-35C here this morning.

My daily commute is about 35kms, mostly highway. I started the car
and allowed it to run for about 5 minutes. The block heater was
plugged in, so no excuses for being too cold. After the brief warmup,
its about 100ft to the highway, then highway speeds.

The temp gauge never moved the whole way to the city (20kms). I
finally got it to go to about 1/4 by running in a lower gear at higher
RPM, but it normally runs around 1/2. And when I came to red lights
in the city, the temp gauge would go down to 0 within a minute.

Called the dealer today, and just like every other problem I have
(touchy brakes, rattles), 'its normal operation' and he recommended I
don't run the heater fan at full blast. Problem is, at 1/2, the
heater barely warms up the interior of the car. However, with the
heater fan running slower, I was able to get the car to the normal
spot on the gauge after about 25 minutes.

We got this 2008 civic LX in January 2007. Never noticed any problems
last winter, but it really was never this cold either. The car has
32000kms on it, 2 oil changes.

I have checked the coolant level in the radiator and the resevoir, and
both are perfectly fine. Entertained damming the radiator with
cardboard, however, the outside surface of the rad is not accessible
without removing one of the plastic shrouds on the bumper. At these
temps, its not enjoyable to be outside working on this, and besides,
the plastic clips would just break due to the temperature (already
broke 1).

I have seen some Civic hybrid forums talk about using pipe insulation
from Home Depot to block the openings in the grill. I may try that
yet, but I just have this feeling that something is wrong. I have
owned many Hondas, and have never had a problem with the vehicle
reaching operating temperature.

Has anyone else experienced this problem? Anything I am missing here?

Thanks
Terry in Winnipeg

loewent <loewent (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote in news:0fd0771f-d87b-448a-85aa-
2e472abaf35b (AT) t11g2000yqg (DOT) googlegroups.com:

<snip>



-35C is -31F. That is awfully cold. Still, if you can't get decent heat
after 15 miles of driving, I think you have a defective thermostat.

Rather than fooling with this yourself, your dealer should replace the
thermostat under the warranty that you are still very much within.

You paid for that warranty as part of the purchase price of your car, so
use it.

If the dealer gives you the runaround, call Honda Canada directly. The
phone number is in your warranty manual. In case you can't locate that, the
number is 1-888-946-6329. Their hours are 8 to 7:30 eastern time.

My mama grew up in Winnipeg (West Kildonan), and she has told me horror
stories of the cold out there!
My wife's mother was born in Alberta. It's even COLDER there. She was an
elementary school teacher (retired last year). Yard duty at 40-below is no
fun at all. That's right, the kids were in the schoolyard through recess
even at 40-below.

--
Tegger

The Unofficial Honda/Acura FAQ
www.tegger.com/hondafaq/

The real funny part about the temperature here is that its supposed to
be -2C on Sunday.

I may try another dealer.

Thanks for the reply.

t

On Jan 14, 10:22*pm, Tegger <inva... (AT) invalid (DOT) inv> wrote:

If you car over heats in the summer, it's somtimes recommnded to turn
heater on and the fan on full to help cool the motor in an emergency.

I think the dealer was right about Not running the fan on full, at
least not until the car heats up first.
Keep the fan in the middle till then.
Bg

"loewent" <loewent (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote

The real funny part about the temperature here is that its supposed to
be -2C on Sunday.

I may try another dealer.

Thanks for the reply.

t

The dealers in Winnipeg suck. Give Harvest Honda in Steinbach a call.
They've always been good to me.
As for the heat issue, have you tried using recirculate on the heater? It'll
help warm up quicker in the cold weather, but has the tendancy to fog the
windows if left on too long.

I have to agree with Tegger on the thermostat, you could have a dud. I hope
you get the temperature issue rectified.

Harvest Honda is the dealer who's feeding me this line. Thats where
we bought the car from. So far, not impressed. I used to have a good
contact at Birchwood Regent, but he works at Crown Nissan now.

t


On Jan 15, 9:15*am, "Iowna Uass" <iownau... (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote:

I've lived in this climate all my life. The first thing you do when
you start your car in the morning is turn the heat and fan to FULL
BLAST because its EFFEN COLD.

I don't drive a Kia, I drive a Honda. I expect they would design the
vehicle to function properly in cold weather, as they are selling cars
in this climate.

t

On Jan 15, 12:14*am, ottg... (AT) hotmail (DOT) com wrote:

The latest from the dealer is that he thinks I have a plugged cabin
air filter. I am at a loss as to how this could affect the engine
operating temperature. Where do they find these guys?

Comments?
t

On Jan 15, 9:25*am, loewent <loew... (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote:

BTW I did try the recirc option yesterday. It was marginally better,
but caused my windshield to fog up.

On Jan 15, 9:15*am, "Iowna Uass" <iownau... (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote:

loewent wrote:

Ex-Dodge dealership mechanics....