Engine warm up..

[Nickosnose]

Has anyone out there with the 1.0T engine noticed how long it takes to get decent heat from the vents in cold weather?
Even though the temp gauge shows 4 bars the heater output is poor until you've done at least 10 miles..also noticed radiator hoses remain cold..

VX had a look and said it was normal but i'm thinking Thermostat maybe dodgy..would have thought small alloy engine would warm up a lot quicker..
Thank god for the heated screen..

[Susan44]

Heating system uses waste heat from the engine. Efficient engines put out less waste heat by definition.

[mattb_srivx]

If you have the heater dial turned to full from the get go you'll actually be causing your engine to warm up slower. Reason being is that your heater matrix is basically like a small radiator and your blasting icy cold air over it when the engine is trying to warm up, taking what little heat there will be for the first few minutes out of the system. Your thermostat opens at 85-90c for that reason.

Mine takes a good 10 minutes of steady driving to even feel any heat in this weather and probably a further 10 minutes to get toasty. So generally I don't bother with the heaters until I know the water temperature is up. I'm fortunate that my car was spec'd with the heated seats and wheel. Godsend at this time of year.

[Rickardo]

Have the 1.4 non turbo and takes a while to heat up.

My partners Fiat 500 takes less time. Thinks it's poor design but have heated seats so use them

[Nickosnose]

Sounds normal then...
I know using the heater lowers engine temp...old trick in the summer when old cars overheat..but if you can't get heat to demist windows for 20 mins or so you will be late for work a lot this time of year...

Time to go back to the seventies and blank off the rad with cardboard...

[Susan44]

Sounds normal then...
I know using the heater lowers engine temp...old trick in the summer when old cars overheat..but if you can't get heat to demist windows for 20 mins or so you will be late for work a lot this time of year...

Time to go back to the seventies and blank off the rad with cardboard...

I had a vinyl blinder to clip onto the grille in winter. Yes when cars had heater valves, in summer they were off and you could inject a heater full of cold water into the engine by turning on when the steam started to waft past the windscreen on a long hill. These days the water permanently flows through the heater and the controls just direct air over cold or hot parts.
Use of aircon will dry the air and that comes on automatically on demist setting. Add to that the screen heater and you should be clear in 2 minutes.

[devon556]

Ideally you shouldn't use the heater until the engine has got to operating temperature, as doing it before then puts excessive strain on a cold engine which is trying to warm up. This is especially important with the Air Conditioning system. If you really do need to use the heater, put the heater control to max, but keep the fan on either 1 or 2.

[john002]

Ideally you shouldn't use the heater until the engine has got to operating temperature, as doing it before then puts excessive strain on a cold engine which is trying to warm up. This is especially important with the Air Conditioning system. If you really do need to use the heater, put the heater control to max, but keep the fan on either 1 or 2.



You something every day.
My cars always parked outside and in my 59 years of driving in the winters I have always run my cars with heater set to full on blower at the fastest And screen heater on, normally at 05:30 starts, car sometimes covered with snow and ice.

[Rickardo]

Ideally you shouldn't use the heater until the engine has got to operating temperature, as doing it before then puts excessive strain on a cold engine which is trying to warm up. This is especially important with the Air Conditioning system. If you really do need to use the heater, put the heater control to max, but keep the fan on either 1 or 2.

You forget about the thermostat and what it does. it's a closed circuit so coolant flows round the engine until it warms then the thermostat opens and hot coolant flows to the heater matrix so adjusting the temp dials doe nothing until the thermostat opens. Also speed of the engine warming up is determined on air density eg in summer the air warmer and thinner so engine warms up quicker whilst is winter the air is more cold and dense so engine takes longer to warm up

What can put a strain on system is if like me you have the full winter pack but the system regulates this to avoid too big a power drain even if you switch everything on

[devon556]

Ideally you shouldn't use the heater until the engine has got to operating temperature, as doing it before then puts excessive strain on a cold engine which is trying to warm up. This is especially important with the Air Conditioning system. If you really do need to use the heater, put the heater control to max, but keep the fan on either 1 or 2.

You forget about the thermostat and what it does. it's a closed circuit so coolant flows round the engine until it warms then the thermostat opens and hot coolant flows to the heater matrix so adjusting the temp dials doe nothing until the thermostat opens. Also speed of the engine warming up is determined on air density eg in summer the air warmer and thinner so engine warms up quicker whilst is winter the air is more cold and dense so engine takes longer to warm up

What can put a strain on system is if like me you have the full winter pack but the system regulates this to avoid too big a power drain even if you switch everything on

That's all true, Especially about air density and the time taken for the engine to warm up, but that's why I said originally ideally you shouldn't use the fan until the engine is warmed up, otherwise your making the fan blow around the exact same cold air, putting unnecessary demands on the engine. It's exactly the same with people who jump in the car, turn the engine on and just drive off.