Time To Warm Up

[Guest Ross]

My (Alhambra 1.9 115 Tiptronic) seems to takes ages to warm up, the weekend on an 8 mile trip it just got to 90 degrees, my Cupra takes half this time. Is this normal?

 

Many thanks

 

Ross

[johnb80]

Sounds about the same as my new 115 Galaxy. I'm told it's because the engine is so efficient it has very little waste heat available.

 

Regards - JB

[Dave-G]

The internal heater of these cars draw their "hot" water from the cold side of the thermostat, so you gorra wait for the engine to acheive operating temperature[ish] before the stat lets any hot water flow to radiator for cooling. In an ideal world the thermostat seat or flange would have a bleed hole to allow a small amount of heated water to pass through,but i understand that in some extreme climates that would never happen, perhaps somebody in alaska could comment?

[Guest Ross]

Thanks for the info, I was contemplating replacing the thermostat but wont bother now as it seems a characteristic of the car.

 

Cheers

 

Ross

[Guest SA Intruder]

I'm not sure Dave's right.

 

I cannot confirm or otherwise the post-thermostat statement until I can look and see in the light! The "CD" doesn't show this in any detail, that I can find.

 

But mine warms the cabin within a few minutes of cold start, certainly before the gauge moves into the scaled sector.

[Fordy]

My September 2003 115ps Galaxy warms up as follows:-

 

After being parked in an unheated garage for 2 days and taken out today with an outside temperature of 8 degrees C got to 90 degrees C in just under 4 miles. The booster heater came on and the interior heater was acceptably warm within 2 miles.

This is better than my previous Galaxy which was registered in December 2000 (also 115 ps).

Regards, Fordy. :(

[rwtomkins]

surely a lot depends on whether our old friend the auxiliary heater fires up? despite the operating parameters laid down in the handbook and/or CD, these units seem to have a mind of their own and are quite unpredictable in whether they decide to fire up or not. on a cool day when the aux heater isn't in the mood, i wouldn't be surprised if it took quite a few miles of driving to get the coolant up to a temperature where you are getting much pleasure from the interior heater. similarly, without any help from the aux heater, i wouldn't say ross's experience - 8 miles to reach 90 degrees - sounds particularly worrying or unusual. not in my experience, anyway.

[Ivor_E_Tower]

I concur. My old Rover 820 used to take an age to give warm air and for the temp gauge to move. My parents' 1974 Volvo estate gave warm air and had temp gauge on "normal" after just a couple of miles! - evaluated on the same stretch or road and similar traffic conditions.

[Tigger]

Does take a time to warm up. With heated seats you get a warm bum but cold hands. If you sit on your hands you get a ticket from the men in blue. Probably the next model should have Auto steering?

[william]

There is a big difference between getting warm air and the engine being warmed up.

 

I can get warm air after only 1-2 miles but it takes 10 miles (10-15 minutes) to get the temp gauge at NORM.

 

Turning the rear blower to min helps the warm up for the driver when the aux heater doesn't cut in.

 

(I thought the temperature read out on the trip computer is for transmission oil not water?)

[Guest AndrewD]

You are not mistaken - they take an age to warm up and its a trait of the car. I am on my 2nd one, an 02 115Tdi, my first was a 99T 110 Tdi and both take an age to get warm. On a cold morning I start mine up and my wife's 96 Xantia together, in about 5 mins the wife's xantia is too warm inside and needs the heater turned down, mine is still cold 12 miles later up the road !!! It definately warms up quicker the faster you go !

[ridway]

I cant comment directly on the diesel version because mine is a petrol and warms up quite swiftly. I do however have a diesel Ford Ranger which suffers similar symptoms to what are described in this thread.

 

I live quite high up and in the winter months when I leave for work early in the morning my journey is nearly all downhill, not steep, but on cold frosty mornings it is nearly all engine braking for several miles. I have to make a point of taking my gloves because the engine just does not get warm. When I arrive the temp gauge has only just started to move. Normal driving and going home, i'm as warm as toast

 

The designers of the derv Gal obviously had foresight when they incorporated the aux heater, I think its a great idea and I wish I had one in my truck. I suppose that the situation highlights the relative efficiency of a diesel engine under low load conditions.

 

I think both petrol and diesel both exhibit these sypmtoms but it is perhaps more noticable in the Gal because of its small efficient diesel engine and the large cabin area.

[johnb80]

I just did a 30 mile trip last night 1.5 deg C outside. Gentle driving all the way, I like to see the high numbers on the average fuel consumption, when I got home the auxilary heater was still running. Does anyone know is the fuel used by the aux heater taken into account in the MPG figures ??

 

Regards - JB

[Guest SA Intruder]

No it isn't.

 

The fuel is taken off before the engine, and the ECU doesn't account for it.