# Car takes EXTREMELY long to heat up. Possible thermostat problem?



## vms150 (Mar 28, 2008)

Seeing as winter has fully hit new england now I have been letting the a3 warm up in the driveway in the mornings. I noticed that after 10 mins or so the car was not warm at all so I started letting it idle for about 20 minutes. Even then the car is stone cold and the temp needle is still buried on the cold side. It's not until about 25-30 minutes that needle just begins to creep up a bit, and even then the heat from the vents is less than luke warm. I have noticed that when driving, having not let it idle in the driveway, it takes twice as long as my STI used to take to get heat. Does anyone else experience this or is it more likely that my thermostat is stuck open, not allowing the car to warm up quickly?


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## BeeAlk (Jun 3, 2013)

The 2.0t takes forever to warm up. Idling it to warm it up is a bad idea in many ways. 20+ minutes of idling to get te needle to move does not mean there is anything wrong. Let it idle for a minute or two tops.


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## louiekaps (Aug 12, 2013)

I'm with beealk on this. A minute or two to get the OIL warmed a bit then take it easy. When it is this cold I switch down a gear and it warms up much faster. Cruising at 45mph in 6th gear takes ages to warm up.


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## npace (Sep 3, 2012)

Also, if you're leaving the heat on, the thermostat will stay open, that's how the heater core gets heat from the coolant.


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## Paul902 (Oct 10, 2007)

I had the symptom a couple years ago that the car would not get up to temp (90C) during my drive to work, in Jan, which was abnormal. I replaced the thermostat and it fixed the problem.

If you are a DIY'er, note that the thermostat is embedded in a multi-port flange that comes off the front of the engine. It is a bit of work to get to it. Not that fun of a job, but not expensive, either. While I was in there I noticed some corrosion on two metal coolant pipes that cross the front of the engine, so I took the opportunity to clean them up and give them a coat of rust paint. 

Good luck!


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## SilverSquirrel (Jul 24, 2006)

an 8 year old thermostat does not work as well as a new one.


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## a4000 (Apr 23, 2009)

Just replaced my thermostat, thermostat housing, coolant temp sensor, and crack pipe. Still takes a while to warm up.


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## vms150 (Mar 28, 2008)

I think there was some confusion in the first couple of replies. I mean to warm up for physical warmth and comfort in the interior, NOT just letting the car warm up for sake of the oil getting warm and thinning out. All others, thanks for the advise.


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## AUDI EH3 (Jul 1, 2009)

FYI: My 2.0t is slow to warm up as well. Best way is to just drive it and have the fan on low. The fastest way I've found is to drive the car is lower gear. So its revving 3k. I installed a circulating coolant heater (frostheater) on my old TDI and it worked wonders.


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## SilverSquirrel (Jul 24, 2006)

vms150 said:


> I think there was some confusion in the first couple of replies. I mean to warm up for physical warmth and comfort in the interior, NOT just letting the car warm up for sake of the oil getting warm and thinning out. All others, thanks for the advise.


long underwear..fleece gloves, a big fluffy fur hat, wool socks......

or just use what i use. a heated garage.


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## BeeAlk (Jun 3, 2013)

vms150 said:


> I think there was some confusion in the first couple of replies. I mean to warm up for physical warmth and comfort in the interior, NOT just letting the car warm up for sake of the oil getting warm and thinning out. All others, thanks for the advise.


So - are you saying the cabin takes forever to warm up once the oil/water is already warmed up - or just takes forever from when you start the car?

In order for the cabin to get heat, the motor needs heat. If you're letting your cold motor idle with the heat on, you're letting the coolant run through an open thermostat. This will make the already slow to warm engine take much more time to warm up, meaning it'll take even more time to get the cabin warm. 

There's really no decent way to get the cabin warm before you get in without a block/oil heater to speed things up.


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## ma2kster (Jun 4, 2010)

ECU actually monitors "warm-up" against "time since start-up" and driving conditions. If it takes too long or doesn't reach desired temperature, then you'll see the infamous coolant temperature dial dip. It literally drops to lowest scale and a VCDS scan will give coolant system error. If you don't have these issues with your temp dial, I'd say look elsewhere. e.g. the vents have temp sensors each and those might be reading higher values than actual.


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## vms150 (Mar 28, 2008)

BeeAlk said:


> So - are you saying the cabin takes forever to warm up once the oil/water is already warmed up - or just takes forever from when you start the car?
> 
> In order for the cabin to get heat, the motor needs heat. If you're letting your cold motor idle with the heat on, you're letting the coolant run through an open thermostat. This will make the already slow to warm engine take much more time to warm up, meaning it'll take even more time to get the cabin warm.
> 
> There's really no decent way to get the cabin warm before you get in without a block/oil heater to speed things up.


I'm saying the motor doesn't get any where near full operating temp at idle. The temp needle stays buried for at least 25 mins. This seems strange to me as all other vehicles I have owned were up, close to temp, within 10 mins at idle, even with the heater blower on warming up the cabin. The reason for idling in the driveway is so I don't get into a freezing car at 5:30am making my morning even more miserable. Even while driving it takes twice as long to get up to operating temp as my pervious subaru STI did. This would indicate an issue to me as 25 minutes just for the temp needle to begin to climb is excessive, possibly indicating that the thermostat remaining open constantly.


