Ford Focus II (2004 - 2007) - 05 1.8TDCi Heater takes forever to warm up.

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Thu 11 Feb 2010 09:08
05 1.8TDCi Heater takes forever to warm up. - Pete 72
Hi,

I have an 05 Focus 1.8 Tdci which takes forever to heat up. I have changed the thermostat which doesn't seem to have helped.

I drive approx 30 miles to work along A roads averaging probably 40-50mph. This morning the temperature gauge didn't get past 1/4 heat and it took about 20 minutes for any heat to start coming out of the vents.

I also find that the car heats up as I go faster and then the temperature drops when I start going slower.

Does anyone have any idea why this might be and how I fix it? I'm in danger of getting frostbite on my way to work!!!

Thanks in advance,

Pete

Edited by Dynamic Dave on 11/02/2010 at 10:24

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Thu 11 Feb 2010 09:37
Help. heater takes forever to warm up. 1.8tdci - L'escargot
This is a known drawback with diesels and is because the greater fuel efficiency (compared with petrol) results in a lower proportion going as waste heat into the coolant. What you gain on the swings you lose on the roundabouts.
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Thu 11 Feb 2010 09:43
Help. heater takes forever to warm up. 1.8tdci - ifithelps
My Focus 1.8TDCi took a while to warm up.

The CC3 - 2.0TDCi - is better.

But as Les says, diesels don't produce a lot of heat.

I think you can tell if you open the bonnet of a warmed-up diesel and then a warmed-up petrol.

You can feel more heat coming off the petrol engine.

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Thu 11 Feb 2010 09:50
Help. heater takes forever to warm up. 1.8tdci - diddy1234
Vauxhall Astra 2.0l Dti takes forever to warm up, yet the Rio diesel is chucking out heat after a couple of miles driving (yet that has no temp gauge).

Maybe the newer diesels have a smaller water jacket around the engine to make it warm up faster.
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Thu 11 Feb 2010 10:01
Help. heater takes forever to warm up. 1.8tdci - shara
Don't some of the newer diesels have booster heaters fitted to help with heating the car in cold weather? From my understanding there are fuel powered auxillary heaters that are used in very cold climates (such as Scandanavia) and these can be pre set to come on at certain times. In other climates such as ours I thought that diesels had electric heaters to help with warm air in the passenger compartment. With Ford I believe they are called PTC heaters. If this is correct then the OP may have a problem as the PTC or other heating component may not be working properly.
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Thu 11 Feb 2010 12:06
Help. heater takes forever to warm up. 1.8tdci - Peter.N.
Even my old 2.1 IDI engine in my Citroen XM behaves the same way, when I leave home I am climbing for a few miles then drop down on to the bypass, as I descend the hill the water temperature drops steadily. The modern common rail engines produce even less heat, as mentioned, its the price you pay for efficiency, heated seats or an auxilluary heater are the only real answer. Of course it will get hot if you thrash it, but thaty rather defeats the object of having a diesel.
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