Heater

The Oily Bits S1 Specific Topics
1

I’ve heard lots of complains about the air-con being ineffective, but what are you guy’s feelings about the heater. In the past couple of weeks, when it’s been freezing outside, I’ve found the heater in my car a bit lacking. Even on a long journey, the car never actually gets warm inside. It’s not very cold, but it’s not quite comfortable. I wondered if it’s down to the 82 degree thermostat that came with the engine upgrade. I don’t remeber it being this bad last winter, before I had the upgrade.Any thoughts?Cheers,Brendan

2

It wasn’t this blooming cold last winter!!!I find the heater is fine as long as you’re not going any great speed. There appears to be a draft that comes from the footwell.I put that down to it being a non-carpeted race car and Lotus (already having cabin over heating problems) not being to fussy about keeping cold air out.Ian [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/confused.gif[/image]

3

I think this is only a problem with the air-conned cars, something to do with a directional flap that lets outside air seep into the footwell. As it’s cold it reduces the temperature of the hot air that the heater’s producing. The fix is, unbelievably, to tape up the holes in the footwells. This was meant to be a temporary thing but mine’s been like that since Feb of last year!

4

So what you’re say is…Air con by Lotus = big drafty holes in the footwells. Superb.Ian.

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I suspect they had to put the holes in to stop it actually freezing inside the cabin when the A/C is on!!!Ian [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/wink.gif[/image]

6

Well my car doesn’t actually have air-con, so that doesn’t explain it. I’ll look out for draughts coming from the footwell the next time I take it for a spin.Does anybody have a really good heater? That would suggest mine is faulty.

7

quote:Originally posted by Brendan:Does anybody have a really good heater? That would suggest mine is faulty.Or it would suggest that the really good one is faulty…

8

my heater works fine … sub zero the other night and it was quite toasty in there , mind you i was only doing about 50 … anyway , heaters , air con ! maybe you should have bought a porsche !!! [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/wink.gif[/image]

9

ipj youre not a vulcan are you ? [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/grin.gif[/image]

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quote:Originally posted by roger x:ipj youre not a vulcan are you ?It’s the ears - they always give me away.

11

FWIW my heater is not really very efficient at all. (air con fitted which doesn’t work very well either!)It must be something to do with that long coolant run (front to back, through the RH sill I believe) and the 82 degree thermostat (my car seems toi run at about 79 degrees). In the summer lots of HOT water travelling through the cabin (sills) desperately trying to get cooled at the front (=hot cabin), and in the winter not much SLIGHTLY WARM water travelling through the sills to the heat exchanger/heater distribution at the front(= cold cabin).DOH!Mike

12

quote:Originally posted by IPJ: Or it would suggest that the really good one is faulty…Good answer [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/smile.gif[/image]Thanks for the response, guys. I’m still not certain, so I’ll get the guys at Nick Whale’s to check it out.

13

erm…ok, fair enough, that means my heater is faulty…it’s working as the afterburner of a Phantom…

14

quote:Originally posted by Bruno:erm…ok, fair enough, that means my heater is faulty…it’s working as the afterburner of a Phantom…Thanks Bruno, that’s interesting. If yours works, I blooming well want mine to work.Brendan

15

hmmmm, made a bit of a discovery today, i too had taped up the footwell holes on advise of my dealer, but whilst driving my wifes car, i noticed that her heating was far superior.Well, i removed the tape today whilst cleaning out the car and hey guess what, my heating is now working the same as hers !!!Excellent !!!

16

oi Phil, what does that tell you: never listen to your dealer, eh? [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/grin.gif[/image] [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/grin.gif[/image] [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/grin.gif[/image]

17

PhilThe problem of “cold air” into the cabin only occurs at about 50mph & above (in my car with aircon). Below that speed, the heater works ok.“Our” dealer blanked off the holes in mine (using old number plate fixed with double sided sticky pads)last winter, & the temp remained at a comfortable level.In summer, I removed the blanking, but have so far not replaced it. Fortunately, I’m now not using as my daily driver, so the problem is not critical! However, on a recent run out, I noticed the icy blast emanating from the footwell, so if I were intending to use the car frequently during the next couple of months, the blanking would be going back on.

18

Pesky, the only answer is long johns [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/grin.gif[/image] [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/grin.gif[/image] [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/grin.gif[/image]

19

Well i cant explain it, but the car is still a daily driver and the temp was crap with the holes blocked off, but keeping it on fan speed 1, i’m warm as toast even over 50 mph, no need for a coat whilst driving now !Turning the fan off and yes i can feel the cold air coming through.Just one of those things i suppose, im happy anyway [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/smile.gif[/image]