sound and heat shield under bonnet of RS??

[brad]

@BS- I took a trip down Macquarie Pass one morning, coolant temp was 90^C at the top, and was about 60^C at the bottom. Temp gauge was at 90 the entire time. :/
Had to rev it out of the corners just to keep the interior heat up!!... Shivering just thinking about that day.

engine cooling system thermostat & interior 1000w electric heater stopped working?

[woofy]

Our Santa Fe apparently only has an electric heater to save space behind the dash and make it smaller. It kinds seems non enviro conscious but everything else with the car was geared towards low fuel and low power so I don't know.

[Mysticality]

Electric heater? Are you sure? Because when the temp went down the heater came right down, so..

[brad]

Not sure about your model but mine is fitted with a standard 1000w electric heater (there is an optional electric heater for cold climate countries as well - made by Webasto I think).

The 1000w heater gives instant heat from the moment you start up. Very nice on a cold morning rather than waithing for the engine to get some heat in it.

The engine thermostat should regulate the flow of water through the radiator so that engine temperature doesn't drop excessively. Lets face it, 60c is still 20c more than a really hot day & if ambient is 0c you probably have the climate control set to ~20-24 therefore there's still plenty of headroom to run the heater.

[Mysticality]

I don't think mine is, then.
The heater only works when the temp is 60°C or higher.
If the temp was 0, and the Climatronic was set to 20, then yes there WOULD be 40°C of headroom for the heater, but what came out of the vents was cold, and the Climatronic was set to "Red".

[brad]

Geez those vRS are under-specced :-p

The only time I can remember having my heater on high was when I was caught in a cloudburst while out in the field. Got soaked through to my skin & the temp dropped from 25 to 15. When we eventually finished the inspection & hiked back up the hill to the cars I stripped down to the reg grundies & drove home with the heater on high.

[woofy]

Hmm I've never been cold in our 2008 RS, although the seat warmers might have hidden it somewhat. If anything the A/C is a the typical anaemic temp in summer. My Santa Fe freezes me....guess Korea gets pretty hot.

[Tigger]

Geez those vRS are under-specced :-p

The only time I can remember having my heater on high was when I was caught in a cloudburst while out in the field. Got soaked through to my skin & the temp dropped from 25 to 15. When we eventually finished the inspection & hiked back up the hill to the cars I stripped down to the reg grundies & drove home with the heater on high.

Glad you didnt post any of those pics!!

[Mysticality]

The old Sorento (MY12 model, so XM w/ R2.2 CRDi) had an amazing A/C unit!!... The lower (foot) vents were brilliant. These Skoda ones are... well... terrible.

I like 100km from the Sydney CBD, along the Hume Highway... And at about 800m elevation, it can get pretty damned cold.
Regular forecasts have been around -2 - +10 for the last couple of months.
-urgh-

[BottomScratcher]

Mysticality,
Sorry, but I've got to ask the obvious. When you turn the Climatronic on are you hitting the "Recirculate" button on the console as well?

EDIT: The seat heaters are electric, so shouldn't be affected by any changes in coolant temp.

[gldgti]

Mysticality,
Sorry, but I've got to ask the obvious. When you turn the Climatronic on are you hitting the "Recirculate" button on the console as well?

EDIT: The seat heaters are electric, so shouldn't be affected by any changes in coolant temp.

I pretty much never use recirc (my own choice, I just prefer fresh air) and agree that the heater is pretty slow unless you do

My octavia definately doesn't have an electric heater!

[Tigger]

so...I think we are all getting a bit confused.

The SEAT warmers are electric, and have nothing to do with the aircon or heater HVAC system.
They are not dependant on the HVAC at all.

Is that what we all agree on?

[BottomScratcher]

I pretty much never use recirc (my own choice, I just prefer fresh air) and agree that the heater is pretty slow unless you do

My octavia definately doesn't have an electric heater!

Like I said, it's an obvious question, but if the fresh air coming in is near freezing, then it's going to impact on the heaters ability to warm the air inside the car up.

I can't imagine the size of the 12V battery needed to power a 1000W heater. The only other heater I know of is what Skoda calls the auxillary heater, known more commonly in Europe as night heaters. They are nothing short of bloody marvelous if you're in a place where there are real winters. The car ones are adapted from Wabasto truck night heaters used by European truckies with sleeper cabs.

All they do is take a small amount of fuel from the main fuel tank to a burner unit that heats the engine coolant, then its own small, low power draw fan forces heated air into the car interior. They can be operated by an an on/off timer, so are great for snowy climes. Just set it to come on a couple of hours before you plan on driving and forget about scraping ice from windscreens, and getting a foot of snow off the car - giving the driver more time to dig out the driveway.

[Mysticality]

Mysticality,
Sorry, but I've got to ask the obvious. When you turn the Climatronic on are you hitting the "Recirculate" button on the console as well?

EDIT: The seat heaters are electric, so shouldn't be affected by any changes in coolant temp.

Nope. No recirc. I only ever use that on the Sydney highway tunnels.

And yes, I realise that the seat heaters are electric. I just thought it was interesting that both the seat heaters and the Climatronic heater kicked in at roughly the same time. Its like a big relaxing warmth.
Imagine the logistics of running engine coolant lines into the cab and under ya bum!!

[BottomScratcher]

Nope. No recirc. I only ever use that on the Sydney highway tunnels.

And yes, I realise that the seat heaters are electric. I just thought it was interesting that both the seat heaters and the Climatronic heater kicked in at roughly the same time. Its like a big relaxing warmth.
Imagine the logistics of running engine coolant lines into the cab and under ya bum!!

OK. That's most likely why your heater is struggling. If you've got a continual stream of cold air, even at 10C, coming in through your fresh air vents, then it's just not getting enough time to get heated before exiting the floor/face/demister/rear seating vents. The higher your speed the greeter the volume of cold air coming in. Try heating with the air recirculating, and see if it keeps you a bit warmer.

I love the seat heaters! "A big relaxing warmth" is a good description.

As for running engine coolant lines into the cab and under my bum, I had enough trouble fitting an extra under seat storage box that's made to go there!