L series engines are very cool running and take ages to warm up, on a cold morning I can drive 8 to 10 miles before any real warmth is generated by the heater.

 

Ohhhh, bloody ages for my 200. Seriously, like 5 miles - more like 10 in the ice. The matrix in these is rather small and is easily blocked up, I flushed mine out twice and still it was getting clogged up with crud from the cooling system.

Add to that the fact that diesels are more thermally efficient and take a good while to warm through - and that the L-series has a big ol cast iron lock to heat up too...
...
..
.
You aint alone

 

Between 5 and 10 miles i think. drive it harder and it warms up loads faster. i can warm the car up in a couple of mins driving up a long and steep 60 limit road near our house. pootle along at 30 and it can take forever!

 

It's quite a treat when mine does actually spit out some warm air I've just accepted that early mornings = scarf round my face, 3 layers, and gloves in the car.

But yeah sounds normal to me buddy.

Matt

 

It's quite a treat when mine does actually spit out some warm air I've just accepted that early mornings = scarf round my face, 3 layers, and gloves in the car.

But yeah sounds normal to me buddy.

Matt

Now I know why some models have electrically heated front seats...... well atleast one part of me is warm.......

 

Mines about 7 miles

 

Mine doesn't warm up at the moment. Think the thermostats stuck open.

 

Going from my diesel to my petrol it's one of the things I really noticed.

Cold cars diesels in winter.

 

Diesels tend to run much cooler than petrol engines. Also, Diesel engine construction has to be more substantial than Petrol engines so with more metal mass to warm up, it takes more time. Often much more time.

It was the only thing I disliked about my otherwise perfect 600 diesel. I prefer to have a warm car. Unlike the L-Series, with the similar massive iron cylinder block in the Rover petrol T-Series, warm air starts to blow within a mile of a cold start in these cooler temperatures. I assume that's before the Thermostat is open. Within a few more miles it blows very hot which suits me fine.

 

Mine takes a god 7 to 10 miles to properly warm up, and that's at 60-70mph on the M27 / M3
It's properly cold until then, but then I have another 90mins in the car to warm up before I get to work

 

christ do you do that commute every day? I hope they pay your mileage!

 

Dunno about matey there, but I used to do 60+ miles a day - never no warmth until I got 10 miles up the road and precious little of that, used to relish getting to work coz at leat the heater in the 25t loader was rated at 15kW...

Toasty!

 

i live in newcastle north east of england outside temp about -4 on average.5mile drive to work and temp gauge not even up to a quater of norm so dont worry about it normal for any diesel to take ages to warm up.drive buses for a living and they the same even brand new 61 plate ones take about 10 miles to get to 80 digrees :snowhouse:

 

I can cope with it not heating up fast for the blower to warm you up which is 10-15minutes 20mins and its nice and warm normally,But what i hate is the ice that builds up on the inside of the windscreen not fun when the heater is blowing cold.

 

i find leaving the heater off til scangauge reads 70 helps....while heater is off it warms up loads faster

 

On both Petrol and most Diesels, the heater is simply another radiator designed to 'lose' heat. By shutting it off Petrol engines certainly warm up a tad quicker and so I expect Diesels with the same heater arrangements would do too.

Why put my heater on full on a hot day John. Silly idea.

If ever you suspect a car is near overheating on one of the very long, very hot summer's day Motorway Traffic hold-ups, have the heater on FULL. Yes, heat in the car will be uncomfortable but less so than standing on the hard shoulder with the bonnet up steaming away nicely.

Lost count of the times I've seen folks in that "steaming" situation on those uber-long Motorway traffic hold ups. Bowling along at Motorway speeds a neglected cooling system can usually cope. The hold up and huge heat built up in the engine in the suddenly stopped car cannot be cooled sufficiently under certain running conditions like these and that's when steam starts to appear from around the bonnet. By then it's too late for those "if it aint broke why fix it" type of car users.

Glad to report that temperatures locally are much improved locally. Almost mild in comparison to last week. My heater will still be on full though. Hate the cold.

 

Well, so i see thats "normal". I´m surprised once all the cars i have / had warm up very fast, including a Diesel Saxo.

I think Rover should have thought on a pré-warm electric heater like some cars have :lol:

Popeye 89, on your Scangauge, if you drive at 40 / 50 MPH on cool mornings, does your temperature reading goes above the 70.ºC? In mine, even i drove 20 miles at 40 / 50, temperature never goes above 70.ºC, only if i drove at about 55 / 60 MPH. So heater never blows really hot air

 

it takes ages at any less than 50mph tbh. im right next to the dual carriageway so alot of my driving is there. it will get there at 40 but will take its sweet time.

one way you might find works is to keep it in 4th. revs will be higher so will warm up faster

 

It depend on the temperature outside At -26°C i have more problems with the diesel in the fuel tank itself, but it takes durign normal city driving condition about 15km to get it on working temperature.

 

something my uncle taught me is that on a hot summers day if the temp is going north, put heater control onto face vents then open the window and aim it outside, closing the middle vent.

cant feel it

 

My old engine used to be upto temp within a mile or so..

But now iv got a replacement engine in.. It takes 10 miles + to even get off the cold mark.. My old engine was blates fecked.

 

TEMPERATURE GAUGES :~

Summer or winter, the gauge needle on all the K-Series cars in my family soon reaches "normal" reading within a mile of cold start up. No way are those engines or, their oil and coolant up to fully warmed ideal running condition.

I also view modern car on board computer readings with the same distrust, particularly fuel consumption figures.

 

my temp needle doesnt even move til scangauge reads 50 C

 

Aye, i think it's just that the temp gauge is slow to react. I normally leave the heater on cold until the car reaches 70 degrees, no real warmth to be had before then anyway.

 

The L series certianly takes a while to warm up. On my drive to work (~ 4 miles) I get about 2 minutes of heat before I arrive. However, once it's warmed up the temp should be around 95 constantly (on the Scangauge). If it's less than that the thermostat is probably stuck.

 

I think i never saw mine on 95.. I think the max was 94.ºC. On this cold weather it goes to low 80´s after 10 or 15 miles and never higher than that. And on downhills the temperature drops.. Sometimes i see the gauge droping too.. When it drops below 60´s on Scangauge.

The analog gauge it´s everything less accurate. Once it reaches the 60´s it won´t move at all.. 60 or 90 it´s on the same position.

Once i had a water pump leak, it loose many water, the radiator fan´s were working at full speed and the gauge was on "normal" temperature.. In that time i hadn´t Scangauge but i´m curious to see what´s the temperature.

 

Once its warmed up i have to say the heater is nice and warm soon takes the chill out.

 

MY temp gauge rarely works It splutters into life sometimes, often seeming to react to how high the engine is revving. It's like it has tourettes, flickers around like it's mental.

Needless to say, I keep a very regular check on my cooling system!