Uno heater problem

[juLZ007]

hi guys ive got a 1991 fiat uno 1.4 sx ie

i find that it takes a very long time (half an hour sometimes) to heat up to acceptable levels of warmth, and never gets nicely toasty... im not sure if this is a problem or just an 'old car thing'

if anyone could help i would be very grateful

as a side-note, my car gets up to normal operating temerature within 5mins so it should produce warmth more quickly i would expect than 30mins..

hope you can help!!

 

[lewey]

Welcome.
This would be better in the Uno section, perhaps someone will move it for you.
If your car warms reasonably quickly according to gauge, you might have air in the heater matrix or a generally quite low coolant level. The valve that operates the flow into the matrix from the thermostat might not be opening properly or any part of that circuit is blocked. The old thermostat designs are a bit pants in my experience. I would take matters into your own hands and block off half of the rad with some cardboard, perhaps on the side the fan isn't, just in case. You will benefit in efficiency and you may be warmer.

 

[antsuno2]

Ha ha the misses moans about this every year, basicaly the heating system is crap! by the time she gets to work it just about blows warm, you will never get hot, i changed the matrix and valve/thermostat still the same, the centre vents will only blow fresh air in, i once contemplated re routing the pipework to improve matters, this year i bought her one of those 200w in car heaters that plug in the cig lighter, she is happier, my mitsi will burn the skin off your hand within 5 mins, she so jealous!! Ant!