Heater not hot enough

[Th3importedguy]

My heater is all that hot. In the morning it's just not hot enough. I'm not asking for fire but just warmer.

[KIRIEIW]

I'm also in for an answer. What does your temp gauge show when the cars fully warmed?

[Cabriolet]

My heater is all that hot. In the morning it's just not hot enough. I'm not asking for fire but just warmer.

how far are you driving? it takes about 10 minutes for most e30s to get to full warm on the heater.
but you may need to bleed the car again as there most likely air bubbles stuck in the core.

[dsphil]

Did you turn on the recirculating air? It helps because you're not trying to heat up 32deg outside air like today.

[efficient]

i got a new heater core and now it blows real hot compared to my old one.

[CorvallisBMW]

OP, there's a lot of things that it could be:

-clogged heater core
-malfunctioning heater valve
-malfunctioning air flap thingys
-engine not reaching operating temp (stuck open thermostat, etc)
-air trapped in coolant system

I'd check engine temp first, then bleed out any air. Good luck!

[Stanley Rockafella]

before I replaced my rad, my heater was hotter than hell

[Graebmw95]

OP, there's a lot of things that it could be:

-clogged heater core
-malfunctioning heater valve
-malfunctioning air flap thingys
-engine not reaching operating temp (stuck open thermostat, etc)
-air trapped in coolant system

I'd check engine temp first, then bleed out any air. Good luck!

+1 What he said.

Check for all of those..

Also, when you replaced your radiator did you do a complete coolant flush? Did you make sure there is absolutely no air in the system?

I know I had a problem where my heat wasn't very hot either and I was low on coolant.. So I'd make sure that you A: have no air in the system, ad B: Are full on coolant. Heated coolant is what goes through your heater core and if you're low than that could be your issue.

[dnguyen1963]

In the snowy region, it can take up to 20 min for the car to get up to normal temp (needle in the middle). When it is 20F the needle barely goes pass the 1/4 mark in the first 20 min of driving in my car.

[nando]

mine always heated up quickly (~5 minutes) even on freezing cold days. there's actually a pictogram on the heater controls that shows you what positions to move everything to when defrosting the windows, maybe this also helps it heat up faster.

[blunttech]

90% of these issues is air in the system. Get the front end up as high as you can... Either on ramps or a really steep hill. Get the car up to temp with heater valve open and nail the throttle a couple times. Then open the bleeder and repeat until you get only coolant.

[dnguyen1963]

mine always heated up quickly (~5 minutes) even on freezing cold days. there's actually a pictogram on the heater controls that shows you what positions to move everything to when defrosting the windows, maybe this also helps it heat up faster.

You guys do not know what winter is like...

http://www.seattle.gov/living-in-seattle/environment/weather/averages-and-records

[nando]

I don't live in seattle

[jeffnhiscars]

I've lost track of how many times I've drained coolant for one reason or another among my hoard of e30s and have never ever had a bleed issue. Since I know it's a real issue the only thing I can think of is that I make sure there is a 1/16 bleed hole at the top of the tstat.

Then again I've also never had a problem getting a fan clutch off with just channel loks so maybe I'm just lucky :)

[uturn]

You guys do not know what winter is like...

http://www.seattle.gov/living-in-sea...es-and-records

I used to live in Seattle... but the problem with no heat in my e30's were faulty heater control solenoids.