Hello All. Please forgive me for being a rookie to the site! LOL! My problem is that (of course its cold outside (living in the city of chicago)) everytime I turn on my car to warm it up, it takes like forever just for my car to heat up on the inside. Which it still hasn't reached that correct temp. Meaning I have to turn on my rear defrogger just to pull some heat in the front (why don't ask me). On top of that, my temp gauge still doesn't reach towards the middle like how it suppose to, the needle stays below the 1/4 mark of the gauge. I am wondering why is it like that? Any suggestion, I would gladly appreciate it. Thanks!

 

hmmm could b multitude of problems...first off do u notice that the fans stay runnin even after you shut the car off? second do u mean when you turn ur rear defroster on that hot air all of a sudden comes on? third have u checked your coolant level?

 

thermostat stuck open?

 

I had similiar problem, not the rear defrost thingthough. I changed the t-stat and temp guage and the car heats up close to the mid mark and doesn't take forever to get there.

 

You've defenitly got your thermostat hung open their friend... it's about $10-12 to put a 180* thermostat in there from your favorite friendly auto parts store, and several minutes to put it in.

The reason your heater is not working is because the heater takes heat off the engine AFTER it warms up, filters it, then runs it into your car to warm you up. Thats why it takes a few minutes to for your car to start blowing warm air on you. You're really better off to jsut leave the heater off until the car warms up in the future. This car may have a systme that cuts the heater off anyway until the car reaches a certain temperature so it can get up to operating temperature faster... so you're heater not working is a direct effect of your engine not heating up.

 

I'd check the Coolant Level right away.
Look in the Expansion Tank and see what that looks like.

If the Coolant Level is OK ... Thermostat.
If you can wrench ... put a "Winter" thermostat in there. If you are farming-out the Labor ... a 180 or 185 will be a good Year Round choice.

 

Thanks again all, it was the thermostat. I didn't even think about that!

 

I thought a thermostat is just a thermosta (not knowing what type or kind to get, just one off the shelf at your local auto part store). With the 180 or 185, where would I get that from? What differance will that do to my vehicle? Can I install it myself?

 

thermostats are just thermostats lol it just depends on ur car and what temp u want the tstat to open and allot the coolant to flow