Your low on coolent!
system set up to protect engine first so routs coolent away from heater.
1995 MonteCarlo i have heat when car is idle but when you put in gear and you give it gas has no heat any thoughts i have already had the head gaskets replaced and the heater core flushed but still no heat
you have to bleed the system it sounds like it has air in it so you need to locate the bleed screw which is normally on the thermostat housing
The temperature gauge on a car fluctuates because the car's thermostat is opening and closing. The gauge goes up when the thermostat closes and the gauge goes down when the thermostat opens.
Sounds like it could be a bad thermostat - not closing to allow engine to heat to normal operating temperature
Low coolant, check when engine is cold.
This is probably an indication that your thermostat is stuck open. Go to a radiator shop and ask them to test it.
1990 Chevrolet Lumina temperature sender is located on the back side of the thermostat housing. The sender has a wire that goes to the temperature gauge.
When the temperature goes down in Kansas it gets cold
Can be a defective temperature sending unit. If you just chance the coolant can be air trapped in the cooling system. You would need to bleed all air from the system. Can also be a defective gauge, but highly unlikely.
I had the same problem with my 1970 mustang. First take the wire off of the Temperature sending unit (usually on the front of the block) and ground out the wire and see if the gauge goes up on the dash. if so it is just a temperature sending unit. They cost about 7 dollars.
Ground the wire that goes to the temperature sending unit and if the gauge goes up then the sending unit is defective.
It has 2 independent sensors in it, one goes to the cluster for the coolant temp gauge. The other goes to the DME for controlling the fuel mix, engine timing, cam timing, as the enging goes from cold to operating temp. It effects performance, MPG, and emissions.