anyone here a cinderella fan? that song is just about what it felt like this morning when i came out to go to school, and my car looks like a big white frosty, uhh..... :lala:

anyway, whatever idiot bought himself a new cherry red v6 bird WITH the appearance package 10 years ago, apparently DECLINED to get himself/herself the frikkin rear defroster, so now, being the 7th lucky owner of this car, i don't have one, and it takes it about 20 minutes to get me vision out the rear in the winter = no good.

also, she takes about 10 minutes to warm to full temp in the morning (expected, not really a problem) but like 15 at least to get me HEAT inside the car. and when i want to be warm, it only gets that way on VENT and putting it on warm, the HEAT itself never works, and it doesn't even feel like it's blowing when it's on. (not even cold air i mean).

haven't noticed any smells, smoke/steam nothing, but i'm wondering if i might need a new heater core. also wondering why it's possible to get heat from the vent and not the heater, i thought they both just took the warmth from the engine???

any thoughts for my defrost/heat probs? thanks:hail:

 

When the heater switch is in the heater position, does it make a hissing sound? If so, I would look on the back of the heater control unit for a broken vaccum line (they are color coded and look like wires. I don't think a new heater core is necessary because you are getting heat.

For the defroster, I would check the junkyards for another vehicle similar to yours (w/the defroster) and see if yoor car is has the necessary hook ups to install it. Then just change the hatch and switch over from the junkyard one to your car.

 

if i were to get a defrost rear hatch from a junk yard, would it be more prudent to get the wiring new? or is there any way to make sure it works before i hook it up to my car? also, my car doesn't have the defrost button on the dash, (it has the little pic of hte defrost on the heat/ac/vent thing obviously, but it's weak there, and that's only the front) so would that be a big project to install all of that ? jeez how would i even go about doing that!? (feeling frustrated =(

nope no hissing noise from heater, (only hissing noise i hear from that whole thing is when i turn it all directly to OFF, no matter if it's heat, vent, ac whatever) it's just very weakly trying to work. it blows weak from the vent on top of the dash, but it doesn't warm the car like it would if it was new. (duh, i know it's not new, but still, i'm frikkin freezing mr. bigglesworth!)

 

The best thing to do is to see if your car is already wired for it. Many times GM used one big harness and only added the switches that are needed to power the accessories.

I'm not sure where the rear defroster switch is located on a 92 Firebird. But find a 91-92 bird in the yard that has it. Remone the switch. if you go to the same place on your car there might be a hookup for the switch. If there is, it's a safe bet that the other wiring is there and all that is needed is the hatch.

Does the blower motor work on all speeds. Many times a relay can quit working and you'll have the two lowere speeds but the motor shuts off when turned to HI position.

How good is your coolant (92 vintage?)? may need a radiator flush and refill. Any kinks in the hoses? I just fixed a kink in my 83 -- The car only blew COLD air because of the kink.

 

Damn -- one other thing you're car has that mine don't a heater control valve. It's about a $20-$30 part that went on the late thirdgens. It could be contributing to your problem but since mine don't have one, I can't be sure.

 

coolant should be fine, i've had it changed prolly like 3 times since i bought the car. (diff mechanix, different stories...... ), only had the car a year 1/2 so far.

yes, the blower works on all levels, it's just feels kinda wussy.... as if it's 1/2-assing it's effort if you know what i mean. like if you put the vent on hi and aim it at your face, you get blown away. put the heat on hi and aim it at your face, and you're wondering where the air is, you know? and it's just ....well, i can't think of another word except weak coming out of the vent on top of the dash in front of the windshield. i was just pondering that maybe if i fixed my heat so it blew as hard as the vent, and as hot as it's sposed to be (this is starting to sound rather wrong, good thing there aren't too many minors on this board! ) then maybe i wouldn't need to get a whole new rear hatch, cuz i could just aim the heat back there. (i made the mistake of getting it tinted, and i'd be wasting that money cuz i'd have to get it tinted again, etc = PITA)

can't say i knew about the heater control valve, but i'll look into it. all mechanics keep telling me is that i'll need a new heater core more likely than not, (but they "don't know") and from the other links here i've seen, a core is like $60, unless i was looking at something else. but mechanics around here..... you never know. i've gotten stories going up to $800, and if it's only $60 then i just......RRRGH you know?

wish i could just scratch a ticket and win $5000 or something hahahhahah

 

Okay I think I figured this out. You say when the heater is in the "vent" position the blowing power is great (right?). When you change to the "heater" position, the blowing power from the vents is not so good (right?). If this is the case, EVERYTHING IS A-OK!!!! Let me explain...

The various positions on the heater controls direct the air to different places. When in the "vent" position most of the air is directed through the upper vents on the dash (hence the good blowing power). When you go to the "heater" position, air is primarily directed through the area under the dash and out of the little vcents by the console (probably to warm the toes). Next time you switch to "heater" feel under the dash and by those vents-- that's where most of the air should be blowing from.

It's kind of misleading -- you switch to heater thinking things are gonna get warmer than other positions but the "cold----------->hot lever is the temp controller.

 

That's a good song to shoot pool with, late at night in a dark pool room, with a beer..

If all the settings worked only with the defroster vents at the windshield, I'd say the little vacuum diaphraghm (sp) at the back of the climate control box is shot. In the back of the heater controls, there's a disc that spins as you move the lever from off-max-a/c-vent-heat-defrost. The disc, when it spins, switches different vacuum lines on/off... these vacuum "motors" open or close doors that allows the air to change from the floor to the vent to the defroster.

Usually when the disc goes , though, air only blows out of the defroster vent at the windshield. The disc wears out and causes a vacuum leak and can't open any of the vents. The most obvious-to-see vacuum motor that I can think of is above the passenger's feet, below the dash. Remove the "hush panel" (black panel under bottom of dash), and look up, you'll see the silver vacuum motor with a bright orange vacuum line runnin to it. They were used a lot on old carburetors to engage secondaries.

 

hey mdv6man thanks a bundle! i'm really not trying to blow you off here but i know where the heat's sposed to come out hahaha it's just not coming out enough to warm up my car when it's cold. thank u so much though for your input (!), i'm gonna check out my hanes for the heater control valve, adn i'll see what i can find out about this vacuum motor disc thing you're talking about tomp. and, if i cant do it (time, and tools = problem) i'll tell the shop to see what they can find.

you guys ever up for some pool adn are in my area, i'm game!

 

"she takes about 10 minutes to warm to full temp in the morning (expected, not really a problem) but like 15 at least to get me HEAT inside the car"

LOL, I hate it in the winter when I come out and theres a foot high pile of snow on my car, then an inch thick sheet of ice covering the rear window!! Arrgh it takes soooo long for that rear defroster to melt that whole thing away, and usually by the time it does melt it away, I'm already at college in the parking lot! The worst part is driving and only half of it is still defrosted and I can't see the cars to my rear-left,but then again, it wouldn't hurt me to wait an extra 10 minutes to wait for it to defrost before I leave, but I'm just that lazy in the morning, LOL.

 

Just to let you all know, this was GirlovFyre posting under my name....must have been by accident.....

 

The vacuum motor disc is at the back right of the heater controls... it's "under" where all the vacuum lines to into the heater controls. But if you're moving that selector, and the air changes direction between defroster, vent, and lower heating ducts, then the disc is okay.

I wonder if your thermostat is stuck open.

 

They make a spray can Defroster fluid -works pretty good. & with that back glass, we need all the help we can get.
As for starting your car and letting it warm up in the morning - I thought thats what little brothers were for - I mean, they ought to be good for something, right?