I thought my Fabia was slow warming up, BUT, this new works Vauxhall Combo van 1.7 cdti of mine takes an absolute eternity, and yes I know diesels are always slower than petrols, and yes I know it's a bit nippy at the moment.

Approx 15 miles of 'A' road driving is what it takes before the guage finally starts moving and a bit of warmish air starts circulating. Half that in the Fabia.

Not good, not good at all.

Apart from that though, what a cracking load lugging vehicle, and 50mpg too!

I leave my car ticking over for about 15 mins then drive off. I don't have a temperature gauge in my Fabia unfortunately so I don't know how long it takes to warm up.

You need to drive off straight away after stating the engine, avoiding high engine loads and speeds. You should not let it idle for a while after starting, it's not good for the environment or the engine. My old octavia tdi used to take an age to warm up like the OP is experiencing with the Combo van. Diesels are just more efficient so theres less heat output (which is just waste), the radiator wont open until the engine has reached a tempreature to need it which is why it will take so long to move off the stop

I leave my car ticking over for about 15 mins then drive off. I don't have a temperature gauge in my Fabia unfortunately so I don't know how long it takes to warm up.

I managed to drive the Fabia staright off tthe path to the Asda this morning, as I experimented 'bubble wrapping' the screen last night, and it worked!

Gauge was moving upwards within 2 miles, and virtually normal temp within 5.

So why is the Vauxhall cdti engine so pitifully slow to warm then ey? :S

Anyone hazard a guess?

You need to drive off straight away after stating the engine, avoiding high engine loads and speeds. You should not let it idle for a while after starting, it's not good for the environment or the engine. My old octavia tdi used to take an age to warm up like the OP is experiencing with the Combo van. Diesels are just more efficient so theres less heat output (which is just waste), the radiator wont open until the engine has reached a tempreature to need it which is why it will take so long to move off the stop

I normally drive off straight away but while I'm defrosting the car I start the car then a couple of minutes after put the heater on and the rear heated screen. I see some clowns driving with just a few inches cleared in front of them I like to see all around me.

I normally drive off straight away but while I'm defrosting the car I start the car then a couple of minutes after put the heater on and the rear heated screen. I see some clowns driving with just a few inches cleared in front of them I like to see all around me.

Peering through a little peep hole they've made with their finger.

Not funny at all really, in fact downright dangerous...and illegal.

Car crashed into a parked car right opposite our house a few years ago for that very reason.

She was in a hurry apparently

Sort of slowed her hurryness down a bit.

Edited 9 January, 201016 yr by Mr Ree

Thinking of the good old days when cars were equipped with radiator blinds...

Also remember a cold winter back in the 70's when I drove an air-cooled Citroën GS. Outside the city it never reached working temperature unless I covered the grille with a cardboard piece.

Baby beemer is kicking out heat within a couple of miles

mind you when its snows it takes a looooong time to travel a couple of miles

Edited 9 January, 201016 yr by slider

My Sedici takes a good 15 minutes of driving to get the temp up and if you are mainly idling it can take even longer. My diesel baby Beemer will blow warm air within the first mile of driving! Even in sub zero temps. But that’s thanks to an all alloy engine and a set of louvered blinds that shield the engine till it needs the cooling. Very clever and works superbly when it comes to warning the engine up.

Baby beemer is kicking out heat within a couple of miles

mind you when its snows it takes a looooong time to travel a couple of miles

Does that not have some fancy grille electronic grille to decrease engine warm up time and therefore efficiency, very clever stuff in these Beemers

You can buy 3rd party grill covers for Octavia's I think I saw them somewhere, keep seeing some older cars with silver foil

My dad's 1st car - a Rover 14 - didn't have a heater, far less electric things to defrost the windows! It did have all leather seats which didn't help in winter.

We kids had to sit in the back wrapped in blankets. For the 1st couple of miles in the winter the driver and front passenger each had a hot water bottle to hold against the inside of the widescreen to stop it freezing.

How did we survive?!

I thought my Fabia was slow warming up, BUT, this new works Vauxhall Combo van 1.7 cdti of mine takes an absolute eternity, and yes I know diesels are always slower than petrols, and yes I know it's a bit nippy at the moment.

Approx 15 miles of 'A' road driving is what it takes before the guage finally starts moving and a bit of warmish air starts circulating. Half that in the Fabia.

Not good, not good at all.

Apart from that though, what a cracking load lugging vehicle, and 50mpg too!

Now - be thankfull it's a Vauxhall - try a Transit - in years gone by -we used to go into work , start the van ( in the compound) , then have a cuppa ,get the stores sorted , boil the kettle again and give the van a cuppa -by now most of the glass was clear - so one volunteer would take van for short trips to get heater running .

My Furby - I run the heater to get rid of moisture/ice etc ,then shut it off .It's not uncommon for the guage to be halfway up after a couple of miles .

Does that not have some fancy grille electronic grille to decrease engine warm up time and therefore efficiency, very clever stuff in these Beemers

yup, see Lady E's post above.

Why is it bad to let the car tick over for a bit when first started?

I've got a corsa van 1.7 dti and little short journeys round the work it litterally takes hours to get up to temp, not good

Just a Diesel thing that I have got used to! My car hasn't been off the drive in a week but in cold weather it takes a while to get comfortable!

Estelle/Rapid heaters warm up susprisingly quickly considering the engine's at the back, the radiator's at the front and the heater's somewhere in the middle. Generally great winter cars!

Just done acheck on Furby today .Outside ,about 0C .Normal run to the park ( for dogs sniff & p) - after about a mile ,blowing warm . On way back , on halfway mark - pleasantly warm ,home , gauge on normal .

Why is it bad to let the car tick over for a bit when first started?

Because it doesn't get the oil circulating as well as driving does. As said though, harsh driving at first is also bad for a similar reason.

As I've said on other threads.

If you want to have the car warm up more quickly put some cooking foil over parts of the grill to reduce air flow.

Obviously don't totally cover it, but this will get your engine warm much quicker and save fuel and wear if you are mostly town driving.

And as a added bonus, it'll be like poor mans bling lolol

As I've said on other threads.

If you want to have the car warm up more quickly put some cooking foil over parts of the grill to reduce air flow.

Obviously don't totally cover it, but this will get your engine warm much quicker and save fuel and wear if you are mostly town driving.

Now if my 1 series had silver louvered blinds instead of the black ones. I could have this effect of ‘warm-up bling’ at least until the car warmed up