Slow warmup

[ozarkgolfer]

Love my TDI, but...

'She' is parked in the garage that is unheated but integrated within the house. With outside temperatures at 20*F, my house at 74*F, the garage is at 50*F. However, it takes 10-15 minutes/7-8 miles before the needle budges off the left needle and 20 minutes/12 miles before I see the temperature gauge reach "normal". It also takes 10-15 minutes before I get warm air through the vents - thank God for seat warmers!

Is this what everyone else is getting? I seem to remember that back in the day for some cars you could buy a front radiator blind for quicker warm-up.

[rytlewski]

Yeah, that's about right. I've got a '10 Jetta TDI and I've noticed it takes almost twice as long to warm up as it did in the summer. Also, the slow warm up seems to have a negative on fuel milage.

[hercdriver]

That's a little longer than what I'm seeing on engine warm up. At 18* F it takes me about 10 minutes of driving 30 - 50 mph to see the gauge come off of the stop. Once it reaches about a 1/4 of the way I pick up my speed to 70-80 mph. I'm not sure about '10, but the '06 has an electric heater that starts warming the cabin before the engine is up to temp. Try setting your heat to max and see if that won't get you some heat faster.

On a side note I have seen my mpg go down slightly with the colder weather. It was averaging 40-42, and now seems to hover around 38-40 with mostly aggressive highway miles. I'm not sure if this is from the temperature drop or my driving habits.

[Keithuk]

Originally Posted by ozarkgolfer

It also takes 10-15 minutes before I get warm air through the vents - thank God for seat warmers!

Well they do auxilary heaters on certain models of the TDI.

Auxillary air heater

Mine appears to have one, I can go 100m up the road in freezing conditions and put the blower on and aired air comes out another 100m and warm air comes out another 100m and hot air come out. The heater matrix hasn't warmed up by then.

[golfTDI1]

Ozarkgolfer, I too have similar results as far as getting the needle to move. As Keith suggested, you have electric heat until the car warms up. Many people have stated on this forum in various places that you need to turn the temperature up to the highest. I dont find that necessary, I just keep it over 72, but sometimes it helps to turn it all the way up to make sure you get the warmest air.

Here's what I do in the morning to get heat quickly (its been in the high teens and low twenties the past few days in NY when I leave for work)...start the car, hit the heated seat button, put in neutral and turn the temp past 72 (or all the way up), put the ventilation system in RECIRCULATE mode (the rightmost of the three buttons above the blower control) this way you keep the heat you're making in the car and continue warming that air instead of drawing cold air from outside, move the blower control to #2 fan speed (this works best, too high for the fan and you really wont feel the warmth as quickly), move the air to face only (I recommend moving to face and feet or windsheild after you feel the warm air...also if you use windshield defrost without the engine warmed up fully, I recommend turning off the A/C button which turns on automatically when you move to defrost. The A/C cycle is intended to dry the air, but usually you will be fine by turning OFF of recirculate mode for this, but it will probably happen automatically when you use defrost windshield setting anyway. At this point I put it in gear and drive the first few miles somewhat gently. The electric heat will not operate continuously at idle, the RPMs need to be above approx. 1200...even though a couple of times I heard the heat relay click on at idle, you should listen for the click of the relay as well

This steps will get you heat surprisingly fast! I feel the warm air 1-2 blocks away! Happy heating!

[Keithuk]

Isn't it funny how the handbook mensions auxilary heater in the index but when you turn to that page its never mensioned again it only talks about the recirculation button.

My recirculation button is the the left of the heated rear window button it has an outline of a car with a symbol in the middle and a A on the right. You would think the A is for auxilary?