Heater takes a while to get hot.

Hi All,
Now in the colder months in Australia I have noticed that my 1995, 1.5
litre, 4 Door, EG, Honda Civic heater takes quite a while to get hot.
Is this normal, and is there anything I can do to help the heater warm
up sooner. I have notice that the temp gauge wont move from cold until
at least 10mins worth of driving (not that I dont mind the car running
cool but I keep freezing in the morning)
Regards,
Michael.

 

MikeLikes wrote:

Hi All,
Now in the colder months in Australia I have noticed that my 1995, 1.5
litre, 4 Door, EG, Honda Civic heater takes quite a while to get hot.
Is this normal, and is there anything I can do to help the heater warm
up sooner. I have notice that the temp gauge wont move from cold until
at least 10mins worth of driving (not that I dont mind the car running
cool but I keep freezing in the morning)
Regards,
Michael.
---------------------------------------------------------
With the temps reaching 95+(F) today it is hard
to think that someone esle is freezing.

My 1991 1.5 Civic takes aboiut that time to start blowing hot air.
On rally cold, below 20F (~-10C) I let the car idle for 5 miniutes or
so.
More of a ssafety issue, I am not willing to drive with frost on the
inside of the windshield. I change the oil more freqeuently at 2/3
the suggested milage.

Terry

 

Replace the thermostat.

 

-------------------

When it's -40 F, I start the Honda, brush off the snow, and drive gently
to the road, then to the secondary highway, then to the main highway.
It's about three minutes to the main highway, and the heater is getting
toasty and the guage is at the normal position.

Make sure you don't put any tap water (Hondacide) in your Honda when you
change the thermostat, and check the reservoir the day after you get the
thermostat replaced.

'Curly'

 

That is not directly related to your issue but my 91 Accord doesn't really
seem to warm up in winter unless i'm doing city driving, on the highway the
temp gauge stays at cold and the air inside is coming out kinda cold too,
even when the heater is at max. Of course it's not a problem when you live
in Texas but I got kinda chilly on my last 4000 miles winter round trip to
Canada! When I'm in real winter weather, everything is normal when i'm in
heavy traffic or in the city, a lot of red lights, makes the temp gauge
raise a little with nice warm air coming out, but as soon as I pick up some
speed it falls back to "Cold" and the air coming in the cabin is not warm at
all. I am curious what causes that... Even if I will probably not fix it.

RAT

 

The place to start is replacing the thermostat. It is cheap and easy
and it would definitely explain the cold running. Running the engine
too cold all the time isn't good.

 

Replace the thermostat. You list ALL the classic symptoms.

 

Thanks for the info ppl.
I will most likely change the thermostat as it may be staying slightly
open. I got a price today for around $60AU including the gasket so it
wont hurt the pocket to much.
Regards,
Michael.

 

What's the disadvantage of not replacing it? I mean this car did 40,000
miles (at least) without it

RAT

 

Greatly accelerated engine wear; increased fuel consumption; increased
sludge formation; PCV system clogging; emissions-test failures on high HCs.

The engine will run rich, which will wash oil off the cylinder walls and
lead to increased piston ring wear and diluted lubricating oil, as well as
reducing catalytic converter life.

A bad thermostat is a very bad thing.

The thermostat is a very simple and easy thing to replace when you're
draining the coolant, which should be done every two years, even with "Long
Life" coolant. And it's cheap. An OEM thermostat is less than $20. Having
it replaced by a garage should be less than $100. Never use aftermarket
thermostats.

 

I never thouht a faulty thermostat could do so much damage. In my old
car I use to pull it out in the summer to make the car run cooler. It
has over 400,000km's and its still going strong.

 

Yeap. I've had once the same symptoms and the reason was that the
thermostat was stuck open.

Rudy

 

Well I am just going to change it now anyway and see if it makes a
difference and I will keep you all posted once I have installed the new
part. I just need to get some time now to go down to my dealer and get
the parts to do it.

 

Yesterday I changed the thermostat and the car is now running back at
its normal opperating temp.
The faulty one was stuck open as a few people suggested in this thread.
Thanks for the help,
Michael.

 

I wish all car problems were as easy to diagnose as that one. ;-)

Rudy

 

You're lucky yours was stuck open, Michael. Mine stuck closed after a
fillup at 1 a.m. on Saturday night ~120 miles from home and ~30 miles
from my destination, and the temp gauge shot right up into the red. Hope
I noticed it in time--my engine hasn't seized yet, so maybe... That's
close to the worst time I can think of for a thermostat to get stuck
closed...

I was lucky it was cool out (65 F), and that the heater can double as a
mini-radiator in a pinch. Cranked the heat (defroster, so I didn't fry
my legs off) up to full blast and reduced acceleration to reduce heat
generation, and I made it to my destination with temps below redline.
Had hoped I could limp home and do it myself with OEM and a coolant
flush at the same time, but steep uphills and 85 F temps killed that
idea right fast.

Luckily I found a mechanic along the way who was willing to change it
out at 5:30 p.m.--one of those guys who runs his own place and closes
when he's ready. Nice to run across guys like that. Frank Scigulinsky at
Center City Muffler & Service in Westfield, MA. I also appreciated the
fact that he didn't bleed the system cuz he was concerned that he not
crack the water outlet cover at that late hour. Guess the bleeder was in
pretty tight. I gotta change the coolant anyhow.