Help the Hoosier

[HoosierDaddy]

I recently began working on "MY NEW" 1987 Chevy 4X4. I started with the exhaust, Tires, Starter, Battery, Alt. Etc. Then the cold came....I bought a New Blower motor and cage. There is no longer noise coming from the depths of hell. However, The air is nowhere near as Hot as it was when I had the old spawn of Satan in there. Any Ideas???
Also, The Power Steering Pump...The New Belt squeals almost incessantly. I have tried adjusting the tension. It seems when the weather is warm I have to adjust it one way, and then when it gets cold.I have to adjust it the other way. Is there a Sweetspot to stop this sound also??? Preferably, One that doesn't need constant adjustment based on the ever changing weather here in Indiana?

 

[1987 GMC Jimmy]

As far as the heat goes, I'd say make sure there's tension but smooth movement when you move the HVAC controller to heat to make sure the heater cable isn't binding or sticking. If that's fine, check your coolant level and add if necessary. If that's fine, check your coolant cleanliness. If it's not clean, flush your cooling system. Prestone has a three dollar flush kit at Walmart, and that's all you need. If that's fine, or if you flushed it, burp the cooling system by parking the vehicle on an incline, engine up, and running it with the coolant cap open and a stout funnel in the radiator that can pretty well seal itself in there in order to purge any air bubbles trapped in there out. If you're still not having any luck, replace the thermostat. That's about eight dollars right there, but you can always boil the thermostat and use a thermometer to see when it opens if you want to diagnose before replacing it. You want to replace it with a 195* stat if you find that it's bad or if there's not a 195* stat in there. It's stamped on there so you'll know. If none of that fixes it, I'd say the last thing to look at is the water pump. You can get a new one for seventeen dollars, and it's not a hard job, but it's the most involved out of all the aforementioned potential solutions. As far as the belt goes, you can get a straight edge and place it ove your belt-in-question's longest span. If there's more than a half inch of flex between the straight edge and the belt's midpoint in relation to the straight edge, you're too loose. If there's less, you're too tight. I don't recommend using belt dressing, but I would suggest testing other belts to make sure they're okay.