General Warm up time, thermostat.

[cooky257]

Vehicle 115 jtd 95000 miles 2002
If like me work is only a couple of miles away then when the outside temperature drops into single figures its always a cold journey in.
Recently I thought my temperate gauge was not rising at all, I reasoned that the thermostat was knackered and decided to do something about it.
Changing the thermostat is not a simple or cheap job. After two or three hours of swearing,sore back,skinned knuckles and blood the job was complete.
I am a reasonably competant DIY mechanic. Horrible job. I also replaced the temp sender on the thermostat housing.I bench tested the new thermostat before installation.
Was it a revelation?
Sadly No!
The original thermostat worked fine when I bench tested it, the only fault was the temp sensor, obvious in hindsite.
Anyway took the car for a run this morning,outside temperature is 6C
The run was 1.5miles @30mph then 50mph for the rest,staying in fourth to taxthe engine a bit.
Results on temperate gauge; 2 bars in 3.6 miles, 3 bars in 4.8 miles and 4 bars in 6.3 miles.
I expect when the temp is in the minus's it will be even worse.
I get my hat and gloves out then.

 

[widemouthfrog]

This is what you need :

https://www.fiatforum.com/multipla/257231-heated-seats.html

 

[conanhoward]

been there and done that with the thermostat, had the same results as you. still cold ! go and get yourself two bits of 22ml pipe lagging and cut to lengh then clip them on the grill. it helped mine quite a bit. the JTD does run rather cold.

 

[frogger]

unfortunately with the modern diesel engines now days (not just fiats) this is the case, as the engines are so efficient that not a lot of heat is generated.
in the cold countries lots of cars have options for auxiliary heaters ie a diesel fueled burner which heats the interior or block warmers which get plugged into main electric to keep the engine warm...approx 40c.
yep gloves and hat for me too

 

[momoe]

Last winter, when we had the early snow and sub-zero temps, I blocked off the radiator by pulling a fertilizer bag in front of the radiator.
This stayed in place until February and may have slightly improved warm-up times, altough the heater was definitely warmer. This didn't affect the temperature gauge when motorway driving, so have to agree with Frogger that there can't be too much heat spare

 

[Forestryman]

In my local Aldi this week they had heated seat covers for about 16 quid a seat. Not ideal, but could be very toasty on those cold mornings!

 

[raton_laveur]

I had a 2000 Punto 1.9 JTD 80 that had the same problem. Once the thermostat opened the temp gauge went to about half of normal and there wasn't much heat to be had. As my commute is nearly 50 miles, that was a problem. I partly solved it by covering the air intakes with 2 layers of wide clear tape. That didn't restore things to normal but it did make an improvement that you could easily notice.