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## BeeAlk (Jun 3, 2013)

2.0t takes a really long time to warm up compared to most other motors. Idling it for 20 minutes in the cold wont get it up to temp even with a new thermostat. And doing this is really quite bad as far as carbon build up is concerned. If you have your blower going while it's idling expect it take _even longer_ to warm up.

The other day I recorded how long it took to warm up my 2.0t. It was 17F, it took a full 12 minutes of driving for the needle to hit the first hash mark on the gauge, another 5 minutes to get to the middle of the gauge. This was with 10 minutes of stop and go, then 7 minutes of 70-75mph to get to operating temp. Minimal idling prior to taking off.


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## Ponto (Jan 11, 2012)

Our cars not even on auto will wait for the motor to warm up before blowing anything. 

Which is quick for me. #vrperks

Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk


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## laloggia (Jun 30, 2009)

BeeAlk said:


> 2.0t takes a really long time to warm up compared to most other motors. Idling it for 20 minutes in the cold wont get it up to temp even with a new thermostat. And doing this is really quite bad as far as carbon build up is concerned. If you have your blower going while it's idling expect it take _even longer_ to warm up.
> 
> The other day I recorded how long it took to warm up my 2.0t. It was 17F, it took a full 12 minutes of driving for the needle to hit the first hash mark on the gauge, another 5 minutes to get to the middle of the gauge. This was with 10 minutes of stop and go, then 7 minutes of 70-75mph to get to operating temp. Minimal idling prior to taking off.



This is exactly where I'm at....even worse when it's colder. No codes, starting to think its normal.


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## BeeAlk (Jun 3, 2013)

Ponto said:


> Which is quick for me. #vrperks














laloggia said:


> This is exactly where I'm at....even worse when it's colder. No codes, starting to think its normal.


It's normal!


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## vwlippy (Jul 17, 2001)

Just jump in turn the seat heater on and drive. 
The car will start warming up the inside in about 3 minutes.


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## azoceanblue (Aug 13, 2006)

vwlippy said:


> Just jump in turn the seat heater on and drive.
> The car will start warming up the inside in about 3 minutes.


:thumbup:

I'm in Arizona, but they say (owners manual?), just get in and drive. All your doing letting warm up for 10 minutes, is wasting gas.

Newer cars, >2000 (probably earlier), don't need warm up times.

Seat heaters :heart:

:wave:


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## steve111b (Jun 2, 2011)

The engine oil temperature gives you a lot of information that is not available with the coolant guage. If you do not have the oil temp, I can pass on a few facts. To get the oil temp up to operating temp you need to drive twice as long. So if the coolant takes 15 mins, you will need a half an hour to get the oil hot. When the coolant shows hot the oil can go on to another 50% increase before it is hot. It takes many hours for the engine to rid itself of all its heat. The hotter you get the oil the longer it takes to cool down. Even on the coldest winter days you could be looking at half a day (or more) before the oil will end up at the ambiant air temp.


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## averbtobe (12 mo ago)

vms150 said:


> Seeing as winter has fully hit new england now I have been letting the a3 warm up in the driveway in the mornings. I noticed that after 10 mins or so the car was not warm at all so I started letting it idle for about 20 minutes. Even then the car is stone cold and the temp needle is still buried on the cold side. It's not until about 25-30 minutes that needle just begins to creep up a bit, and even then the heat from the vents is less than luke warm. I have noticed that when driving, having not let it idle in the driveway, it takes twice as long as my STI used to take to get heat. Does anyone else experience this or is it more likely that my thermostat is stuck open, not allowing the car to warm up quickly?


Most often, slow cabin heat warm up (assuming it eventually blows hot) is caused by old/dirty coolant, which will build up and reduce the available coolant passage through any part of the system (radiator, heater core, hoses, or thermostat). 
Does the coolant in the overflow reservoir look dirty? Have you had a coolant system flush within at least 4 years?


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## kgw (May 1, 2008)

It does get cold in NE! I was in the Berkshires, on the NY/MA line for 9+ years. Then I had a 1 ton Dodge Power Wagon, with the 318 V8: In Jan/Feb, I waited for the sun to put some heat on the truck before attempting to start it 

If you haven't, perhaps you should try the heated dipstick to keep the oil warmer overnight. 

My VR6 A3 does not get up to operating temp until drive down Pacific Coast Highway 10 miles and back. 5 3/4 qts of oil in the sump takes a while to heat up to 180 +, with the coolant reaching about the same or higher, ie, 190, 

How are you reading the temp? The gauge is basically an emergency light, not really useful for a true temp. You need to drive the car to warm it up, as others have said. Find someone with vagcom to get an actual reading.



vms150 said:


> Seeing as winter has fully hit new england now I have been letting the a3 warm up in the driveway in the mornings. I noticed that after 10 mins or so the car was not warm at all so I started letting it idle for about 20 minutes. Even then the car is stone cold and the temp needle is still buried on the cold side. It's not until about 25-30 minutes that needle just begins to creep up a bit, and even then the heat from the vents is less than luke warm. I have noticed that when driving, having not let it idle in the driveway, it takes twice as long as my STI used to take to get heat. Does anyone else experience this or is it more likely that my thermostat is stuck open, not allowing the car to warm up quickly?


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