wouldn't say it's a difficult process, it certainly is time-consuming...if you want to do it right, you will need to remove the seats, center console, and all door sill trim so that the carpet can be pulled back enough to access the areas you'll need to address.

I assume you'll be buying a roll of the cut-to-fit heat barrier stuff from a Pep Boys/AutoZone/Napa/etc. and not the proper expensive pre-cut stuff that comes with a new carpet set. I'd concentrate on the center console/transmission tunnel area as that's where most of your heat will be coming from. You'll also want to do the driver and passenger's side floorboard areas as well.

 

Damn, okay. Do you think a shop be able to do this? I don't have a lot of money, i can save though. But i'm also 16, and this is my baby, i obviously don't want to screw anything up so better let that job go to a proffesional, and i'll learn with time

 

TO me it seems to sound like the heater vents are just blowing on your legs. But if you want to pout the insulation on it's not too hard to do. Just pull the carpet back and lay stick some down. Removing the seats are easy, and the center console is just a few bolts. It's not too bad. I'm 18 and I can take my compete interior out no problem. I've only done it 3 times.

 

I can't really pinpoint it, but all the heat is off, it feels like almost a hole right under the dash, if i can i'll post pics of where it's coming in. And okay, i'll check it out, thanks for the help guys.

 

There's nothing to mess up really...just make sure your seats are bolted down tight when you're done. It's not like you're working on brakes, worst thing that could happen is you end up with a few more squeaks and rattles than before.

 

Even though the heat is 'off', some air is always going to come out of the heater vents. Try setting it to 'Max' and see if you still feel the air by your feet.

I'm wondering if your temp control cable is loose. Those temp door brackets are famous for breaking off, if that's the case it could be stuck on HOT. Does your a/c work?

 

My a/c does not work. I don't know what's wrong with it as this is my first car, and I'm just learning but we got it broken so yeah. It's been set to max and I feel it pretty strong with everything off and I've set it to low and it's the same thing. I understand that some air would still come through the vents but would it really come in that fast as I'm driving? Like i said the faster I go, the faster the air comes in so when I'm going 60 it's coming in at around that rate.

 

When set to MAX, the air inside should recirculate, and no outside air should come in. If air still comes through the heater vents with it set on MAX, then you've got some sort of vacuum problem.

As for the temp of the air, with the engine fully warmed, turn on your heater, then slide the temp lever from cold to hot. Do you feel any change? This will tell you if the cable is connected to the door in the heater box.

 

Here are the pictures, in the one, i just took off the fuse cover, the heat is felt even with it on. As for turning it on max and driving, wouldn't the heat produced by the heater be felt? Then i couldn't really tell if the heat from the engine area is coming in. I really don't think it's a problem with my heater, only because when i'm stopped nothing is felt

 

I know this isn't related...but what hold the lower fuse panel piece to the upper piece? Referring the the last picture you posted. I don't have anything that holds it up. What originally was supposed to hold it up?

 

This is to help eliminate heater problems common to these cars.

This is exactly why you might want to refer to the above and check the heater and ac controls and functions correctly. It sounds like the air is coming into the heater from outside and blowing with the force of your speed though the air ducts. This can and does make for a very hot drive in the summer. If after checking it closely if this isn't it then we will try to figure out something else.
I understand how you feel but it costs nothing to carefully check it out yourself and you would feel foolish saying it can not be and bring it in someplace and they tell you the same. Ask how I know. I did not want to believe some of what I was told and now later I have had to admit I was wrong (eat crow) so I try to listen more and not let my preconcieved thoughts interfere with proper troubleshooting.

 

I gotchya, i'll check it out, hell, i don't even know if i can drive it right now, as a malfunction happened while trying to change my Spark Plugs . Thanks for the advice, it's that kind of stuff i need, i'll see if it's that asap. Thanks guys, i'll get back to you when i figure it out

 

Here's a quick way to check that temp selector cable...

Remove the hush panel from under the passenger side of the dash. You should see a cable under there attached to a lever. While looking at the cable, take your hand and slide the temp control back and forth from cold to hot, you should see the lever move.

Above the lever inside that black box is a flapper door that allows heat to come from the heater core and into the car, depending on what the control is set at. When the selector is set at COLD, that door is closed. As you move it to HOT, the door starts opening, you should be able to hear this happen if you listen carefully. That little lever that the cable connects to is famous for breaking off, mine was broken when I bought my car.

 

Hey guys. Got back. The temp changes, fine, from cool to hot, and when i put it on max, it stops the heat from coming in.... What do i need to do to fix it, because obviously i don't want to keep my ac on max 24/7 just to keep the heat from coming in. Plus my a/c doesn't even work.

 

The temp control cable attaches to the back of the control head and to the box under the passenger's side of the dash. I had both ends of my old cable break so no part of the door worked.

