vitrox

89 crx si, d16a6.. This car just won't get warm during the winter. I'll let it idle for 20 minutes and it gets just above C, the heater will only blow luke warm air. Once I get going the engine starts to heat up, but never to the point where the fan kicks on or the thermostat opens. And even if its already heated up after driving, if I let it sit and idle it drops back down to just above C.
I just replaced the thermostat with a 192 degree model, and flushed the old coolant out. Its still not warming up to where it should be, is there some sort of sensor that is malfunctioning or something?
The heater blows warm once the car gets warm, but if the car never gets warm I freeze.
Someone help me out here, gonna fix it this weekend if I can. I checked all the archived posts and didn't find any info pertaining to this.
Also what is the idle supposed to be at? At cold start it idles at around 1500 then drops to 1000 once it gets slightly above C.

onePOINTsix

complety normal, all car do that. It increses the idle to warm up the car, drive it around the block and it'll get warm faster

Home Skillet

Have you checked your heater hose? It could be corroded, disconnected, or loose.

notfastenough

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Sideout &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">complety normal, all car do that. It increses the idle to warm up the car, drive it around the block and it'll get warm faster </TD></TR></TABLE>

to you. This is my first EF, but I know my EG doesn't take that long to warm up.

I have the same problem, and it's not normal at all. I haven't had time to look at it, but I thought that my thermostat is just stuck open. I can drive my daily 30
mile morning commute and never have the temp get above C on cold mornings. Any help anyone?

Edit: it's an engine coolant problem, not specifically the heater.

raene

Is it low on coolant? Is the sender for the gauge cluster broken? The combination of the two factors should help with diagnosis.

notfastenough

fresh 50/50 mix, and the sender works because it will say when it is getting warm. It just takes FOREVER if it's cold outside. If I've been driving for a while and then let it idle for a few minutes, it will warm up.

vitrox

its not normal, my gf has a 4 cyl mazda and that thing heats up in 10 minutes.
I have a fresh 50/50 mix and new thermostat, new radiator hoses, and new radiator cap, there is no air lock, i bled the system properly. any other help?

once again, this is not a heater problem, it works fine, this is a engine not getting warm problem.


Modified by vitrox at 10:43 PM 12/9/2003

rice_classic

OK... if the motor is running for 20 minutes IDLING OR NOT, it should get up to temperature PERIOD. infact, motors get hotter when idling then when seeing normal driving because when they idle no air is passing through the radiator and the coolant pump isn't turning as fast.

My guess is your thermostat is broken and stuck in the OPEN posistion.. meaning, it is not regulating how much coolant passes through the motor, instead it is letting as much coolant as possible pass through the motor keeping it from getting up to temperature.

If you went and did some "hill climbs" your motor temp would increase but as soon as you had to drive DOWN the hill the temp would fall back down way low.

Replace your thermostat. This problem is common, easily diagnosed, and reasonably easy to fix.

BTW: whether your coolant is 50/50 is irrelevant. you could run straight coolant, or straight water and with a thermo stuck open you still wouldn't reach proper operating temps.

HF2ZC

Hey man what's the ambient temperature up there in AK?

It might just be that it's too cold for the car to properly warm up.

Having said that, you can get heat within like 2 or 3 minutes of running the engine, but for the heater to really be hot you have to run the engine for like 15 minutes at freeway speeds (at least down here in balmy MO). A trick I use is to not turn on the heater until the temp gauge is in it's normal position. Then the heat comes out warm without making the engine noticeably colder (at least on the stock temp. gauge).

notfastenough

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by notfastenough &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

...but I thought that my thermostat is just stuck open... </TD></TR></TABLE>

I am replacing the thermostat this week to try to fix the problem. The original poster had already done this with no remedy. He want's to know if there might be something else keeping the thermostat open since that IS THE PROBLEM.

Old Skool

does it smell like coolant in the car?

notfastenough

Nope

Old Skool

why do you need heat anyway if you're in texas?
try fixing the thermostat first, that should solve your problem

USDM 4G VTEC

put a cardboard on front covering half of the radiator..
thats what i do to make my engine run hotter on winter..... bc it always runs too cold and when i floor it it hits the cold 6600 redline
i also unplugg the fan

notfastenough

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by USDM 4G VTEC &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">put a cardboard on front covering half of the radiator..
thats what i do to make my engine run hotter on winter..... bc it always runs too cold and when i floor it it hits the cold 6600 redline
i also unplugg the fan</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah, I thought about using some safety wire and plastic on the left half of the radiator for a quick fix. Thanks for the input.

vitrox

as i stated in the first post, its not my thermostat, it doesn't open, and the fan does not turn on. The engine is just not heating up.

oh, and its 10 degrees right now, yesterday it was -10, the day before -15, and it was -25 to -35 all last week. all fahrenheit btw.

Grease Monkey

I'm also having the same problem. It takes awhile to warm up and when I drive sometimes it goes to C and sometimes it stays at operating temp. hopefully when I have time i will change the thermostat. hopefully thats the problem.

slowman

iTrader: (3)

put some cardboard on the radiator!

Old Skool

try your coolant temp sensor, fan switch, also pinch and release your lower radiator hose in the middle..listen and feel for a slight click coming from the rear water neck.

crxnic

could it be a bad connection on the temp gauge?

notfastenough

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Old Skool &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">try your coolant temp sensor, fan switch, also pinch and release your lower radiator hose in the middle..listen and feel for a slight click coming from the rear water neck. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Would I be listening for the thermostat to open?

notfastenough

Bump, anyone?

SOHCEK-Turbo

iTrader: (1)

This is normal with the weather were you at that cold plus these engines dont make so much hp stock so that is why it doesnt warm up at all with cold weather. I know that when it gets cold over here in socal it takes longer for my car to warm up and the coldest it gets here in the LA are is about 60. So as long as its not overheating dont worry about it.

notfastenough

Whether or not this is normal or not has already been determined. I live in texas and can drive for 30 minutes on a 40 degree morning and not have the car come up to normal operating temp. The only time it gets to normal temp and the fan comes on is when it idles and the radiator has a chance to heat soak.

Anyone else?

onePOINTsix

if 40 degrees is cold move to michigan anyway it could be your thermostat, replace it with a lower temp model from autozone for like $8 and your set