can i change my thermosat so the car will make more heat quicker?
In terms of changing to a different temperature thermostat, I don't know that you really want to do that, and I dare say certainly not in newer model years. But on the (VERY GOOD) possibility that the aging thermostat is keeping the car from putting out anything near to the heat it should be putting out, by all means, put in a new one. Even if you put in a new one at the proper temperature for this car, it will probably work much better than the old one. Hope this helps. Tom Wenndt
There's a lever that chooses whether you're heater is getting air from outside the car or inside the car. When it's cold and you're just starting out, it will generate heat faster if you choose the "Air from Inside" option. Then switch to "Air From Outside" once the engine warms up. Hope that helps! PS I just got my car washed yesterday, then it snowed! Chris
If the heat output has dropped off over the years you might want to get a system flush done, new coolant put in and a new thermostat. I know locally there is a rad shop that does the complete chemical flush for $39.95 (Canadian). Got my 91 Scoupe done in the fall and I went from having no heat to having to turn the fan off on some days cause it heats up just like it was new again. I just figured why bother putting a nice new thermostat in with possibly crummy old sludgy coolant and if I was putting new coolant in I might as well make sure the system is clean first. Cheers, Lawrence
i do that all the time, when cars left over night its switched to recirc. just seems slow to heat, but once warm its like a sauna
That sounds pretty normal to me for any car! If the engine's cold, where's the heat gonna come from? Chris
i flush our rad once a year, it looks new as day one =-) i wonder if the thermostats getting lazy... we have 162 000 kms now..
well duhh, how can u get heat from a cold engine? the point is its taking to long for engine/needle to move now days...
Did you try blocking off airflow to half the radiator? I have done that over the years to many cars when It gets below freezing. The greater the temp difference the less airflow required to achieve suficient cooling capacity I have seen days here when I could not get the car warmed up enough to close the thermostat. That's assuming that the temp needle barely making it 1/2 way to it's normal operating point indicates that the bypass channel is keeping enough coolant flowing to hold the temperature at that point.
