A question on the window heaters for those more experienced with their 500..
I notice we have back and front windscreen heaters on the 500 Sport, or do we? I cant see any tiny wires in the front screen glass.Is it actually a heater like the rear window (as fitted to Ford Mondeos) or does it just blast air at it..or both?
Best wishes,
Oggie.

I have a Lounge and mine just blasts heat on the front windscreen. I'd be surprised if the Sport was any different.

Souloggie said:

A question on the window heaters for those more experienced with their 500..
I notice we have back and front windscreen heaters on the 500 Sport, or do we? I cant see any tiny wires in the front screen glass.Is it actually a heater like the rear window (as fitted to Ford Mondeos) or does it just blast air at it..or both?
Best wishes,
Oggie.

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No front heater

I wish we had !
the ACC doesn’t actually start clearing the screen until its sufficiently hot enough, which means i have to either wait until the screen clear or do it manually.

Jake_in_notts said:

I wish we had !
the ACC doesn’t actually start clearing the screen until its sufficiently hot enough, which means i have to either wait until the screen clear or do it manually.

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The AC starts clearing the screen in seconds, if you wait for the heater to heat up yes it takes minutes but the AC kicks in straight away.

306maxi said:

The AC starts clearing the screen in seconds, if you wait for the heater to heat up yes it takes minutes but the AC kicks in straight away.

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Very true, the AC clears the screen very very quickly even from cold. But I've found lately that I have to keep the AC on all the time to stop the window from misting back up or the car from getting too hot inside.

Lloyd71 said:

Very true, the AC clears the screen very very quickly even from cold. But I've found lately that I have to keep the AC on all the time to stop the window from misting back up or the car from getting too hot inside.

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Too hot inside? These days? I love my 500 to bits, but I must admit that it has got the poorest heater I`ve ever experienced in a modern day car... When colder than -5 it doesent get really hot inside at all, just warmer than freezing. And making fog and ice get off the windscreen takes really long time( specially ice). If my last car used lets say 5 minutes to get ice free in - 5 the 500 uses 20 minutes

Other than that it is a great car

BTW! Mine is a 1,2petrol ( diesels are usually even slower than petrol, when it comes to heating/ demisting)

306maxi said:

The AC starts clearing the screen in seconds, if you wait for the heater to heat up yes it takes minutes but the AC kicks in straight away.

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The ACC that Jake referred to is the automatic climate control not the standard A/C. You have to take it off of the auto setting and manually select A/C to get it to demist when the engine is cold.

wreckmaster said:

Too hot inside? These days? I love my 500 to bits, but I must admit that it has got the poorest heater I`ve ever experienced in a modern day car... When colder than -5 it doesent get really hot inside at all, just warmer than freezing. And making fog and ice get off the windscreen takes really long time( specially ice). If my last car used lets say 5 minutes to get ice free in - 5 the 500 uses 20 minutes

Other than that it is a great car

BTW! Mine is a 1,2petrol ( diesels are usually even slower than petrol, when it comes to heating/ demisting)

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You should scrape the ice off, running your car to get the heater warm to melt the ice is a waste of fuel and also wears the engine as it runs for a long time without actually properly heating up. Scrape ice off and drive away.

grimwau said:

The ACC that Jake referred to is the automatic climate control not the standard A/C. You have to take it off of the auto setting and manually select A/C to get it to demist when the engine is cold.

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Ah fair enough. Just do that then!

wreckmaster said:

Too hot inside? These days? I love my 500 to bits, but I must admit that it has got the poorest heater I`ve ever experienced in a modern day car... When colder than -5 it doesent get really hot inside at all, just warmer than freezing.

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Mine gets absolutely baking after about 10 minutes, I have to open the window briefly!

Mine too gets really warm inside ... too warm sometimes so I, like Lloyd, have to open the window.

I used to keep engine running whilst scraping the screen but since that woman's car got stolen and she got run over in the process and is now in a wheelchair I shan't be doing it any longer. I will be investing in a new scraper though, had mine since I got my first car 19 years ago!

Heidi said:

Mine too gets really warm inside ... too warm sometimes so I, like Lloyd, have to open the window.

I used to keep engine running whilst scraping the screen but since that woman's car got stolen and she got run over in the process and is now in a wheelchair I shan't be doing it any longer. I will be investing in a new scraper though, had mine since I got my first car 19 years ago!

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I know it looks slightly ridiculous Heidi, but I have one of these and it's fantastic!

http://www.boots.com/en/Simpsons-Homer-Ice-Scraper_954250/

It's got a sort of glove thing so your hands don't get wet and the actual scraper is really strong and not flexible so it really makes light work of ice.

306maxi said:

I know it looks slightly ridiculous Heidi, but I have one of these and it's fantastic!

http://www.boots.com/en/Simpsons-Homer-Ice-Scraper_954250/

It's got a sort of glove thing so your hands don't get wet and the actual scraper is really strong and not flexible so it really makes light work of ice.

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What a great idea!

306maxi said:

You should scrape the ice off, running your car to get the heater warm to melt the ice is a waste of fuel and also wears the engine as it runs for a long time without actually properly heating up. Scrape ice off and drive away.

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It is better for a car to idle for a few minutes in cold conditions than to just start it and drive away, because if it idles for a few minutes it will get the oil to get thinner and the engine will run more easily

I dont care if I use a half a litre more fuel if I start the engine 15-20 minutes before I start driving, it is better that way than to scrape off the ice and get scratches in the windshield which all ice scrapes makes!

BTW! I use a glass sealant on the windscreen which makes the ice loosen more easy and makes me not use the wipers so much Still got a really poor heater, and I have not spoken to any norwegian 500 owner which is satisfied with it I have to drive for about 25-30minutes on highway before it gets warm, and it could still get way warmer in my opinion This is when temprature falls below -5... In -20 it hardly gets warm enough in there to melt snow on the floor mats But it is a great car and I wouldn`t change it for anything:worship:

wreckmaster said:

It is better for a car to idle for a few minutes in cold conditions than to just start it and drive away, because if it idles for a few minutes it will get the oil to get thinner and the engine will run more easily

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Not really. Your engine will heat up MUCH quicker if you actually drive your car. You also run the risk of bore wash which isn't good for your car. The manual even says not to idle but to hop in and drive away and obviously take it easy till the car warms up.

Back in ye olde carburettor days it was a good idea to idle your car but you don't need to with modern cars.

I have done this on all my cars and have never had a problem with it If it gets a problem because of idling the car it will be FIAT`s problem not mine, since it got a 5 year warranty But offcourse all other cars which I have had has becomed warm inside much faster than the 500 Still the heather problem is just a minor annoying thing in a otherways great little car Just not made for norwegian conditions I guess

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

a 2 litre bottle of water kept in the car can do the same trick if you are away from home and need to de-ice

the handbook explains how to use the demister

wreckmaster said:

I have done this on all my cars and have never had a problem with it If it gets a problem because of idling the car it will be FIAT`s problem not mine, since it got a 5 year warranty But offcourse all other cars which I have had has becomed warm inside much faster than the 500 Still the heather problem is just a minor annoying thing in a otherways great little car Just not made for norwegian conditions I guess

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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

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?