long time to warm up

[jmmullin]

I haven't ever thought of it to be detrimental to the car, but its more of an inconvenience on these cold winter mornings....but my car takes forEVER to heat up....I drove into work this morning for 20 minutes (15 of them on the Interstate) and the car was still only running at about 160 degrees. So my heater wasn't working to its full potential for about 15 minutes of my drive and i was freezing... it was about 30-35 degrees this morning (yes the windows were rolled up) ...I always wait about 30 seconds after I start up to get the engine running and well oiled, then start driving. How long does it take your car to warm up (3.8L), or what could be wrong....I don't think a cold running car is BAD, its probably more good than bad, but its just an inconvenience right now...I have the stock thermostat in the vehicle and the only mods have been exhaust and the free ram air.

[Mr. Logger]

Re: long time to warm up

Thermostat could be stuck open.

[cam98aro]

Re: long time to warm up

mine takes about 15min of driving to get heat out of the heater, and about 25min to come up to full operating temp

i have a 180 thermo.

i did notice that it heats up MUCH faster with the green coolant than it did with the dexcool

i doubt it has to do with your thermo, as i replaced mine and didnt notice any difference

[Smoke Panther]

Re: long time to warm up

you do realize, unless you have a <98, that the temp gauge is just a dummy gauge? All it tells you is if the car is extremely cold, somewhat normal, or extremely hot

[jmmullin]

Re: long time to warm up

its a 2000.

the only thing that got me questioning it is that I don't remember it taking so long before, in past winters, to warm up. and my z28 doesn't take more than 7-8 minutes to get to full temperature on its 180* stat...but its got the help of a couple more bangs... easy solution....guess i'll just have to drive the z more. bummer. :P

[02camaro3800]

Re: long time to warm up

get a new thermastat. the way it works is their is colant in the passages in the block, the way a good thermo works is its shut untill the coolant in the block reaches a certain temp, then the term opens and the cooler water from the radiator comes in, if stuck open, then the coolant is constantly running throught the whole coolant system and the fluids dont get the chance to be warmed up initially, causing longer warm up time.

[96camaroguy]

Re: long time to warm up

got a 160 thermostat (put in less than 1,000 miles ago)in my 3.8 and it takes about 15 min to heat up, but i do have a leaking heater core. it took that long befor it started leaking tho

[kristen]

Re: long time to warm up

stupid question....did you just fill up your coolant? did you put too much in?

[Mr. Logger]

Re: long time to warm up

stupid question....did you just fill up your coolant? did you put too much in?

No comment... :)

[landj]

Re: long time to warm up

agree with stuck thermo.

Cold engine will burn more gas (computer won't kick into closed loop) and can cause more carbon buildup on the valves and spark plugs. The oil won't circulate as well around the hamster wheel neither. So in my opinion, running a cold engine down the interstate is not a good thing. Not going to say you're going to kill it (immediately), but i would definitely keep the rpm's low until you reach operating temp and change that thermo ASAP.

Oooh, I really like those Napa Gold thermos with the little "v" notches in the valve part (I forget what they call them, but they let the coolant circulate just a little as the car warms up). I think Stant makes them too, usually they are the most expensive (8-12 bucks)

[cam98aro]

Re: long time to warm up

agree with stuck thermo.

Cold engine will burn more gas (computer won't kick into closed loop) and can cause more carbon buildup on the valves and spark plugs. The oil won't circulate as well around the hamster wheel neither. So in my opinion, running a cold engine down the interstate is not a good thing. Not going to say you're going to kill it (immediately), but i would definitely keep the rpm's low until you reach operating temp and change that thermo ASAP.

Oooh, I really like those Napa Gold thermos with the little "v" notches in the valve part (I forget what they call them, but they let the coolant circulate just a little as the car warms up). I think Stant makes them too, usually they are the most expensive (8-12 bucks)

if this were the case, you should get a SES light considering the car isnt warming up in the time it should.