Freezing morning , problem with van

[djc151084]

I was driving to work tody and i noticed the temp gauge went really high and heaters were still cold, i pulld over and opend the water tank lid and all the water shot out, so i then walked 2 miles to the nearest garage (tesco) and bought 3 litres of anti freez and got some water , walkd back to the van and put it all in and then i drove 6/7 miles back home and the temp gauge was fine it stayed normall all the way home, but i got no warm air coming out of the heaters they are cold, what could be the problem, i checkd the water when i got home and it is still on the MAX line so im guessing there aint any leaks, i just dont know why i havnt got any hot air,

any help would be greatly appriciated

thanks
daniel

[GBBiker]

Mine's been pretty much the same the last week or so.

MK5 heaters are pretty pants TBH.

I'm thinking of changing my heater for a 4 speed one from a Mondeo soon as I can source one.

[djc151084]

update,

My old man told me to take off the water tank cap to let the air out, i done that and now my heaters work fine , they are better than they were before, i just took a 30 min trip each way to cardiff down the m4 to get materials for tommorow and my heaters and temp are fine, back to normall, think i was lucky this time,, but now i got plenty of anti-freeze in the van

[jay]

Mine's been pretty much the same the last week or so.

MK5 heaters are pretty pants TBH.

I'm thinking of changing my heater for a 4 speed one from a Mondeo soon as I can source one.

never had any problems with hot air from mk5 heaters in the past..if the thermostat is missing or broken it will make the heater cooler..

[kinty]

Mine's been pretty much the same the last week or so.

MK5 heaters are pretty pants TBH.

I'm thinking of changing my heater for a 4 speed one from a Mondeo soon as I can source one.

does the mondeo blower fit? fitting a switch wont make the heating any better...just an extra speed below max??


my heater is spot on...engine sits just under half,wouldnt say pants ?as said check stat,then try flushing heater matrix or check for flow.

[sportscott]

Try putting a piece of cardboard in front of your radiator, I drove back from Poland, Friday last in temps down to minus 15 and that's what I had to do to raise the motor temp as uncovered could'nt get it to heat at all.

[rhubarb]

sounds to me like the thermostat is sticking

[winterheating]

Try putting a piece of cardboard in front of your radiator, I drove back from Poland, Friday last in temps down to minus 15 and that's what I had to do to raise the motor temp as uncovered could'nt get it to heat at all.

if stopping cold air getting to your rad helps heat, then there must be flow through rad, and there shouldnt be.
as said stat could be missing or broke/passing.

[sportscott]

I put a new thermostat in a couple of months ago and know mine is fine, I've been driving Trannies, for years in eastern european winters and know exactly how to keep warm, last year coming out of Ukraine had to wait several hours at the border in minus 18 and the TD, would'nt heat at all stationary even with the rad covered. I laugh at the chaos a couple of centimeters of snow causes in the UK, with accusations flying left right and center that the council was'nt prepared. You as motorists are not prepared, I bet very few people in UK change over to winter tyres, whereas most european drivers do it as a norm. You all have to get geared up for winter as every passing year will get worse, Global Warming

[MinorMatt]

Very very very few people over here have winter tyres... apparently the snow this year was a 1 in a 30 event - but I dont believe that!

[bigjohnthomas]

snow is the same as summer about 3/4 days a year

[winterheating]

I put a new thermostat in a couple of months ago and know mine is fine, I've been driving Trannies, for years in eastern european winters and know exactly how to keep warm, last year coming out of Ukraine had to wait several hours at the border in minus 18 and the TD, would'nt heat at all stationary even with the rad covered. I laugh at the chaos a couple of centimeters of snow causes in the UK, with accusations flying left right and center that the council was'nt prepared. You as motorists are not prepared, I bet very few people in UK change over to winter tyres, whereas most european drivers do it as a norm. You all have to get geared up for winter as every passing year will get worse, Global Warming

sounds like bad ciculation, bad water pump.
if thermostat is opening (rad getting flow) then coolant/antifreeze should be at temp to give very good heat from blowers despite outside temp.
but if bad circulation, then it will quickly heat thermostat to opening temp and flow round radiator as its easiest route instead of heatermatrix. as a radiator and pipework is sized that gravity will help circulate water.

[dieseldel]

hi
surprised nobody has mentioned frozen up heater matrix, usually first to freeze up and last to thaw out, engine running will generate enough heat to free off everything in engine bay but poor old heater has no such luxury