heater problem

31st January 2011, 20:05

evening all got a question for my mate hes got a 1.1 saxo and his heater has developed a problem basicly it takes ages for the heater to heat up about 10 miles of driving infact so if any one has got any advice it would be greatly appreciated
thanks bert

31st January 2011, 20:15

tell him to put some water in his engine

31st January 2011, 20:16

Hello Bert

You need to get that sorted ASAP. It's not a case of an electric heater not working, if its blowing cold air for that long it means coolant is not flowing around the system as it was designed to keep the engine cool. This could cause all sorts of (expensive) problems.

First thing to do is bleed the system, or preferably flush the whole cooling system and refill with 50% antifreeze/coolant and 50% water.

If it's still blowing cold air then check for coolant leakages - could be a broken heater matrix.

If your not loosing coolant then look into the service history.. when and if the water pump was last changed. If it's original, and it's a high mileage engine, some of the fins on the pump could have broken off, meaning the coolant isn't getting circulated as it should.

As I said, give it your 100% and drive as little as possible until it's working

31st January 2011, 20:52

cheers mate he said he hears a sloshing sound round the dash when he starts it ? thanks for the advice mate great help

31st January 2011, 21:32

A sign of air in the system, so it probably just needs bleeding

good news