curmudge1
11-18-2003, 13:20
Save us from incompetent mechanics!
I had posted before about not getting enough heat from the heating system, new t-stat (unnecessary) and new heater core, but no improvement.
Well, I took it to the local Chevy dealer, figuring it was the controls, doors, etc. Special thanks to Brian Johnson (Moondoggie) for making the effort to measure his heater core temps & posting (~155degF with a meat thermometer, iirc). Armed with this I took it in & talked with my service desk guy... couple of phone conversations later (btw, he checked with his tech support & they said the air coming out should be ~130degF)... & he tells me the heater core is just dangling in space, where it's supposed to be bolted up against the air flow area so that air has to flow through it -not around it-, no sign of the brackets that hold it in place, and the plastic it bolts into is stripped and cracked, so they have to disassemble the dash to replace it, oh and the plastic cover is cracked, too, need a new one of those. He cut me a little slack here & there but still over $800! I guess local garage mechanic that did the new heater core install just messed up & didn't tell me, just put things back together as best he could (not good enough). So, must have been the heater core plugged orginally, then the bad install job. I figure I paid the guy $175 to do $850 worth of damage, not to mention being uncomfortably cold all last winter!
I have heat now. I think the dealer needs to revisit the air controls, since when I've adjusted to just heat on the feet, I'm still getting significant dash outlet hot air. But, there is heat.
Just in case someone was wondering what happened, and so someone here might benefit from my experience.
I had posted before about not getting enough heat from the heating system, new t-stat (unnecessary) and new heater core, but no improvement.
Well, I took it to the local Chevy dealer, figuring it was the controls, doors, etc. Special thanks to Brian Johnson (Moondoggie) for making the effort to measure his heater core temps & posting (~155degF with a meat thermometer, iirc). Armed with this I took it in & talked with my service desk guy... couple of phone conversations later (btw, he checked with his tech support & they said the air coming out should be ~130degF)... & he tells me the heater core is just dangling in space, where it's supposed to be bolted up against the air flow area so that air has to flow through it -not around it-, no sign of the brackets that hold it in place, and the plastic it bolts into is stripped and cracked, so they have to disassemble the dash to replace it, oh and the plastic cover is cracked, too, need a new one of those. He cut me a little slack here & there but still over $800! I guess local garage mechanic that did the new heater core install just messed up & didn't tell me, just put things back together as best he could (not good enough). So, must have been the heater core plugged orginally, then the bad install job. I figure I paid the guy $175 to do $850 worth of damage, not to mention being uncomfortably cold all last winter!
I have heat now. I think the dealer needs to revisit the air controls, since when I've adjusted to just heat on the feet, I'm still getting significant dash outlet hot air. But, there is heat.
Just in case someone was wondering what happened, and so someone here might benefit from my experience.