[Vwdiesel] Too cold

[Val Christian]

I have several ALH TDIs and still have my 91 IDI NA.  The IDI has all the 
shrouds, and is by far the "warmest" car.  On the TDIs, I suggest a couple of
things...

The old 1.5 IDI in the Rabbits would put out OK heat, and it was easy to 
slide cardboard in front of the radiator on it.  It did not have shrouds.
I ran those cars in -30C to about -45C temps. The cabin would get to about
+10C after higher power settings (like expressway) at -40C.  I don't 
recommend temps much colder than -40C, as too many things became problematic.
Fuel, battery capability, etc. 

The shrouds are nice, and they make some difference, but the best way to 
warm up the car at very low power (like city streets, idling, etc) is to have 
the seats cranked up, and the defogger on.  This ups the power needed to 
run the alternator, and helps.

There is a exhaust gas cooler on my ALHs which does heat the coolant prior
to the heater, so higher power settings cause rather immediate increases
in heater output temps, even though the cylinder head is cool.

The other night, I was timing an ALH that just got a timing belt.  It took
forever.  The temps were about -15C and with the shrouds off, the engine 
would not even get to 80C.  I ended up fast idling it at 1800, closing the
hood, and running seat and window heaters.  After the temps got up, I would
drop to idle, restart VDCS and get a read on the timing.  Adjusting the IP
would cool the engine 20 or 30C in just a few minutes (but my hands got warm
because I was not running the car's heat).  It took almost two hours to get
three settings of the IP done.  It would have been impossible at -30C.  Worse,
now that I have the timing right on the center, I think I would like to 
advance it just a little.  argh.

The biggest thing is high power of expressway driving.  That also aggrivates
the buildup of any wax on filters, but it gets the car warm.  

Sorry about the rambling.

The consolation I get is watching all the Prius' traveling down the road with
their inside windows iced up.  Electric heat must suck.

> 
> 
> I was beginning to wonder if we needed to start building heat exchangers for the exhaust!  :-P
> Two fans, tightened up and cleaned exchangers and fittings, flappers opening full and driving about 65mph plus, my 914 would actually crank out comfortable heat in zero weather.  Other nice thing was I could put "burn you" heat to the floor and cold, outside air to the windshield.  That way you were warm, windshield was defrosted but not warm enough to make ice on it after you get out.  :-)
>     Loren
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Andrew .Libby <libbybapa at gmail.com>
> To: Justin Bennett <lug1970 at yahoo.com>
> Cc: vwfans vwdiesel <vwdiesel at vwfans.com>
> Sent: Sat, Feb 8, 2014 8:53 pm
> Subject: Re: [Vwdiesel] Too cold
> 
> 
> This makes me wonder...what percentage of people who find the TDIs run too
> old are running without the engine cover or the belly pan...
> 
> n Sat, Feb 8, 2014 at 9:00 PM, Justin Bennett <lug1970 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> > I have found on my 98 Jetta that if I run the heater at with the knob just
>  up from the cold position (knob horizontally, pointed to cold) that the
>  engine will come up to temp, and put out just enough heat to keep the
>  windshield clear if I am driving by myself.  Downside is that you have to
>  dress like you are driving an aircooled bug.
>  Justin
> 
> 
>   >
>   > No, you are not being unreasonable at all.  The
>   ALH cars are HORRIBLE
>   > for heat - worst thing since air cooled days
>   >
> 
>   ****************************************
> 
>  _______________________________________________
>  Vwdiesel mailing list
>  Vwdiesel at vwfans.com
>  http://www.audifans.com/mailman/listinfo/vwdiesel
> 
> ______________________________________________
> wdiesel mailing list
> wdiesel at vwfans.com
> ttp://www.audifans.com/mailman/listinfo/vwdiesel
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Vwdiesel mailing list
> Vwdiesel at vwfans.com
> http://www.audifans.com/mailman/listinfo/vwdiesel
>