Possible intermittent problem in MI
I have been fighting a no-heat @ idle problem for a week on my '02 LSE. Thanks to LVC for many tips. I bled the coolant profusely to no avail - still cold. I got into AllData and was able to print out the schematics for the cooling system and wiring. I found the DCCV and aux pump. I unplugged their common 6-pin harness and when I started the car I could feel all lines from the DCCV area hot and started getting warm air right away. Once the car reached temp it was toasty. I thought I read somewhere online that unplugging the DCCV wires would default it to heat. This is consistent with an opposite problem that AllData describes - that failed solenoids on DCCV will prohibit cooling (i.e. defaults to heat with no current - same as unplugged). I expected my cold air to return once plugging in the harness again but it was OK. I went to 65F setting on passenger side with 85F on driver - both hot. I went to AC/cold on both and they got ice cold (mind you it was -6F this AM in SE MI). I went back to 90F and they got hot again. I noticed that with recirculation on, it was hottest.
So, my problem was no heat at idle and minimal heat at 2k-3k RPM. That means that I did not have enough coolant flow through the heater core. The car has 104k miles and I have no reason to expect coolant blockage to the heater core. This was confirmed today with high heat output. Contrary to what's written above about the aux pump, I was able to achieve high temp air from the vents at idle with the aux pump unplugged. With the engine at 2500 RPM, there was more heat low to the core and indeed the vent air temp was slightly higher. The aux pump would clearly increase this flow and air temp but I have not been able to confirm that the aux pump is used for cabin heating at all. I've seen notes about the aux pump being used to provide extra cooling for the cylinder heads (allowed more efficient engine driven pump?) and allowing continuous coolant flow when the engine is stopped and the engine driven pump is not working. I suspect this engine-off cooling was the primary reason for the aux pump. My problem absolutely changed and is at least temporarily resolved after disconnecting the DCCV/auxpump connector and reconnecting it (while running engine). I don't know why, but maybe the DCCV is starting to fail, was stuck and I somehow unstuck it.
Sorry for the long post. This thread may be dead but hopefully my experiments will help someone else. I'll update this if the situation changes.