On account of this thread I paid attention this morning on the way to work
in the grey van.  It took about a mile at ~30 degrees F. to feel a
difference, about 3 for it to be warmish.

I've noticed that the rear heater gets warm a lot quicker on both vans.

On Fri, Mar 6, 2009 at 5:35 PM, alfred bagdan <abagdan@shaw.ca> wrote:

> If you have the rear heater valve open, most of the hot coolant goes
> through
> the rear heater.  Try closing the rear heater and see what happens.  Also
> replace your thermostat in case it is stuck open.  If the temperature gauge
> does not go up to the halfway point in cold weather, you will probably have
> to replace the thermostat to get some decent heat.  Its a bitch of a job,
> but doable.  When  I replaced the hoses last summer I also put pipe
> insulation on the hot lines and also replaced the thermostat and the water
> pump.  What a difference that made.  I live in Edmonton, Canada,  and I
> drove the van once this winter when it was -30C ( ~ -20F ) and it was warm
> as toast inside, and didn't take long to warm up.
>
> Alfred
> 85 Westy
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Mark Tuovinen" <mst@AK.NET>
> To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
> Sent: Friday, March 06, 2009 2:49 PM
> Subject: Re: Takes a darn long time for the heater to come up to speed
>
>
>  You just send her up here to drive my Syncro on a cold(subzero) morning,
>> she will appreciate your van much more afterward.  My kids ride to school
>> with a blanket over them for warmth and they are wearing winter coats,
>> hats, mittens, and boots at the same time.  Vanagons have a rather large
>> area to warm up and the front core is a long way from the heat source.
>> Though it won't cure your problem you could put pipe insulation on your
>> front heater hoses under the van.  This will reduce the heat loss that
>> occurs before the hot coolant gets to the core.  Another and more
>> difficult issue to deal with is that the front heater only draws air from
>> outside, it does not recirculate cabin air.  Thus while your heater core
>> is trying to warm the air, the air is trying to cool the core.  Not an
>> issue in moderate climates but those in extreme cold areas suffer because
>> of it.
>>
>> Mark in AK
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: Rocket J Squirrel <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
>> Date: Thursday, March 5, 2009 4:35 pm
>> Subject: Takes a darn long time for the heater to come up to speed
>> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>>
>>  My wife's Subaru Outback's heater is ready to put out some serious therms
>>> in about 3 minutes of drive time. The temp gauge comes up quickly,
>>> whereas the temp gauge in ol' Mellow Yellow needs another 5-8 minutes of
>>> driving in freezing temps to really start to creep upwards and for the
>>> heater to start doing anything interesting.
>>>
>>> I'd like to think that the difference is due to the awesome efficiency of
>>> the WBX engine . . . I'd like to think that, but something tells me that
>>> a 2006 Subaru engine is a tad more efficient. So, does anyone have any
>>> idea why the 1.9L engine is so sluggish compared with the Outback's
>>> engine when it comes to making hot water available to the heater core?
>>> Mrs Squirrel gripes about how long it takes to get warm air to come out
>>> the heater and I'd like to have some highly-technical answer to respond
>>> with. You know, baffle them with BS?
>>>
>>> --
>>> Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
>>> 84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
>>> 74 Utility Trailer. Ladybug Trailer, Inc., San Juan Capistrano
>>> Bend, OR
>>> KG6RCR
>>>
>>>

--
Jake

1984 Vanagon GL
1986 Westy Weekender "Dixie"

Crescent Beach, BC

www.crescentbeachguitar.com
http://subyjake.googlepages.com/mydixiedarlin%27