However, you SHOULD be able to shut off the coolant flow to the heater core simply by putting the temp selector lever (on the control head) to the COLD position (don't even need to turn the system/fan ON except if hot water is already in the core so it can cool off). If this doesn't work, the heater control valve is probably bad (most likely, or the vacuum switch on the control head is). This was the ONLY way I had for years to cool down the air flow in the ducts during the summer as I had broken the temp control door and jammed it open for heat flow in the winter time.

 

Well i'm not sure what you guys are refering to. I turned it on max, and the hot air that comes in on my legs, completely stops. And the temp goes from cool to warm, not exactly cold because of my a/c not working. But when i turn it off, all of the heat comes swarming in and it's way to hot in my car...

 

What I'm saying is that when you push the temp control lever all the way to the COLD position the hot coolant flow to the heater core (which makes the incoming air HOT) SHOULD shut off if the vacuum switch and the heat control valve are working right, keeping the heater core cooler and the air flowing through it cooler as well... Don't need to mess with the upper mode control lever to do this, keeping the blower OFF.

 

I thought the upper lever is what controls the vacuum controlled heater valve? I was under the impression the lower lever only controls the door in the heater box.

 

I'm really confused...... Lol. All i can say is, when turned on MAX no air is felt. The temp goes from cool to warm, and idk how to fix it so the hot air doesn't come in when my a/c is off. And it's engine heat so HOT air.

 

I see what you're saying. And no it stays hot. But when i turn everything on, it goes from cool to hot.

 

There's 2 vacuum switches... The upper lever is connected to the blower electrical switch (which turns the blower motor on and off when the system is turned on and off) and the MODE CONTROL vacuum switch (the big one with all sorts of colored vacuum hoses attached), which operates all of the mode control vacuum motors. The lower lever is connected to the temp control door cable and to a separate in/out on/off (has 2 black hoses attached to it only) vacuum control switch that directs flow to the heater control valve, which either enables or cuts off the coolant flow OUT of the heater core based on the position of the lever. When the lever is all of the way into the COLD position, the vacuum switch provides vacuum flow to the control valve, which cuts off the coolant flow out of the heater core, cutting off the flow of hot coolant, which keeps the system cool.

I'll get my heater box assembly out of the top of the garage and get a pic of this... IIRC, the heat control vacuum switch is on the bottom of the control head. However, OP, I believe you probably have a defective heater control valve, which is allowing coolant flow through the core at all times (default position). It's probably either gooped up internally or the diaphragm has a hole in it which is causing a vacuum leak and not allowing the valve to work. Or someone messed with it and didn't hook it up to the right vacuum line.

 

I suppose as a temporary fix, you could bypass your heater core, but you wouldnt have any heat once winter comes.

 

Yeah I don't mean to sound like an idiot but I'm completely lost and I've re read everything 5 times.

 

What??? Did everyone give up on me????

 

You dont need to do any of that "Max" stuff. Just turn the control to "COLD", "OFF" and "LOW", and you wont have any heat. My car does the exact same thing yours does and when i do what I just mentioned, its like night and day as far as cabin temp goes.
changing it to "COLD" will close off the Heater Core from the vents. and since your AC doesnt work anyway, you may as well keep the others off.

 

Or just take your heater core OUT, and bypass it by linking the two hoses.

 

Well i plan to fix my a/c but even when i put it on cool, and keep everything off, the heat comes in. When i put it to 'MAX' the heat doesn't come in. Idk what to do, and i'm so lost from the other posts.

 

That was just my point... You don't need to actually turn anything on to keep the heat off. Putting the temp lever into COLD closes the heat door in the box (if the cable is properly adjusted and the door lever at the bottom of the box isn't broken like most are) and SHOULD shut off the coolant flow into the heater core, keeping it cool/cold as well.

Again, if the heater core is staying hot with the lever in COLD, you have a problem with the heater control valve, which is a thing on the passenger's side near the front of the engine that looks like a UFO on top with a vacuum hose and 3 coolant hoses plugging into it. It's like $20 and takes about 15 minutes to replace (if you don't have to fight the coolant hoses too much), as opposed to the hours required for a newbie to pull the dash just to get AT the heater core to yank it out. Then the system stays whole in case you find you need the heat some morning.

 

Okay, i'll check that out then. I have been leaving it on max so nothing comes in, but as i don't want to HAVE to do that, i'll check out the heater control valve. Hopefully that'll be the fix, and if i figure out exactly what to do, i'll fix that this weekend. I didn't want to bypass the heater core because as they said, i wouldn't have heat.... And living in good ol' Illinois, being a 16 year old on a minimum wage budget, this is my one and only car.... Yeah this last winter was real fun.... But yeah i need my heat

 

It took me an hour to pull the heater core out. never had any experience doing so, and was one of my first projects in fixing my car. - didnt pull the dash, theres an alternate way of doing so.