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Another dumb question :-)

...along the lines of the previous thermostat one...

How long should a car take to get up to its "normal" running temp in this weather ?

The gauge on my Hyundai doesn't appear to move for ages - or at least a good 5 minutes (always been like that), then creeps up to its usual spot on the dial after about 5 minutes more (by which time you can actually get some heat out of the blower ! - and if you`re really lucky, it might start clearing the screen !!!)

As I say, its always been like that (perhaps the gauge doesn't register below about 40C), but i'm open to the possibilty the thermostat has been knackered from new :-}

AFAIK it isn't circulating coolant through the rad, although if i'm feeling brave in the morning I might check it out...

Reply to
Colin Wilson
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On 19-Nov-05 23:25:53, Colin Wilson said

Dumb answer coming up, kind of... my theory is not to try to get heat from the engine until it _has_ warmed up, as (or so it seems to me) this will prolong the process.

All the best, Angus Manwaring. (for e-mail remove ANTISPEM)

I need your memories for the Amiga Games Database: A collection of Amiga Game reviews by Amiga players

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Reply to
Angus Manwaring

You should feel heat in about half a mile or so on a modern vehicle.

mrcheerful

Reply to
mrcheerful

The message from Colin Wilson contains these words:

Depends how you're driving it. Leaving Lynmouth with a cold engine and climbing up to Lynton would take our old 1600 Maestro from stone cold to hot in about two minutes.

Alternatively, starting it and idling it - could take twenty minutes, sometimes more.

Reply to
Guy King

Bear in mind that the heater and the radiator are effectively ways of dumping excessive heat form the engine block. The first priority of the system is to get to engine to its best operating temperature - and not to heat the passengers. A failed thermostat will prevent the engine from getting hot in the first place by circulating water throughout the system whilst the engine is trying to heat up.

John

Reply to
john

Your theory is correct - and enforced!

The in car heater matrix gets it's hot water from the pipes to the radiator. These pipes aren't used until the thermostat opens, which is when the engine is up to temperature.

If the engine is warming up very slowly, it could just be that it's really cold outside, but it'smore lilelytobe a stuck-open thermostat - meaning that the radiator is cooling it before it's really warm, making it get up to temperature really slowly.

If the *car heater* is slow to warm up it could be because it's cold outside so the engine is taking longer to get up to temp and open the thermostat, or it could be a stuck (partially) closed stat which means that the hot water only trickles through to the heater matrix/radiator.

How old is the car?

Reply to
PC Paul

Dunno how modern you mean, but in this cold snap, the heater in my '94 525i, still gives warm air within half a mile. Even though the engine temperature guage has barely started to register. Mike.

Reply to
Mike G

I know, and I try not to generally speaking - although I thought the feed to the heater matrix was usually part of the normal circulation, not fed from the rad.

7 years old now (S reg '98)
Reply to
Colin Wilson

the heater isn't part of the normal circulation its an entirly different branch. You shouldn't have heat untill the thermostat opens when the engine is up to operating temp. I live in america so its about

190F here.
Reply to
k&mautomotive

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