That’s a good idea. I don’t recall seeing that in my manual but its easy enough to try. Thanks. I’ll find out in the morning when we leave for Church.
Oh, also, the OP mentioned that it takes 20 minutes of driving for the car to warm up, not just idling. I can pretty much guarantee that’s a bad thermostat.
or it’s a diesel.
Not necessarily. The engine has to be warm enough to warm the air.
We had a cold snap here a while ago where I drove 3-4 km before even one little square showed on the temperature gauge for the engine.
My VW Rabbit would not heat at idle. No matter how long you ran it, until you started moving, it would blow cold air. If you idled long enough, it would blow warm pretty much as soon as you started moving, but from a cold start it took about ten miles for the cabin to really warm up. Only thing I didn’t like about the car.
I had the thermostat checked, but it was working properly. The engine just wasn’t big enough – or, if you prefer, it was too efficient – to produce waste heat at idle.
I had a seventy something VW Beetle that would begin to get warm as you reached your destination, regardless of distance.
Weren’t those engines air cooled? How did they create heat without warm radiator fluid going through the heater core?
Yeah, they were air-cooled engines. There were various after market add ins to help with heating. I dunno how heat was made, but it sucked. I later had an MG midget with a soft top tha leaked cold air everywhere and was still warmer than my VW.
I always feel the need to leap to the defense of the air-cooled Beetle’s much-maligned heater system.
Basically, the way it worked was that the main (belt-driven) engine fan blew air over the cylinders which then went through paper tubes down to air exchanger boxes mounted on the exhaust manifold. That air then went through some sort of cloth tube things into heater channels in the floorpan of the car, at which point there was a valve controlled by the driver that could let the hot air into the car (and either out two holes under the rear seat or to the front windshield).
When everything was working correctly, the system actually worked pretty well. It was more than adequate for a Beetle, although maybe not for the yawning cavern that was the van. The problem is that you had to make sure the system was more or less airtight and a lot of owners didn’t. Also because the main engine fan essentially doubled as the blower fan, the amount of hot air getting into the cabin was dependent on the engine speed. That meant that the heat output at idle wasn’t always great, although that was also exacerbated by mechanics used to American cars setting the idle way too low.
I shivered through the first winter I owned a Beetle cursing the heater like everyone else, but then I actually replaced the missing and broken ductwork and tuned it up properly which got me through several subsequent brutal Northern Rocky winters just fine. If you warmed it up by driving it lightly, it would actually start making heat a lot faster than a water cooled car.
Now he tells me.
This is what I came to say.
Years ago, I had to go work in an area much colder than my home. The first morning, my battery was dead, gone, couldn’t be jumped. It was towed to a garage, where besides a new battery, they strongly suggested a block heater. Every place had outlets to plug in.
Once I moved back home I still plugged it in when the news said it would be cold in the morning. A warm car on a cold morning is wonderful.
It wasn’t too expensive if I recall.
The problem is that the Beetle’s heating system of ducts, exchangers, thermostatic flaps etc. was very vulnerable to rust. If any of the parts rusted out (which they did) the system wouldn’t really work much at all. The later VW Squarebacks tried to remedy this by having a gasoline heater. Problem was when these failed they set the car on fire. Literally.
How did heating the gas prevent rust in the heating system?
You could always fit one of these - Diesel, gasoline or ethanol operated air and water heaters.
That’s what most European trucks have fitted as standard. Even the guys who work north of the Arctic Circle in Finland are happy with this.
They come with a timer so the car is toasty when you get in.
A gasoline heater is not a device to warm gasoline.
It’s essentially a furnace like the one in your house. But it burns gasoline to make the fire to heat the air.
And that avoided rust simply by eliminating all the metal air ducting around the bottom of the car. Instead they placed the gasoline-powered furnace up near the dash where the heat exchanger (AKA heater core) would be on a typical front engine water-cooled car.
Best buy has kits, you can buy the remote starter and have it installed by the geek squad for $200-300. That is about the price I’ve seen advertised at auto shops, $200-300 for the kit and an install.
However I have no idea what additional costs come with that. Does that include hooking it up to the alarm system, keyless door locks, or trunk button? Does that include a bypass module?
I’m not sure. That could add $300 to the cost, making it closer to $500-600.
That is true. If things really weren’t going your way, the air exchangers on the exhaust manifold would rust from the inside out and start blowing exhaust into the cabin!
I do also somewhat suspect that some of the structural rust damage most bugs have these days is partly due to the heater system. The heater channels that connected the air exchanger to the floorpans were the closest thing the Beetle had to a rigid frame. When most any other part rusted out you could replace it, but rusted heater channels would send the car to the scrapyard. Having hot air flowing through them all winter might have accelerated that issue.
Also I don’t think any VW’s came from the factory with a gas heater, but I could see how that would be a more common dealer-installed option on the Squareback with it being the upscale VW and all.
I’ve had Best Buy install two remote starters in two cars aftermarket. One is still working perfectly after 10 years. The other is in a 2012, no problems. I don’t remember what the first one cost (including installation), but the second was $350. Depending on the system you buy and the car you have, you can still use your car key to open the door without worrying about the starter.
The only thing about the starter installation, is that sometimes there’s an additional integration kit. Best Buy has these in stock.
The two systems I purchased have ‘no steal’ systems. You have to have the key in the starter and turned before you put your foot on the brake or gas.
How exactly do those things work? And how much does it cost to buy and install?
They work by burning fuel (petrol or diesel) and blowing warm air like a furnace. The exhaust gasses are dispersed outside.
How much? - no idea, but not cheap.