Technical cabin heater quite poor on punto Mk2 JTD? (newb to forum)

[elastoplastscavenger]

hey folks, im a newb with a technical(ish) question:
The Heater on my 03 plate Punto JTD (1.9 litre, 85 ponies version) is not working as i would expect a car heater to work! I rarely have the heat setting bellow maximum, with the fan speed on number one, two or zero. I've had the car 3 months or so and only do long journeys. On my regular 90 minute motorway drive i usually only turn the heat setting or fan speed down (a little!) at about the half way point and that's while wearing my winter coat inside! Today, driving in a sleet shower, i was considering stopping to put on more clothes under my coat.

As for my techy(ish) fault finding: the thermostat appears to work well, the engine warms up as i would expect, the cooling circuit is filled and presurises, heater matrix is bled, the ventilation controls all appear to work fine and I do get some heat out the thing. Is this normal?

Having run two high mileage K reg Peugeot diesels, a smart ForFour petrol and a Land Rover Freelander diesel with a mixture of "engine" heated and electric heated cabins, the Punto is by far the worst heater i have come across by a long, long way.

as for a couple of other things with my new motor:
I dont have a key code. Is this gonna cause me problems in the future?

what is the difference between the 85hp JTD and the 100+hp JTD? My 85hp has an intercooler which was my first thought so is it a fancier turbo? engine management? DIY modificationable?

for a 5 year old car it is much rustier than i would expect. Underneath it looks more like my 10 year old peugeot. is that normal?

the service schedule says to check the valve clearances quite regularly...me thinks this isnt necessary so long as it isnt too noisy from the top end?

anyhoo, advice appreciated. Im quite handy with a socket set and multimeter.

 

[toad101]

does your temp gauge reach halfway? i find my heater more than hot enough, but i do prefer the car to be cool

the 100hp is a multijet and the 80/85hp is a unijet
i've been told the valve clearences are checked incase they are too tight.
the 80/85hp version can be tuned to around 120/130hp, which mine is, it makes a big difference to performance

 

[elastoplastscavenger]

does your temp gauge reach halfway?

yip, it does, and never moves from there. yet still the heater sucks.

valve clearences are checked incase they are too tight.

I've never had an issue with them wearing or hammering to be too tight on different cars...is it a problem on the JTD? I dont fancy burnt valve seats etc.

 

[toad101]

yip, it does, and never moves from there. yet still the heater sucks.

same as mine then, alot of jtd owners say their temp gauge goes up and down.

I've never had an issue with them wearing or hammering to be too tight on different cars...is it a problem on the JTD? I dont fancy burnt valve seats etc.

i spoke to the dealer when i bought mine they said they've never had any problems

 

[elastoplastscavenger]

I did some detailed troubleshooting on my heater at the weekend:

• the thermostat works for sure: after a short drive the top hose on the radiator is cold, longer drive and it is hot
• there was a little air in the radiator which i bled out (valve located under the right headlight)
• there is some air in the system somewhere: when i open the radiator cap when the system is pressurised,after standing for some time, the level in the header tank jumps a fair bit.
• i cant bleed the rigid hose on the front of the block (thermostat to water pump) because the valve is seized. firm hammering and a tightening action wouldnt open it and i really dont want to shear it so i am leaving it as is. the engine cooling appears to be good and i hardly ever put my foot down so im not worrying.
• when i put the heater on full it will bring the temperature gauge down considerably during light driving/idling (so it must have a decent heat output, just seems to be quite a low temperature)
• with the heater on full for a few minutes there is a noticeable temperature difference between the hoses attached to the cabin heater matrix

so it would appear that simply the heaters on punto diesels just cant get the air temperature as high as old peugeot diesels without using the recirculation thing which results in the windows steaming up super fast. roll on summer and (hopfully) drier weather!