Lloyd71 said:

I got in my car today, put the heater on full heat at level 2 and it was too hot to be comfortable within 5 minutes!

Do I have some kind of super heater in my car or something?

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Well I put my air con on and kept the heater off and it was bloody cold Best thing for the car though, get as much heat into the engine first and then heat yourself up

When my parents upgraded their motorhome a few years ago their Silver, insulated cab cover no longer fitted and I acquired it, fits over the windscreen and both doors, you shut it in the doors and it also stops the door rubbers from freezing too. It takes about 20 seconds to remove and car is as clear as a bell every morning last winter. Being insulated the inside doesn't steam up either, and doesn't get quite as cold. Next best thing to a carport or garage in my opinion.

RobW said:

water in a watering can that is not stone cold works really well in removing ice on the windows - no scraping nonsense needed

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Rob, I guess that is fine in the UK but in Norway at -20C I guess it would freeze again before you got a few metres.

306maxi said:

Nice attitude to take..... NOT. As usual, please post the reg of your car so no one from this forum in unfortunate enough to buy your car

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Yeah! Next time I go to Norway to buy a car I want to make sure it isn't Wreckmaster's, lol.

grimwau said:

Rob, I guess that is fine in the UK but in Norway at -20C I guess it would freeze again before you got a few metres.



Yeah! Next time I go to Norway to buy a car I want to make sure it isn't Wreckmaster's, lol.

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It's my thing that I say Grimwau, regardless of whether someone is in the UK, Norway or Japan

306maxi said:

Well I put my air con on and kept the heater off and it was bloody cold Best thing for the car though, get as much heat into the engine first and then heat yourself up

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Were you also naked and beating yourself with a birch twig?

Oh hang on, you're Bear Grylls really aren't you? Incognito like.

As discussed the 1.2 is quite a little racer so the best way is to start her up , stamp on the throttle and hold the revs at 4500 for about 5 mins.

nottsfiat07 said:

Were you also naked and beating yourself with a birch twig?

Oh hang on, you're Bear Grylls really aren't you? Incognito like.

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Nah, if I were Bear Grylls I'd say that but really I'd run the car for half an hour and then jump in when it was warm.

306maxi said:

Nice attitude to take..... NOT. As usual, please post the reg of your car so no one from this forum in unfortunate enough to buy your car

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306maxi said:

It's my thing that I say Grimwau, regardless of whether someone is in the UK, Norway or Japan

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:shrug: But the other thing that you say is "don't post registration numbers on the forum".

grimwau said:

:shrug: But the other thing that you say is "don't post registration numbers on the forum".

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Touche!

306maxi said:

Nice attitude to take..... NOT. As usual, please post the reg of your car so no one from this forum in unfortunate enough to buy your car

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I spoke to my dealer today about something else and I just had to ask about this They said that in below zero degrees it is actually recomended to let the car idle for a few minutes before starting to drive, so the engine gains some temprature before starting to drive

BTW! My reg is allover this and other forums so you can be sure you dont buy it by accident

The bottle in the car trick wouldn`t work very good as it would freeze after a couple of hours in a parked car Way too cold here Atleast in midwinter

I wonder why some members in this forum always has got such an unfriendly attitude compared to members in other forums? A bit sad really as this actually is a good forum It would be even nicer if we all just could be friendly to each other and enjoy our nice little 500`s together
Have a nice evening folks

Couple of things:

- Re air-con. The system will not run when under 4*C outside temperature, since the evaporator would freeze (blocking air flow into the car). Hence AC provides no benefit when freezing.

- Re driving straight off. Several factors to balance - an idling cold engine produces hydrochloric acid as a by-product of combustion, which will wear the bores. This is probably why it's advised to drive straight away. BUT, there is a clear safety factor - I had to let mine idle this morning, since the windscreen just kept re-freezing so I couldn't actually see where I was going until some amount of vent temperature was achieved.


Why heating the front screen electrically (or with the ac running in reverse) isn't a legal requirement I don't know, it's such an easy problem to solve. I have a Citroen C4P (which I keep seem to mention recently!) which somehow uses exhaust heat (not fumes hopefully) - the screen clears really quickly.

Also, to add re comments about "someone elses problem". I don't see the issue here, the purchaser has paid the money for a new car and can benefit from it. Cars devalue precisely because of reliability and warantees - pays your money, takes your choice. Furthermore with the scrappage scheme (ok temporary but could well become a more long term solution) the government is really saying that cars have a 10-yr lifespan anyway.

Cheers

Hmmmm I put air on my screen this morning when -1 degrees and it wouldn't clear, so I switched aircon on and it cleared quickly. Should I not be using it, or is mine working when it shouldn't? thanks.

Heidi said:

Hmmmm I put air on my screen this morning when -1 degrees and it wouldn't clear, so I switched aircon on and it cleared quickly. Should I not be using it, or is mine working when it shouldn't? thanks.

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You're using it when you should be Heidi

Cold Aircon or just make sure that the dial is pressed in?

By all means keep the button on - the system just won't start the compressor if it's inlet temperature is too low.

if you got climate control, just hit the windscreen button and its all sorted automatically for you - windscreen, rear window, door mirrors. but this borewash crap about not idling with a cold engine is exactly that - crap.

had an old Volvo donkeys years ago with an electric pre heater built inside the heater ducting for cold days, i cant see why this didn't catch on and get fitted to all cars

gib1970 said:

if you got climate control, just hit the windscreen button and its all sorted automatically for you - windscreen, rear window, door mirrors. but this borewash crap about not idling with a cold engine is exactly that - crap.

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As is this comment about climate, since it won't blow any meaningly volume of air (on auto) until the engine has warmed somewhat :bang:

Anyway borewash refers to overfueling.

dave said:

had an old Volvo donkeys years ago with an electric pre heater built inside the heater ducting for cold days, i cant see why this didn't catch on and get fitted to all cars

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Totally agree with this. IIRC Ford have a patent on basically any electrical method of clearing the windscreen (they market it as quick-clear windscreen, actually is that available on the new Ka?) and don't want to share it.

gib1970 said:

if you got climate control, just hit the windscreen button and its all sorted automatically for you - windscreen, rear window, door mirrors. but this borewash crap about not idling with a cold engine is exactly that - crap.

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LOL you clearly don't know what you're talking about. Read up about borewash. When an engine is run @ idle when it's cold the atomised fuel will condense on the cylinder wall and run down the wall and wash the oil from the cylinder walls before ignition which means you've got unlubricated bits against unlubricated bits which isn't cool. Getting the engine up to temperature as quickly as possible helps to stop this happening quite as much..