+1, you need a new heater core.

 

yea i ran water hose both ways water came out same size as hose is, as for temp at filler i took loose cap today while runniing after a long drive got it all over my hands and was just warm actuallt felt good bout 35 here today, thats insane that u can let it hit ur skin after driving it, has me stumped

 

If it was only **** warm after driving for a while, when blowing out under pressure, it is NOT as hot as it should be. With a 195 degree stat, your needle should be fairly close to the 210 mark.... (a lot closer than it is to the 130 mark....)

Oh, and, just as an aside, NEVER open the radiator when its hot. (and under pressure.) Hot coolant expands, if it doesn't have any place to go, pressure increases.... about to whatever your cap is rated for. (usually 16 lbs.) That's a LOT of expansion to happen ALL AT ONCE when you pull the cap, and you can get a geyser of hot coolant, that will leave you with second degree burns wherever it hits. Not a fun experience.

 

Does the heat "smell"? I'm wondering if there are pinholes in the heater core and you're losing coolant. The heater core on my truck had pinholes and wasn't great at heat, either. You should be able to check the drain of the HVAC box if you are. Then again, it could be clogged, which means this is a good time to clean that as well.

 

No heat with a cooling system that appears to be functioning properly is usually bad heater core (can also be bad heater blower motor or electrical fault between heater control and blower motor).

One thing I didn't see mentioned is Rad Cap.
Rad caps have multiple seals. The main seal (the one you easily see when you remove and view the cap) is simple and reliable, and rarely fails, but the others do.
Not normally the problem when the engine is too cool rather than overheating, but worth looking into for thoroughness. Inexpensive to replace.

A pressure test will confirm the main seal is working and the cap releases pressure at the correct PSI and will confirm both visible and hidden leaks are not present. I'm not sure if it will test the other seals in the cap, though.

My 96 5.2L, which I'm still getting to know, is quite slow to warm up in (below freezing) winter. Generally it needs to be running for about 20~30 minutes before the heater blows hot but will blow warm fairly soon after startup. Not sure if that is normal or if it needs attention, but that's longer than most of the vehicles I've owned, and is very typical of a heater core that is less than perfect. You can replace the heater core in just about any well used vehicle (10 years old) and get more heat, even if you are OK with what it puts out now.

A significant disparity between the top and bottom rad hose temps points to a blockage somewhere.

 

Bad (slipping) pump?

 

I just joined this site because I am have the same problem with my 01 ram 2500 5.9 gas. New water pump new 195 stat. Low temp gauge and Luke warm heat. Both heater core hoses hot upper rad hose hot lower rad hose not hot. I have also noticed that my cooling system builds no pressure and I mean I can drive the truck for an hour pull it into garage and take the cap off with out any coolant or steam spilling out.

My questions are would a bad or clogged heater core cause the truck to run cooler?

And would a pressure issue have something to do with low temp and heat?

My thoughts are that the lack in pressure is do to the lower coolant temp.

I am truly not trying to highjack ur post I just want to let u know ur not alone...

 

The heater core has nothing to do with engine temp. What brand Tstat did you use and did you test it first? Also, try replacing the radiator cap. 16lb cap is what you want.

 

Not sure if this is true, just a shot in the dark, but If the system is leaking anywhere, the system could loose pressure, thus keep the temp from not coming up all the way. Had this happen once and found a few bad freeze plugs leaking.

suggest doing a leak test on the system..

Also, I had a bad radiator, flush seemed fine, however truck kept overheating, swapped the seemingly good flushed radiator w/ a new one, and overheating went away.

Suggest also swapping heater core.

 

Two weeks ago I installed a 180 hyperteck stat when I realized my heat issue I put a 195 stat in from napa. I did not test it befor install.

And about the leak idea. If I had a leak it would still build some pressure maybe more then normal do to an over heat issue do to coolant leak. It basically seems like this thing is running too cold.

Is it possible that do to the new pump stat and coolant that the cooling system is just working too well?

I'm going to flush the heater core and put a new 16lb cap on tomorrow and report back.

Thanks for the help and input everyone.