How long does it take your car to heat up?

[roycehof]

Fellow Festiva Owners - My 93 Festiva takes about 3 miles (or at least 5 minutes) before the needle even starts to move on the temperature gauge. Is this typical? The reason I ask is that I recently replaced a thermostat in a Saturn that was acting the same way and it is now up to temp in about a mile. That was a double acting thermostat and apparently one of the "doors" was stuck open (slightly). Even though I have lived with this for 4 years now, it got me wondering - could a simple thermostat replacement (using the Mazda part, of course) remedy this frigid issue?

[tulsacarman]

2 miles and my needle moves. That's about what I'd expect, I probably wouldn't go to the trouble or expense to warm up a mile sooner. All the guys up North see things differently I'd imagine.

[fastivaca]

My car usually doesn't warm up until May.....:toothy3: just ask my wife!

[packrat427]

My car use to warm up fairly quick , but when it started getting cooler It started taking forever , I thought I would replace my thermostat with the factory correct one , and it still takes forever ??
My radiator is spotless .
My gauge will hardly move in 6 miles , I do have heat , just not up to full temp.

[Mike McKown]

I never paid any attention to the gauge but I can have heat after a 32* cold start and about a half mile of driving. Maybe 3/4 mile.

[ohsoslow]

the factory thermostat is a double acting t-stat.
ost people that have heat issues usuall find out they dont have the factory double t-stat.
the other thing you should try (as wel as putting the factory t-stat in) is to cut a piece of carboard and place it infront of the radiator. start with covering 1/4 of your rad and work your way up till you are hapy and not overheating. my 88 is blocked off completely, dosnt overheat and has great heat. my 91 is half blocked off with a factory t-stat

[hotfordcat]

Mine takes about 3 miles, and I just put in the Ford two stage T- stat. Before I was almost to work, 15miles.

[hawkdoc60]

I think 2-4 minutes is average. That is about what it takes Cherry Bomb to warm up.

[deathegg]

My ex-wife NEVER warmed up!

[JoDan]

i live in iowa and in the winter i start it up and let it sit for 5-10 minutes and go out there and it warmed up

[elcamino1]

When it at the freezing mark I let it warm up about 15 or 20mins before I pull off,heats warm by then!!!

[stefan]

In the summer... My gauge is at the 1/2 mark in less than a mile.

In the winter (read: canadian winter.. -20F)... I'd say 5-10 minutes w/o plugging in... when i plug in.. less than 2mins.. but I have multiple heating devices lol

[fastivaca]

... my Festiva does warm up eventually. I have the proper thermostat in and that did help a lot. The air coming out of the vents is quite warm but what I find is that because there is so little insulation in the car that what heat is produced is just sucked right out of the car, especially when it's really cold.

I plan to remedy that this spring. One of my projects is to install the B-Quiet (http://www.b-quiet.com/) product I picked up last year, along with some firewall insulation from the same company and the replacement carpet I have sitting in the garage. I'll also be installing the A/C that's been on the shelf for over a year!

Hopefully that will keep things warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer. One of the things we have to deal with here is the wide variation in temperatures... typically from -35°C(-31°F) in the winter to +35°C(95°F) in the summer.

[bhazard]

Mines horrible, takes at least 10-15 minutes to start getting warm inside. Its got the correct tstat. Im pretty sure it isnt stuck open. The engine just doesnt make a lot of heat.

Ive got coroplast covering the entire grill, and then more coroplast making a front air dam that comes down about 8 inches off the front bumper, and covers all the openings in the bumper.

The car is plenty warm when it warms up, but it just takes a long time to get there.

Also the fan comes on when the gauge is about halfway, so my guess is that the gauge reads low. What point on the gauge does your fan kick on, guys?

[bhazard]

Oh I forgot to mention, I got fed up and installed a Kats circulating tank coolant heater. Its 1000 watts and when I go out to leave for work at a quarter after 5 in the morning the entire engine is as if it had been running for hours. Instant heat out of the vents on startup. The only downside is the tank has to be the lowest point in the cooling system, and so it sits REALLY close to the ground.