Hi

Just wondering about the heater element used in the AC, should it come on straight away or does it take a while to get going. Currently when i get in the car and whack the AC up to 32deg full auto first thing in the morning nothing happens, no fan speed for at least 4-5 min then it kicks in.
If i hit the MAX demist button then it goes all out straight away but blows cold air for 5 min before it gets warm.

I presume it should blow warm at least, as soon as i get in and start it. But I'm not sure if the heating element is at fault as in full auto mode the AC waits for 5 min before doing anything?

The 'heating element' is actually called a heater matrix and is more like a very small radiator like the one at the front of the car. It has pipes into and out of it which have engine coolant supplied via the circulation of the engine coolant system. The heat comes from the engine, through the coolant and into the matrix. Air is then blown through the matrix fins and into the car - thus hot air.

Obviously there is a delay from the engine being stone to being warm after 1st starting. Some diesel vehicles use an additional heater which burns diesel to warm the coolant faster but these still are not instant.

I found something a while ago, can't remember where, about Stilos (guessing only in very cold countries) which had a burner under the coolant resevoir. The idea was that you could heat the coolant, warm up the interior and defrost windows etc up to half an hour before you got in the car. Not sure exactly what the deal was with it, and I'm only quoting froim memory! Would be interesting to know which countries had this option.