So question.

It is about -2 degrees here, and my car has been sitting outside for probably 2 days without me driving it.

Tonight, i was bored and decided to take it for a drive. Took a second to turn over, but thats normal when its this damn cold out.

Anyways, what really got me was how long it took to warm up. Probably 10 or 15minutes.

I went to the redbox to get a movie, and decided to just let it run while I was inside. Figured it would be nice and toasty when I came out. I was wrong. It wasn't even letting go of super hot air (had it on 90 degrees) until i was back at my parking lot. I decided to experiment, so i let it idle for about a 1.5 minutes while i checked tire pressure (that light came on to) and when i got back inside, it wasn't blowing out 90 degree air anymore. It wasn't what I'd call cold, but it was probably only 70-75 degrees. The second i revved it up to about 2k, it would warm right back up, but I thought this might be kinda fishy.

I dont know if the motor just cant keep up at idle or if its just because it is so cold out that the air it is sucking it cant warm up fast enough.

Not really sure. Anyone care to chime in? This is the coldest I have ever driven this car in so I'v never experienced it before.

Oh, and i'll ignore all the squeaks and rattles this car makes when its this cold out. Holy crap.

 

^dang thats weird, even when it was like 35 here in san diego, my car didnt take as long to warm up, usually it tends to warm up fairly quick.. 2 mins or so.

 

My car does usually warm up when its like 15-25degrees. Just for some reason, tonight it couldn't keep warm.

 

^^I've noticed something similar. The other day it was 10degrees in the morning and it took a while but as soon as the car got to operating temperature, it heated right up. I usually warm up the car until the temp gauge is a couple of ticks from the C line and then I drive off. I don't turn on the heat until then except maybe the seat warmer.

I also noticed that when I was sick and hadn't started the car in 3 days in cold weather, it felt sluggish until I drove around further.

The cold is really hard on cars, period.

 

I had only been driving for 30minutes period, maybe that was part of it. Not really sure. I ****ing hate the cold. I can't wait to move.

 

I wish it would just snow more since when it snows it's usually right at 32 which I can handle. Negative windchills suck.

 

Janik, is your coolant low? Sometimes that can cause the heater to work intermittently.

 

I am going to check tomorrow when I go outside. It is so damn cold though that I dont want to lol

 

^ Yep all G's come with Active headrests. Remember they need to be at your head level to work and prevent wiplash, if you have it set all the way down and your neck is all that it covers, your in for a world of pain.

http://www.nissan-global.com/EN/TECH...TIVE-HEADREST/

 

Okay, checked my coolant. Cold, it was a little above the minimum line. After i ran it around town a bit and warmed it up, it was a little above that, but not quite halfway.

1. Should I fill it up and how much?
2. What kind of coolant should I be adding? Nissan only or anything from like Autozone, oreillys, etc??

 

that is good. as long as there is fluid in the expansion tank your good. You could top if off but it wont make a huge diff.

Any coolant is good. We have green stuff not stupid dexcool that GM uses that is orange. So pick up a bottle at w/e store you have there for $5-8 for a gal of premix and just top it off.

As to your issue i dunno. I have no problems with my sedan heating up. I normally dont sit there for 10+ to warm it up. Warm engine + cold driveline is just as bad as cold engine+ cold driveline. Just start it up for 2-4 minutes and drive SLOWLY, under 2k RPM untill everything is warmed up. Sitting there for 15 minutes is JUST A WASTE of gas.

 

I normally just drive away after sitting for a minute or two and take it easy.

My problem is though, is that the car has to be revving for hot hot air to come in through the vents. If I just let it idle, the air cools down and isn't as warm.

During the winter, I straight up hot box my car with hot air and love it when its super warm, so this is really starting to bother me. After 20 minutes of driving today with the air on 90 full blast, it felt like I had it on 70 with the auto climate on.

Idk what the deal is.

You think I should just top it off though? or maybe a smidge below max?

 

^^^2-4 minutes during what temperature? Are you going to do that tomorrow when it's supposed to be -15 in the morning as well?

I've always warmed up the car for 5-10ish minutes and then drove very slowly until the rest of the car was ready. I've tried driving after a couple minutes and the engine sound quite rough as if it doesn't want go anywhere. I usually wait till the RPMs drop are at or just under 1K or the car is a couple ticks above C.

 

Yes, 2-4 minutes. By that time the engine temp has moved up to the bottom line and the revs have dropped. It will be around 3 tomorrow, but I don't plan on driving anywhere anyways tomorrow.

 

yes. I've done it last year and have no problems doing it this year. I guess a difference maker would be i'm in a garage. Its not heated or anything but its normally like 15 degrees warmer. If i street park, the time it takes for me to clean off the snow is more then plenty.



wannabe... sounds 100% like you got a couple of air bubbles and/or failed T-stat. You give a lot of details but a good part of it doesn't help. Pretty much idle= cool/warm air and off-idle= nice hot air.