chrislivesinpa

I have a 2000 honda civic and when i turn my car on during the winter it takes twenty to a half hour of stright highway driving for the engine to heat up. I'v Change the thermostat still the same thing. My mechanic says it might be the heating core but before i go rippin up my dash i need some more input. And so since the engine doesn't heat up i don't get any heat out of the vents (luke warm)

I need help

freezin in pa

blwn95civic

when its about 25-35 degrees at night around here i can drive for hours with my heat on and the car never warms up. When i turn the heat off it warms up but the temp goes right back down when turned on.... many civics ive rode in do this. I always thought it was normal

chrislivesinpa

soo... may car will is not warmin up to regular temp. And when it does and i turn the heat on and it starts dropping

Syndacate

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by trav95civic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">when its about 25-35 degrees at night around here i can drive for hours with my heat on and the car never warms up. When i turn the heat off it warms up but the temp goes right back down when turned on.... many civics ive rode in do this. I always thought it was normal </TD></TR></TABLE>

An internal combustion engine works off of a series of explosions.

These explosions are hot.

The more of these hot explosions, the warmer your engine gets.

No, it is not normal for your engine to never warm up, regardless if the car is a Honda, Ferrari, Daewoo, or VW.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by chrislivesinpa &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">soo... may car will is not warmin up to regular temp. And when it does and i turn the heat on and it starts dropping </TD></TR></TABLE>

While the cold weather will make it not operate at its typical operating temperature, it will still warm up, the temp gauge should be past the cold mark, at least. In between the cold mark and the hot mark the variance isn't a hell of a lot.

I wouldn't worry about it unless you have something bad going on like bad gas mileage, low power, misfires, etc.

chrislivesinpa

I know where the needle should be and i know the car should warm up better .And there is a problem when i have little to no heat coming out the vents. Please reply what could cause this issue if you came across it before

blwn95civic

by warm up i was refering to operating temp.... my needle sits at about a quarter way up when im driving around with the heat on while its roughly 30 degrees outside. Granted when i drive i just poke around in 5th gear at 2500rpm's . When i dont drive like a grandma it does heat up the the half way mark

chrislivesinpa

im tellin you i have a problem my needle sits on cold for a very long time and it doesnt even move unless i turn off the heat and i floor it for a long time like on the highway. It never had this issue before . im running out of posts for my first day like i said if you dont know dont post please help

donvito#1

maybe the waterpump going if already replaced thermostat

civiceg94

na man just put a cardboard in front helps out thats what i did to my boys car today helped out alot we weren't cold after leaving work lol

blwn95civic

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by chrislivesinpa &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">im tellin you i have a problem my needle sits on cold for a very long time and it doesnt even move unless i turn off the heat and i floor it for a long time like on the highway. It never had this issue before . im running out of posts for my first day like i said if you dont know dont post please help</TD></TR></TABLE>

then you should have stated that in the very beginning. This is the first time you have said it wont move unless you turn off the heat or accelerate.

sounds like a personal prob to me about running out of posts. But ppl's posts in your thread has absolutely nothing to do with your post count pal. oh and btw, this is the first time you have said if you dont know dont post. But the truth of the matter is none of us KNOW what the problem is. But we do know things it could be..

If you have already had a mechanic look at it... then dont you trust him enough to take his word when he says it might be the heater core? if not then my advise is to find another mechanic....

chrislivesinpa

but is the heater core the only thing that could cause this issue, someone suggested the water pump

well let me tell you this , in the summer i dont have this issue the car runs to temperture as normal

i've changed to synithic oil when i bought the car but i can't remerber the next winter after, would that have any thing to do with the engine heating up in the winter?

Maybe i sould move back to florida

koa

does it have a dual core radiator by any chance. my 2000 civic wont get passed the cooled mark. but it blows warm air.

chrislivesinpa

My honda is a stock 2000 honda civic ex

Frozen E

All you guys blaming the fact that it's winter have no clue.
I drove my EM1 in North Dakota winters for a few years. Sometimes it'd be -35 in the morning. True, my car might take a couple minutes longer to get up to operating temp (needle halfway up the temp gauge) but it would get there.
And driving on the highway at 65 with it being way in the negatives it would still blow nice warm air and the temp needle would hover around the halfway point.
Something's wrong with your car if you can't get it up to temp in 20 degree weather.

laocivic

if ur runnign straight coolant that will affect ur car heating up. try 50/50 coolant/water or antifreeze w/e. but all coolant in the radiator really slows down the warm up of a car!!!

crazyz250

- 50/50 coolent
- highway driving doesnt help (think of how cold the front of your car is doin 80mph in 10 dagree weather)
- cardboard in front of 1/2 the radiator FTW!
- let the car idle when you first start it up for a couple of min as well


basically just putting what everyone else said into a list haha good luck

Frozen E

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by crazyz250 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">- highway driving doesnt help (think of how cold the front of your car is doin 80mph in 10 dagree weather)</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah, it'll be 10 degrees. It'll be 10 degrees at 5 mph and it'll be 10 degrees at 120 mph. Speed has nothing to do with it.

