Poor heating

[kboutsider]

Hey all, I just noticed as of late that the heater in my car isn't blowing hot air. It's luke warm at best. What could be causing this? It worked very well last winter. I did break my temp gauge when i was painting my gauges never bothered to replace it as I am putting an aftermarket gauge pod in. Any ideas would be great.

 

[RABID_MP5]

Hmm, this is my first winter with the P5 and the heat does seem slow to arrive - OK, not great, after 20 miles or so. Is this your first winter with it? Things that come to mind:

thermostat - temp gauge rises OK but still...

sealer - I had a small radiator leak and put some "pepper" type sealer in - maybe clogging the heater core?

Underdrive pulley - slows water pump - not helping things

Wagon effect - more cubic feet to warm than my old 626

Damper & control - seem OK. I do note that "best" position for me is midway between the upper register/floor combined detent and the pure floor detent.

A/C compressor - yeah I did the mod on here where the A/C will ONLY run if I push the button. You might want to make sure your compressor isn't turning due to the screwy OEM setup.

Design deficiency? - How well does the heat work for others with P5s?

 

[pasadena_commut]

Hey all, I just noticed as of late that the heater in my car isn't blowing hot air. It's luke warm at best. What could be causing this? It worked very well last winter. I did break my temp gauge when i was painting my gauges never bothered to replace it as I am putting an aftermarket gauge pod in. Any ideas would be great.

Check the cable between the central console temperature control and the white plastic wheel under the dash which it turns. Especially if you have had a stereo put in, or any other work done in the intervening time, which might have affected the cables. If the cables are not re-installed properly they can bind so that they don't move their respective wheels properly.

 

[cwaitt11]

my heater is also very slow to warm up. It is disappointing because lately i have to go to school for 730 and when its 15 degrees outside...its not a pleasant trip to school.

 

[07nhbpsi]

When was the last time u changed the thermostat??????? If it worked fine last year i'm willing to be that u need to change it, they're inexpensive(2thumbs)

 

[idrift4wd]

yea, supposidly if your thermostat is "stuck" in the open position, you will not get any heat.

my thermostat broke but it broke in the closed position, so it over heats the engine : ) but i get heat lol

 

[raserx]

+1 , sounds like the thermostat. One of the things I love about this car is the fast warm up.

 

[P-Funk!]

^x3. Mine is showing heat before i leave the development (one mile).

 

[SoonP5ismine]

when i was changing my coolant (flushed multiple times with distilled water) i was noticing that a air pocket can form in the heater core and prevent heat from getting inside the car. to overcome that i ran the engine at higher rpm to assist in pushing the air pocket thru the heater core and heat returned. maybe this can also happen when you dont use heat for a long time and then suddenly decide to use it? not sure if this makes sense but i know my heat blows hot once the engin is warmed up in about 10 minutes of driving. ever since i did my first flush of coolant i always use distilled water when flushing the cooling system and if i have to add coolant its always mixed with distilled water. i never buy the premixed coolant as i dont know if they use regular water or distilled/ distilled water is less corrosive thats why i use it.

 

[sm4rtf00d]

+1 im having the same problem. I'm gunna order a new thermostat tomorrow and will have it install by next week. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[goodfornothing]

I'm interested in this. Mine takes like a couple minutes to warm up. Is that normal?

 

[lil_red_wagon]

if you have extreme cold winters, a warmer thermostat is a good idea. it will make the car warm up faster since the thermostat waits longer to open.

the drive cable is most often the culprit in cases like this, so check that out for sure.

if all of that fails, it is probably the heater core.

 

[kboutsider]

if all of that fails, it is probably the heater core.

that's what i didn't want to hear lol

 

[VP222]

that's what i didn't want to hear lol

I just found out that I have bad heater core. How bad it is to change out. I heard some horrible stories about that. Plus Local auto store don't even sell it and I have to get it from dealer.

 

[03zoomzoom]

Alldata calls for 3.5 hrs and a 'B' level mechanic. Could be somewhat difficult.