Taking VW Polo long time to heat up

[newseeker1]

Drive a 10 reg VW Polo Diesel
It seems to take a good while for the interior of the car to heat up in the mornings
For example this morning I was in car and driving about 25 mins before you could feel heat inside the car

I would have radio turned on and lights are turned on and I would have phone plugged into charger so not sure if all these slowing heating down

Heating is on at max level first directing heat to the windows and then switching dial so that heating is directed part to the window and part to your feet

I know some might say that these mornings are cold and that the reason but ive noticed this over a while now that its slow to heat up compared to friends who drive other makes of cars

Anyone else finding the same thing - is this a known issue with VW ?
Thoughts?
Thanks

 

[mathepac]

Some cars may have electric heating or a Webasto heater, each of which heats the passenger compartment independently of the engine temperature.

If your car lacks either of these then you must wait for the engine to heat the coolant in order to have the heat transferred to the passenger compartment via the heater matrix (a small rad) situated in the dashboard area.

If you want the engine to heat up faster, turn the heater temperature gauge to off. This means that about a half-litre or so of cold coolant sits in the heater matrix and the remaining coolant heats up faster, improving fuel consumption and reducing engine wear as the oil will heat up faster too.

So what about the poor passengers & driver? If you car has A/C turn the switch to recirculate. This prevents the system taking in new cold air and body-heat will be retained in the cabin. Once the engine warms, turn up the temperature switch.

This is the best technique to get rid of the fog on the insides of windows on cold mornings. You'll have to experiment with the blower direction switch. Some cars need the air directed at the windows (the "defrost" or "demist" position), while others need it somewhere between demist and feet.

There is nothing that I know of wrong with your Polo diesel (1.6?), other than being a typically efficient & effective Teutonic design, and like all diesels, cold weather plays holy-hell with the warm-up time.

You might consider temporarily blocking off part of the radiator to cut down the cold air-flow in winter (not to be attempted if you are likely to be sitting in a traffic-jam). I do this with a neat little DIY cardboard baffle fitted to my diesel Fabia.

A few don'ts, if I may:

• Don't leave you car idling outside the door to warm up
• Don't pour hot water on the windows to defrost them
• Don't pour hot water in the window washer

And

• Do park indoors if at all possible
• Do use a car-cover / window cover
• Do use an ice scraper (carefully) to clear windows

If none of the above proves satisfactory for you, have a look at investing in a Webasto diesel-powered parking-heater or a mains-powered plug-in heater for the coolant and oil .

 

[Time]

Thermostat stuck in the open position is the most common cause of slow heating.

 

[Palerider]

Mathepacs response is very thorough and covers all the issues.

I'm curious to know if your last car was a petrol, in my experience of owning both it justs takes the diesel so much longer to get to operating temperature, in very cold weather I tend to take the petrol car rather than the diesel for that very reason.

To reassure you this has nothing to do with your car brand, your car is behaving normally for a diesel engined version from a cold start.

 

[mathepac]

Thermostat stuck in the open position is the most common cause of slow heating.

Yeah I considered that but dismissed it as a possibility based on the age of the car. I could of course be completely wrong and it may prove to be the thermostat stuck open but I'd be surprised, especially on a diesel.

 

[newseeker1]

Thanks all for the replies
This is my 1st diesel car - all previous cars I had were petrol so sounds like it just takes the diesel so much longer to get to operating temperature
Thanks for the feedback and reassuarances