I tried searching the threads, but I guess I'm just not very good at yet.

The problem I have is that when I turn the heat all the way to the right (hottest setting) it blows out only slightly warm air (maybe 60-70 degrees).
The temp reading in the car stays around 175-180.
The car takes a good amount of time to heat up, maybe my thermostat is stuck open, dunno. About one minute after I start it up, when it's still cold, the fans kick in, another puzzle.
I have an autoxray 5000 on the way. Hopefully I'll be able to see what's going on with it, but thought I'd ask for some possibilities before I get busy with the scanner so I can have a good head-start. Thanks guys.

 

The fans will usually come on if you have an active DTC code. Is the SES light on? Just make sure you run the scanner on OBD-I, and use the 12-pin to 16-pin adapter plug required for the confusing OBD-I 95 LT1's.

Heater cores tend to get plugged up after 13 years. There are numerous threads on the "General F-Body Tech & Info" forum regarding the fix. I'll move your post there.

 

Make sure your coolant is full. Just checking the overflow doesn't mean that it is full because if you have low coolant the radiator may not pull the extra coolant from the overflow and you could still be low. Since the heater core is highest point it will be the last to get the coolant.

Check the floor boards on the pass side to make sure the heater doesn't have a leak.

Make sure the cap is good so that the radiator remains under pressure and isn't boiling the coolant out. And check for for any other coolant leaks if the coolant is low. Now if the coolant is not low, the heater may need to be flushed becuase tubes are gunked up not allowing much heated coolant to enter.

Make sure that you can feel coolant going into the heater core by checking the hoses. The inlet side is on the right.

Unless your engine is really running cool, i.e. the t stat is stuck open and/or the fans are on all the time, the heater should provide consistant heat---maybe not really hot, but certainly not cool. JMHO

 

since your car is staying at that low temp i am going to gues that the previous owner had a 160 degreeT-Stat put in and reprogramed the fans to come on at 160 Degrees

 

I saw the shoebox fix for the OBD I connector type when looking at the 95 LT1's OBD II (jumpers) and I've heard a lot about the special 12 to 16 pin adapter I need. I don't know if the xray 5000 will come with one, but if it doesn't, where can I purchase one of these 12 to 16 pin adapters?

I had a coolant leak, but fixed it (loose hose clamp). Oil is not milky, but, when I take off the oil cap, there is a lot of ambient moisture. Two weeks ago I replaced #4 sparkplug wire, the loss of the cylinder was causing the transmission to jump around like a wild monkey in 6th gear. I'll be replacing all of the plugs and wires this weekend, along with my back up light switch.

What is the best gear oil to use for the M6 tranny? Thanks, everyone.

 

Check with Auto Xray.... they provide them with some scanners. Should be available as a separate purchase.

Some moisture in the oil fill cap and valve covers is normal in cold weather, particularly if you let the engine idle a lot, or drive short trips where it doesn't heat up fully.

The T56 tranny requires Dexron III ATF. It is not "gear" oil. Some people like synthetic, but there is some controversy about what years the synthetic might damage the blocker rings. Do a "search".... I'm just recalling some of the posts I read. I just used conventional Dexron III when my car still had the T56.

 

Thanks

 

when those heater cores get clogged they provide nice luke warm heat, give it a flush by running some water through the hoses going into it.

 

Autoxray sells the correct cable.

 

Thirteen years of minerals plugged into little teeny tiny tubes isn't coming out with a water hose. People really need to stop wasting their time trying that.

That's akin to spraying a waterhose to smash up a sidewalk.

I wouldn't use a jackhammer on a heater core, either.

Replacement, FTW.

 

Flushing the core works for most people.

 

I just did this flush on two cars in the summer before winter and the one vehicle, a minivan was so clogged that the gunk in the radiator kept the fluid from coming out the drain hole, I had to stick a tool in there to unloosen all of it over and over again. The van was getting only cold air, and after flushing and refilling both radiator and heater core, it now has very hot air. No doubt that installing a new core would be nice, but why bother if you don't have to. Personally I'd rather try the easy stuff first, cause you never know.