My 1.3 diesel takes far too long to warm up - probably about 3 miles - which is not good when I am waiting for heat to arrive on the feet

Has anyone suceeded in getting theres to warm up quicker and no, I ain't leaving the engine running while I eat breakfast

You are lucky you don't have the 1.9, which takes a lot longer than that. Diesels are thermally efficient; they don't waste as much heat as petrols, hence more economical, and less spare heat to go around the cabin. And the cabin is a big box to warm up too. There is no fix I'm afraid. In cold countries they fit an auxiliary heater sometimes.

I've got a space heater in my bus (eber-something or other) it takes about half an hour to warm the bus to toasty and it really drinks the juice.
They can be fitted to cars - won't take anywhere near as long to warm up - but not sure how economical they really are.
I believe there is also a product on the market which heats the coolant whilst pumping it round - so warming the engine for a more efficient startup, not sure if it warms the cabin as well.

last year, in the really cold weather, I left a parrafin greenhouse heater burning on low all night in my boot, it kept the windows ice free and the cabin was nice and warm. Only downside is remembering to extinguish the flame and taking the heater out before setting off.

last year, in the really cold weather, I left a parrafin greenhouse heater burning on low all night in my boot, it kept the windows ice free and the cabin was nice and warm. Only downside is remembering to extinguish the flame and taking the heater out before setting off.

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Clever!

Ulpian said:

Clever!

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I forgot to add, another downside is that the car stinks of paraffin.
This summer I bought a load of midge repellant oil for the patio torches (the flavour escapes me), it was really cheap in the local tat shop. It smells so much better.

Another way to go might be to use an oil-filled radiator plugged into an extension lead & timeswitch. Set it to come on half an hour before you want to set off, the cab will be toasty & all ice on windows should melt nicely.
Another alternative would be a small camping gas heater, lit when you get downstairs, it should warm the car nicely by the time you've had brekkie.

Noticeably longer to heat up now that we have a cold snap (1.9D )
Plus my three year warranty Bosch super battery gave up the ghost.
Tell me there isn't a mechanism that clicks in just as three years rolls by!!!!!

last year, in the really cold weather, I left a parrafin greenhouse heater burning on low all night in my boot, it kept the windows ice free and the cabin was nice and warm. Only downside is remembering to extinguish the flame and taking the heater out before setting off.[/QUOTE]

never mind the smell dont think i would get much sleep, bet you dont tell the insurance things we will do for a warm start

i have the 1.9 and new it took a littel while to warm up but after driving the misses panda 100hp whitch after scraping the ice off,about 2 minites before geting to the end of the road about 1/4 mile i had to turn it down .My doblo takes about 2/3 miles before i have to do this not the best in this weather was thinking of geting one of those plug in your cigy lighter instant heaters any one tryed one?

Slightly off topic, but the reason mine doesn't warm up too well is that there is a really cold draft coming in around the dashboard where the passenger airbag is. The heater works and I get hot air (eventually, I also have a 1,9) through the various vents but I still get the cold draft. Any ideas what needs sealing?

paul brava said:

was thinking of geting one of those plug in your cigy lighter instant heaters any one tryed one?

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Yes, I was also wondering about one but you've got to have the engine running.

I was hoping to get some ideas about getting the engine to warmup quicker - and in turn to warm the cab. Years ago we blocked part of the rad off which worked but there ain't too much room to get a 'board' to block off air flow in these engine bays.

Will keep thinking....

nec said:

I was hoping to get some ideas about getting the engine to warmup quicker - and in turn to warm the cab. Years ago we blocked part of the rad off which worked but there ain't too much room to get a 'board' to block off air flow in these engine bays.

Will keep thinking....

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One of my colleagues tried this on his lorry but it didn't work.
Mind you, it would have helped if he'd done his checks - no coolant whatsoever in the system, it was bone dry & no sign of leaks.
He'd done loads of runs of around 20 or so miles but as diesels never really get that hot... Nobody knows how many miles he'd done without coolant.
Of course, with all the snow we've just had, he was really glad they put plenty of coolant in, after about 20 mins his cab was lovely and toasty.

in the mornings we let our buses idle for 30 minutes to get some heat going - and that's before we set off. Diesel engines are just too efficient

Revving the engine to 6000rpm and spinning the wheels a lot from cold warms the engine a lot quicker.

? Diesel ?

I've bought one of those plug-in heaters and they really aren't as good as the advert makes out, the 'hot' air is just about aired.

I'm seriously considering some sort of pre-heater to get everything warmed up before I get in.
Eberspacher and webasto both do small units which warm the coolant and blow warm air into the cab.
The eberspacher unit is supposedly 4kw and uses about half a litre of fuel per hour on full heat. Although the initial costs are high, I have also read reports on the web where people claim these units save money in the long run as the engine is most efficient when warm.
Just waiting for an eamil from a dealer with a price to supply and fit.
They claim fitting is easy - I'm guessing they tee off the fuel supply and cut into the coolant but they'll also need a power supply for initial firing up of the boiler and some way of controlling the fan in the cab.
They also reckon these things are great for the summer as well - by simply running the cab fans to cool the air, saves on the aircon.

Something the blurb from the dealers does mention - you can sometimes just buy an upgrade kit for diesels. As the modern diesel engine is so heat efficient, some manufacturers add a seperate heater matrix to run independantly of the engine - you'll probably know if your car has one by how fast the blowers warm the car up? (I wonder if the doblo has this and it works by switching on the aircon & turning to hottest setting?)

nec said:

I was hoping to get some ideas about getting the engine to warmup quicker - and in turn to warm the cab. Years ago we blocked part of the rad off which worked but there ain't too much room to get a 'board' to block off air flow in these engine bays.

Will keep thinking....

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Thinking about it, surely this wouldn't work as the coolant in the rad is sealed off from the rest of the coolant by the thermostat.
Once the engine gets very hot 7 the coolant reaches a certain temp then the stat opens up to allow coolant to pass into the rad in order to cool off.
By blocking the rad, you must be in danger of overheating the engine as you willl be forcing the fans to work overtime to try to cool the rad?

From my earlier post #14 Im still awaiting a response from the company regarding supply and fit of the eberspacher heater.
The email address must be still live as the email hasn't bounced back but it seems the company don't want the work. Shame as they are very local to me.