heat & temp gauge problems

[User Name missing]

I have a '96 2.3 with 126k+ miles. I recently changed all the rad. hoses, thermostat, new temp sensor, upper and lower water pipes (wtf they are called) and put fresh Peak long life antifreeze/water. Before changing all of this, I noticed the heater wasn't blowing out very warm air nor was the temp gauge getting very warm in the colder weather. Needless to say the antifreeze and system was shot. The pipes rusted thru and broke, when I flushed the system, there was rust chunks in the water. After installing all the new parts, its still doesnt blow out very warm air, takes awhile for it too and the temp gauge doesnt go much past the C (cold), even after upwards to 30 miles of driving. Now since I replaced all this equipment right before the cold spell set it (note, altough it was cold enough to make my butt go numb from sitting on cold concrete), I do not know how it runs in the hot weather yet. Man it freakn sux not having hot air in the mornings! But in the 10+ previous years, I never had this problem. Could the heater core be clogged/goin bad? How do I check? Theres no antifreeze leaking anywhere (well after I finally got all the worm gear clamps tighten real good) like there normally should be when a heater core goes out. When I flushed the system, it was spewing clear water out of the radiator so I'm guessing that means the core isnt clogged.

 

[srteach]

If you had actual chunks of rust, the cabin heater core could be plugged.
Cabin heat comes from a different core than the radiator. There are hoses on the passenger said of the engine that go to the firewall. Those are the cabin heater hoses. One should be attached just before the thermostat housing, the other should be attached to the bottom of the water pump. You could take the heater hoses off and run water through them (or have the core cleaned, or replace it).
The system sometimes takes a couple cycles to bleed the air out of the cabin heater.

Do you have AC? If so, there is a vacuum operated valve (looks like an H) in the heater hoses. This short circuits the coolant when the AC is on.

 

[User Name missing]

Yes I know about the hoses. I already flushed the system. The flush kit mounts to the upper firewall hoses. It should have flushed the heater core also.