First cold day out? Heater abnormal?
 

Since I've only had the car under a week I haven't had an opportunity to learn what "normal" operation is, but I think this might be a problem.

It was really cold out (below freezing) for the first time last night/this morning. I took the FD to work (only 5 minutes away) and it took just a few minutes to come up to normal operating temperature. Nothing unusual there, but even when the temp gauge was dead center, hardly any warm/hot air was coming out of the vents with the heat on on full.

a) Is this normal behavior? Does it really take a while for the heat to come on strong? In my GVR4 the heat is blasting hot before I've even driven 1 mile.

b) The motor's been replaced, I assume in the last incarnation there was oil/coolant mixing because there's some good sludge in the coolant overflow container (and on the coolant overflow dipstick). Could it be that in its past life the oil sludged up the heater core so now it doesn't work properly?

Any ideas/suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Heat only comes out of the lower/floor vents. Was that air cool too?

I noticed that. Can you explain why?

I read that in a search this morning but I haven't had an opportunity to check it out. Does the air coming out of the top vents really only come out lukewarm o.O

Yes. When you have a chance, check the lower vents to see if you are getting heat from them. If you aren't then you have a problem.

By design of Mazda. There are many theories as to why they did it, but the fact is that's how it works.

My air comes out of the facial vents aswell as under the steering wheel.....

Air comes out of the vents, but it's not hot air, even when the control is set to hot.

Heat also comes out of the defroster vents.

So, if you want heat, you need to tune to Defroster, Defroster/Floor, or Floor.

Exactly. And of course, if you search, there are a couple threads on this, and this info can also be found in the one place that should be read cover to cover but seldom is: the Owner's Manual ;)

Ramy, dare I detect a hint of "rynbergism" in your post there...;)

Read Manual cover to cover but I guess I was just too focused on chapter 7.....

The first thing to check when your heater is not putting out heat is your coolant level, and make sure there is no air in the system either.

My car didn't come with an owner's manual and thusfar I have been unsuccessful in finding one online. I did download and peruse the FSM but that doesn't detail user-end operation :(

Coolant level is okay, I've been checking religiously since I bought the car.

if your heat is not the best what about flushing the cooling system..paying particular attention to the heater core..I'm not familiar with the operation of the components but would assume that if you are not gettin the best heat at operating temp ,I personally, would be looking around there ..what about the vent doors ?..(if there are any..again non-familiar)..replacing thermostat wouldn't hurt either since it is a vulnerable part and having proper coolant level with no air in the system,"new " coolant ..just some stuff to mention ..

I assume your car is not overheating.

Check the radiator to make sure it's getting hot. If it is, you can assume your thermostat is opening.

Grab hold of the coolant lines which come out of the firewall, and see if they're hot (near the ABS). If they are, you can assume that coolant is going through the heater core.

Pull back the carpet under the pax glove box. Look for leaks. If you look under the dash under the glovebox, you'll see the 2 brass lines for feed and return from the heater core.

Check those out.

Me? Impossible... LOL :D I learn from the best ;)

Understood LOL. Allow me to point out another important point ppl always miss. Page 5-14 clearly states in a HUGE "CAUTION" box: "Don't use the hook loops under the front for towing. They are designed ONLY for tying down the vehicle when it's being transported. Using them for towing will damage the bumper." :) So they're TIE DOWN POINTS ONLY. I've had numerous tow truck drivers try and pull her up onto a flatbed using those, thinking they're factory tow hooks! :eek:

Hey Tom! Haven't seen you post in a while! :wave: Hope all's well! :)

Dude...you can pick a new one up from the local stealership for $20 - $30. Give Ray Crowe a call and he'll ship one to ya even.

man do I hate to see statements like this in the 3rd gen section :hahaha:





BTW, I'm loving the cold weather, little scary when the tires are cold and the top of each gear the car breaks loose...just wish I could get the car to pull like this in the summer when its better weather for driving :scratch:

All is well. You still have your car? I saw you selling off a warehouse full of stuff.

OK. I understand. So, seriously, where SHOULD a tow-truck driver hook on to pull an FD onto a flatbed? (I would think that without a flatbed, you can't tow an FD at all.) I can sure think of a lot of places worse than those tie-down hooks.

I've (knock on wood) never had to have mine towed.

Dave, first of all, I'm VERY happy to hear you've never had to have your FD towed. I've lost count after the 12th or so time ;) Now, it's practically routine, and I walk the tow truck driver through the process LOL.

I have them use their hooks and put it into these circles/holes in the subframe.

My car is doing the same thing no warm air from any of my vents but my defroster seems to work with luke warm air

Yes my wife has the same problem with hers she keeps on complaining about the fact that the heat is not sufficient enough does anybody body on here have any solution to this.