"Cheap fix???" for heater not coming on fast enough

[cadzilla74]

Well there have been some complaints and I was right there on the bandwagon that the Dual Climate control does NOT heat the car up fast enough in cold weather if left on Automatic Settings ... Works great in summer for A/C but in winter the heat comes on very gradually and the fan never seems to go High Speed ...

Welll, I've been playing around with mine and believe it or not, the solution to fixing mine was so simple I'm almost embarrassed to post it after having lived with it being less than great for so long ...

I always kept both Temp Setting knobs on 72 degrees both summer and winter ... in 100 degree TX heat that would get the A/C to blowin' yer hat clean off as soon as you start the car. But at 40 degrees and colder the heater was anemic ... until last week ....

I turned both Temp Controls to 75 degrees ... Fan is set to Automatic, Vent Control is still set to Automatic .... we have HEAT!!! Gobs of heat!!! The fan comes on High as soon as the car gets the temp up to about 140-150 degrees and it actually gets HOT in the car ... now it just won't STOP!!! LOL ... I have to turn the Temp Setting back to 72 degrees after a while because it get's too warm ... I don't know why it's screwy like this, but at least I get all the heat I can stand now without having to play around with a bunch of controls ...

I hope the others who had the same complaint will try this out and let me know if it works for you too...

[magnum lover]

Mine seemed slow to start unless I stopped somewhere and shut the car off. When I restarted it, the fan would come on high. Must be a fine line you have to cross. I'll have to try it. Maybe the car will warm up sooner than when I'm parking it at work.

[RobAGD]

Yea I have to yo-yo the heat temps and fan speeds a bit in the cold weather. Summer its works great winter not so good.

-R

[Nuclearjack]

I always thouhght with automatic controls how high the fan went was based on how big the difference in actual versus requested temperature was. IE if its 68 and you want 72 it takes its time but if you ask it for max temperature then it knows its going to have to crank it out, to get there. Im not sure how the dual works for the 300 but going from 75 doesnt sound that high if you normally keep it at 72

[bigkevin20]

I never use the automatic settings. But I hate how hot its gets and hot is the only temperature that comes out.
For example I can turn it all the way to 78 and it will get so hot your face starts to bake. Which is cool for the winter and I don't have any problem with how fast it takes to heat up. Now if I take it off of 78 and lets say move it down to 74 its gets real cold. |No matter what I do I can only get it to be really hot or just strait air.

[lafrad]

I usually keep the passenger side at a level that is "more extreme" than the driver side.

So, in the winter, i will keep my side at 70 and the passenger side at 75. This usually gets the fan movin the air well, but still keeps me comfortable..... (summer is reverse... 69/64)

[cadzilla74]

Wow, so many different experiences....it does seem rather picky/touchy about maintaining a steady temp in the cold but modulates well in the summer. That 3 degree change from 72 to 75 is all it takes for mine to blow hot and fast vs a slow warmup....once it gets warm though going back to 72 maintains pretty well. And, Magnum Lover, I get the same thing if I leave it at 72, it doesn't warm up much but then shutting off the car and restarting while the engine is still warm makes it blow more heat. Somehow I don't think this climate control came out of a Mercedes parts bin....

[dodgeboy]

Mine seemed slow to start unless I stopped somewhere and shut the car off. When I restarted it, the fan would come on high. Must be a fine line you have to cross. I'll have to try it. Maybe the car will warm up sooner than when I'm parking it at work.

Both of my 300s have behaved this way, also. It seems to blow like crazy even if it's not necessary after restarting the car (ie. almost no temperature change inside).

Dave

[magnum lover]

Both of my 300s have behaved this way, also. It seems to blow like crazy even if it's not necessary after restarting the car (ie. almost no temperature change inside).

Dave

I've got that too especially after setting it at 75. I have to drop it back down to 72 and then the fan calms down. Picky little bugger it is.

[Pigman 440]

Even at 72 in a cold car the moving air feels too cool. I do like someone mentioned just keep passenger side higher in real cold.

[TxCowboy]

I'll have to try that, I always crank the heater temp all the way up and takes forever to warm up ... the seat heaters work better than the heater does.

[fogey]

I think the infrared sensor reads the amount of heat given off by the front seat occupants and adjusts accordingly.

[CREMATOR]

My wife is crazy about this, she is always turning all the knobs. It is designed to not circulate until the car has heated up, I have timed this on a cold car and it only takes usually 1 minute 20 seconds to kick in to start blowing a little and then really blowing at about 2 minutes. You just have to be patient. I know when your waiting it seems like forever, but really, what is the point in moving cold air around the car. I think what needs to happen here is rear heated seats, does anyone have an idea on that? It would be awesome to hook each side of the back seat to the seat in front of it.

[dodgeboy]

My wife is crazy about this, she is always turning all the knobs. It is designed to not circulate until the car has heated up, I have timed this on a cold car and it only takes usually 1 minute 20 seconds to kick in to start blowing a little and then really blowing at about 2 minutes. You just have to be patient. I know when your waiting it seems like forever, but really, what is the point in moving cold air around the car. I think what needs to happen here is rear heated seats, does anyone have an idea on that? It would be awesome to hook each side of the back seat to the seat in front of it.

I know about the delay when the engine is cold, but what I think we're talking about is that it never gets up to full speed if the temp is set to <75.

Dave

[cadzilla74]

dodgeboy is correct...this has nothing to do with not getting heat when heat is not available... it is about the engine heating up to normal operating temp and dual-climate control NOT increasing fan speed appropriately ... yes, it's supposed to sense the bounce-back temp of the occupants based on the infrared sensor and increase the cooling or heating basd on that reading...it seems it does work during the summer months and sends the correct cooling signal when it is hot but it fails miserably when it's cold if you simply leave the dual thermostat controls at 72 degrees and set both the Fan and Sensor settings on Auto...That is what this thread is about....why does the Auto Sensor work in hot weather and blow cold AC until the proper temp is reached and then back off to maintain the pre-selected temp but in cold weather it does NOT raise cabin temp even when the engine temp reaches over 190 degrees ... the fans stay on low and the heat flow is anemic unless you manually adjust the controls...it's not like the car is incapable of generating heat, it just won't do it automatically...and that's what we are talking about here...