Your thermostat regulates if coolant is going out to your radiator or not. No need to cover up the radiator. If the engine is cool enough, your thermostat doesn't open up and no coolant goes out to your cardboard covered radiator.
It'll stay like this until the coolant hits 180 degrees or whatever your stat is set for and then it opens up and lets the hot coolant go out to the radiator to get cooled down.

The only thing I can think of is that the sudden surge of very cold coolant from the previously isolated radiator will give you a sudden rush of cold water to your heater, giving you a couple seconds of cooler than before air. Nothing too major though.

Like I said before, if your engine temp isn't going up to normal, there's something wrong with your cooling system. Your stat is stuck open, or it's backwards, or you installed it somewhere other than where it should be. Hell, I don't know. But it's not right.

Syndacate

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

Yeah, it'll be 10 degrees. It'll be 10 degrees at 5 mph and it'll be 10 degrees at 120 mph. Speed has nothing to do with it.

Your thermostat regulates if coolant is going out to your radiator or not. No need to cover up the radiator. If the engine is cool enough, your thermostat doesn't open up and no coolant goes out to your cardboard covered radiator.
It'll stay like this until the coolant hits 180 degrees or whatever your stat is set for and then it opens up and lets the hot coolant go out to the radiator to get cooled down.

The only thing I can think of is that the sudden surge of very cold coolant from the previously isolated radiator will give you a sudden rush of cold water to your heater, giving you a couple seconds of cooler than before air. Nothing too major though.

Like I said before, if your engine temp isn't going up to normal, there's something wrong with your cooling system. Your stat is stuck open, or it's backwards, or you installed it somewhere other than where it should be. Hell, I don't know. But it's not right.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Not really, when you're on the highway and it's 10* out, after windchill it's quite a bit less at the radiator. Most likely negative.

@ OP:
Hondas typically run cooler in colder weather, not a lot cooler, but because there's not a lot of variation between the "C" and the "H" on the gauge in a '92-'00 civic, when it's running a little cooler, it appears to be a lot on that gauge.

If you had temperature markings (and the gauge was accurate) you'd see how small of a variation I mean.

Both my civics run "cold" in winter - about 1/5 - 1/4 up from the "C" marker - where usually they're almost half. It's pretty normal. Though do understand that it's relatively impossible for an engine to "not" get up to operating temperature. Even if the thermostat is jammed open, it will still get there, just take ~40% longer.

laocivic

so hows ur coolant?

old man neri

I have to ask this......what thermostat did you replace it with? Was it an OEM? If not you probably got one set for the wrong temperature.

It is highly highly unlikely to be your waterpump. Water pumps fail by cracking or having the bearing go. They will start to make noise or **** coolant everywhere. They don't just stop turning, that would involve your timing belt to stop turning........

As for wind chill, that is just a measure of how fast something cools. If the temperature is 10 and the wind chill is -30 it just means that stuff cools off faster because of the wind. The temperature is still just 10.

shepard4396

iTrader: (1)

i have a 2000 si LS/Vtec and mine does the same thing. You gota let it warm up for 20-25 minutes before you leave your house. its not a big deal

old man neri

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by shepard4396 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i have a 2000 si LS/Vtec and mine does the same thing. You gota let it warm up for 20-25 minutes before you leave your house. its not a big deal</TD></TR></TABLE>

Idling to let it warm up is not the way to get it to warm up. It's best to drive it. If you want to do it for comfort all the power to you. What I would recommend is when you first start it leave the heat off. It will reach operating temp a lot quicker, then you can go back out and turn the heat on, if you do this you might find that the temperature gauge drops back down.

I, personally, just get in it and drive it after about 15 seconds of idling. I drive it gently with the heat off, once it reaches operating temp (about 1-2 minutes later) I turn the heat on and get on with my day. But that's just me.

Frozen E

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

Not really, when you're on the highway and it's 10* out, after windchill it's quite a bit less at the radiator. Most likely negative.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Wind chill doesn't have any effect on non living things.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_chill

old man neri

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

Wind chill doesn't have any effect on non living things.

</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yes and no. Best example I think of is a glass of water. Put it in 10 degree weather and it will freeze and become a block of ice with a temperature of 10 degrees.

Put that same glass in 10 degree weather but with a very strong wind and it will freeze and become a block of ice with a temperature of 10 degrees, however it will do this quicker.

Your body doesn't really sense temperature, it senses heat drain or gain. You can stick your hand in a 400 degree oven and it won't burn, touch the metal and you are in for a lot of pain yet both the air and the metal are at 400 degrees. Just the metal will transfer the heat to you a lot quicker. Same applies to cold weather. You cool off quicker and your body senses greater heat loss with a hind.

But enough about this side note. I hope you get your car sorted out.

chrislivesinpa

ITS ALL GOOD went to honda got oem t stat, got radiator flushed. The car warmed up in ten minutes with HEAT comin out hot. thanx for all the help

Now is just need to get window from comin off the track , new muffler, new quater panal, new front and rear bumpers....etc but im gettin there

So i suggest to any one to get an oem t stat then the aftermarket piece of crap