Help with 2005 Impala heater not working when idling

2005 Impala does not heat when idling. But when we drive it or give it some gas, the heater gets hot. We replaced the thermostat. What else could be happening? Could someone please help us, we are totally broke and it's Christmas time.

 

sounds like your air bound....you can try this for free......jack up the front of the car so that the radiator cap is up higher than the heater core and that should make all the air go to the top of the radiator....top it off and that should do it

 

what motor is in there, most of the time air won;t just appear in the cooling system, unless there is a problem, your coolant may be low causing air. head gasket leaks pumping air into the system and intake plenums are also common on these cars. waiting to long to diagnose the concern will lead to a more expensive fix.

 

do you hear or feel the air change direction at a idle? in other words does it switch from floor to dash or something like that?, if so look for a vacuum leak to the heater controls. if not you might need to keep burping the system to make the air problem go away, if it is not air you either have a problem with flow or low coolant temp, what temp range of thermostat was installed, also have the heater hoses been removed lately? if they are the same size someone could have inadvertently reversed them, that can cause heating problems, of course gmtech has a good point with his comments and those possibilitys should be checked out.

life begins when the kids leave home and the dog dies