Why is my car blowing cold air when the heat is on?
Living in New Jersey in the winter is not the place for your car heating to quit working! Of all the things you need in this part of the country, you don’t need to run out of gas, and you need car heating in winter. If they don’t, they should review this in driver’s ed classes.
In this article today, we’re going to answer a few questions about car heating. From this, you may be able to determine what is wrong with yours and if you need to have your mechanic inspect the heating system. Or perhaps, you simply don’t have the settings in the right place!
The heating and cooling of a vehicle can be a complicated system. In the world of vehicles, there are 3 different types of heating systems:
- Water-coolant engines
- Air-coolant engines
- Electrical engine heating
Most vehicles today, the heating system is from water-coolant engines, with a basic, simple principle of how the heat is generated. As the engine gets warm, the coolant absorbs some of that heat and gets it warmed up to a certain temperature. It then travels through a thermostat and goes to the radiator, where the temperature is reduced to keep your vehicle from overheating.
For the car heating portion of your vehicle system, some of that heated coolant travels through a component, the heater core, a radiator type component. From there, that heat then travels to inside your vehicle by a fan.
If your vehicle heater is blowing cold as soon as you start your vehicle, that is because the coolant hasn’t had time to get warmed up because the engine is still cold. However, if your vehicle has been running for some time and the heater is still blowing cold, it could be one of the following reasons:
- The thermostat is malfunctioning: A malfunctioning thermostat could be stuck opened or closed. If it is stuck closed, the engine will overheat, and this can damage the engine beyond repair if not addressed promptly. If stuck open, the coolant will run continuously through the thermostat, and never heat up. This would cause the car heating selection in your vehicle to blow cold air.
- The coolant level is too low: The coolant fluid is a major part of the heating system, so if there isn’t adequate coolant, your vehicle’s heating system isn’t going to get the heat it needs to blow war air inside your vehicle. There could be a leak with the various connections, hoses, the radiator, or any of the engine’s components that work the cooling and heating system.
- Air bubbles in the system: Cold air will blow instead of heat if the coolant has air bubbles. With air bubbles, the coolant can’t heat up and travel through the system properly.
- The heater core has issues: Your vehicles car heating may be blowing cold air if the heater core is stopped up. There are narrow passages in the heater core and if any of them have blockage, it will keep the coolant from passing through and warming up.
- The heater controls: If your car heating system is blowing cold air, make sure the controls in the right position for heat. If they are, and the possible issues we’ve covered above are all in proper working issue, then there may be a problem with the controls inside your vehicle. With time, they can break, become clogged with gunk, and get stuck.
How do you know when your car heater is going out?
The following things are hint that your car heating broken and needs professional mechanic attention:
- There is little or no heat blowing inside your vehicle, even after it has been running for a while and the temperature gauge reads in normal range.
- You smell coolant inside the car, a fruity, sweet smell, while the motor is running.
- The windows are fogged up, even with the defroster on.
- There is a leak under the dashboard.
- Your vehicle is low on coolant and the engine is running hot.
How can I get better heat in my car?
A few tricks to try to get your car heating fixed and heating faster:
- If your vehicle’s climate control system has an auto setting, set the thermostat the highest setting and you’re done.
- If your vehicle has remote start, start your vehicle 10 to 15 minutes before you plan to leave. This will all the coolant to start warming up and that will heat the interior of your vehicle.
- Turn the temperature setting to cold, then turn the fan off. This may seem like you’re doing just the opposite of heating the car, but the cooling/heating system in vehicle will get hot faster. Once you have driven the vehicle a while, move the temperature setting to hot and the fan to full blast.
- Drive your vehicle and as you drive, it will warm up. Most vehicles today are heated up in thirty seconds.
How can I keep my car warm without heat?
Winter temperatures in New Jersey can be brutal, but when your car heating isn’t working, it just makes it worse. While the common suggested solution would be having the car heating fixed, sometimes that just isn’t possible financially. Here are a few suggestions that can keep you warm without car heating.
- Park inside a garage.
- Cover the windshield day and night.
- Buy hand warming packets and if you find anything in the hunting section for deer hunters, consider utilizing them in your car.
- Buy a heater that will plug into the car cigarette lighter.
- Keep several blankets in your car.
- Take a hot beverage and a thermos of hot beverage.
Does engine heating work with off?
The fan for your vehicle heating is powered through the accessory’s connection at the ignition switch. When the vehicle engine is turned off, it doesn’t get any power. Otherwise, if the fan is on and the engine isn’t running, it would drain the battery within 30 minutes. While we hope nobody is driving around during a New Jersey winter without car heating, we hope there was helpful information for you. Call 609-737-7226 today for your car heater service in Hopewell and Pennington, NJ.