I read elsehere that the new Accord diesel takes an age to warm up in the recent frosty weather - in fact the tester timed it at 15mins.
Do BackRoom owners out there find this to be correct?
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I have a diesel Mazda and that takes ages too - maybe it's something to do with diesels in general.
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All my Beemer Diesels have warmed up within a mile or less.
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All my Beemer Diesels have warmed up within a mile or less.
My 330d had a 'kettle' plumbed into the cooling system, powered by a great thick cable from the alternator. Worked a treat!
My current diesel doesn't have one, and I miss it!
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>> All my Beemer Diesels have warmed up within a mile orless.
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I have found the same with a 320d but also interesting is that it remains 'warm' for several hours after being run,in fact much longer than any previous car I have had.
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It is a diesel thing - better thermal efficiency, less waste heat. In some applications, getting diesels to run hot enough is more of a problem than cooling them. I believe some vehicles are fitted with eberspacher-type units as standard to give more/quicker cabin heating.
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It is a diesel thing - better thermal efficiency, less waste heat. In some applications, getting diesels to run hot enough is more of a problem than cooling them. I believe some vehicles are fitted with eberspacher-type units as standard to give more/quicker cabin heating.
Indeed, last December I test drove a 130hp Mondeo and at a steady 60 on the A1 could not get any warm air out of the heater - you must have to work the engine to stay warm!
The Accord does give warm air and will have to timme it on the next cold morning.
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Just need one of these:
www.eberspacher.com/car.php?section=automotive
I think some diesels come with these (or similar) now. It's an option on the Rover 75, for example. Sounds brilliant for frosty mornings. Anyone have any experience?
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Mine warms up fairly quickly.
Honda did a recall on the diesels and this was one of the problems that was supposed to be rectified. However, mine never took long to warm up so the fault may not have shown up when it was modified.
Perhaps the person concerned should contact his Honda dealer.
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My wife's Xantia HDi has an auxilliary heater (Webasto I think) which aids the heating up of the coolant so the interior heater/demister/climate control warms up quicker. It runs off diesel and is located under near side front wing - you can see the small exhaust pipe giving out steam on cold mornings and it sounds like a small jet engine! My Berlingo HDi doesn't have one but warms up in 5 minutes or so - certainly the warm air is blasting out well before I get to work which is only 10 mins away. 15 minutes to warm up sounds a very long time for the Accord but I have read somewhere that modern diesels are so efficient that they do take a long time.
I think I have read that these Webasto heaters are also fitted to (some ?) VAG diesels and Freelanders (? - does that mean BMWs as well?)
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My Alfa JTD is putting out warm air within 2 minutes of starting the ignition if I drive off straight away and closer to 5 if I let it idle whilst de-icing.
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I think I have read that these Webasto heaters are also fitted to (some ?) VAG diesels and Freelanders (? - does that mean BMWs as well?)
A customer of mine has recently traded in a TD4 Freelander as he didn't like the way the 7kw pre-heater robbed the engine of power, i would therefore presume that the 320d has a pre-heater too.
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My Alfa also heats up quickly without, I think, any form of preheating. The wife's audi takes maybe 3-5 minutes. I drove a new A6 diesel last week on a particularly cold day and within seconds it was surprisingly toasty. When I dropped the car I asked about this and apparently as standard there is an supplementary electric heater that initiates on startup below a certain temperature and then switches off. Very effective and no noticeable performance hit.
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The A2 has a Webasto heater which operates below 5 deg C. Cabin heat is noticeable within 30 seconds. IMHO the 5 deg is too low, 7 or 8 would be better. When the temp outside is 5.5 deg C freezing car for a mile or so as no Webasto! On some trips to work (7 miles) on cold days the temperature gauge does not move on the A2.
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Out of interest I checked my Accord Diesel when I went out this morning. At one mile the heater was blowing out warm air, and at three miles the temperature guage indicated the engine was at its normal operating temperature.
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Out of interest I checked my Accord Diesel when I went out this morning. At one mile the heater was blowing out warm air, and at three miles the temperature guage indicated the engine was at its normal operating temperature.
Thanks for the feedback, although the weather is pretty mild at them moment. The road-tester in my original post was commenting about frosty weather.
From other's comments it seems that diesels (unless they've got a supplmentary heater) vary a lot in warm up time.
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>> Out of interest I checked my Accord Diesel......>> >> Thanks for the feedback, although the weather is pretty mild at them moment. The road-tester in my original post was commenting about frosty weather. From other's comments it seems that diesels (unless they've got a supplmentary heater) vary a lot in warm up time.
I don't think it should have that much effect. My car is garaged, so it's never covered in ice, but it has always warmed up relatively quickly even on frosty mornings.
Why should very cold weather make a huge difference? The thermostat will prevent coolant circulating through the radiator, and the radiator fan should not be operating.
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Just realised that I have one fitted to my 75. I thought there was a problem with the thermostat as it usually takes around 7 miles to warm up, but with the recent cold weather it was warm within minutes...
The cloud of diesel smoke from the passenger side mud flap and a worrying whirring noise made me go the dealer....only to be told 'its normal sir...its got an engine heater for cold mornings'
Felt a bit stupid...great for instant heat when its frosty tho!!!!
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The cloud of diesel smoke from the passenger side mud flap and a worrying whirring noise
If it makes you feel any better, that would worry me too.
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If you feel your cars take too long to warm in the cold weather, blank off part of radiator with cardboard
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Surely if your thermostat is working correctly your radiator won't get hot until the engine is up to normal temperature. So blanking the rad should have no effect, except that it will stop some air cooling the actual engine block which will be minimal IMHO.
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