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gas ***ist heater

B

babak

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Location
Sofia
Car
2008 Accord I-CTDI
AFAIK the Accord I-CTDI is equipped with a gas ***ist heater to allow it to warm up faster in cold weather.

Can anyone tell me if there is a way to check if mine is working? I have a feeling it isnt as it takes quite a while to get warm air blowing (once the temperature needle starts moving).

Also any other info about the gas ***ist heater would be appreciated. Mine is a 2008 Accord i-ctdi.


Cheers,
Stefan
 
Stefan you will hear the heater kick in like the air con does.The best way to test this is let the car tick over and you will hear it every 30 sec to 1 min.
 
Hi Brett

Im not sure what you mean by your post.

What do you mean by let the car tick over? Do I start it and just let it idle in neutral once or do I stop and start it every time I want to hear the gas ***ist heater working?

What sound should I be listening for and I dont understand why the gas ***ist heater would be coming in every 30 seconds......once it is working does it not keep working as long as the car needs to warm?
 
Stick temperature to 'Hi' and press 'Auto'. Fans will go up to full speed and you get hot air after about 2-3 mins (at least I do). Normally you don't get hot air until the needle goes past the first line on the gauge (which is about 10 mins).
 
HuskyMan said:
Stick temperature to 'Hi' and press 'Auto'. Fans will go up to full speed and you get hot air after about 2-3 mins (at least I do). Normally you don't get hot air until the needle goes past the first line on the gauge (which is about 10 mins).
Click to expand...

Is that the only way the heater works? If the temperature is on Hi? I usually set it to 22-25.
 
I think so. You'll notice when set to 22 the fans stay low until the needle rises up to the first line? That's cos it knows the coolant isn't hot enough, so it doesn't flow it through the matrix until it reaches a certain temperature, then the fans go high to get to your set temperature.
 
babak said:
Hi Brett

Im not sure what you mean by your post.

What do you mean by let the car tick over? Do I start it and just let it idle in neutral once or do I stop and start it every time I want to hear the gas ***ist heater working?

What sound should I be listening for and I dont understand why the gas ***ist heater would be coming in every 30 seconds......once it is working does it not keep working as long as the car needs to warm?
Click to expand...
Yes mate by tick over i mean start the car and let it idle in neutral.You will hear the revs slightly change when the heater kicks in.The same sound as the air con makes.
Also make sure the climate control is not on Auto as this will be the air con kicking in as it works with hot air as well.
 
Stefan, how cold is the external temperature when this happens? Once warm, where does the temp needle sit? Do you know if your thermostat is operating correctly?
 
brett said:
Stefan you will hear the heater kick in like the air con does.The best way to test this is let the car tick over and you will hear it every 30 sec to 1 min.
Click to expand...
I always wondered what that noise was, noticed it a few times. Thanks Brett.
 
F6HAD said:
Stefan, how cold is the external temperature when this happens? Once warm, where does the temp needle sit? Do you know if your thermostat is operating correctly?
Click to expand...

Hi F6HAD,

Typically when leaving work my car is reading an external temperature of between 0-3 C. I think it is about accurate +- a few degrees.
Once the car is fully warmed the needle points just a bit lower than the middle of the scale (I think this is normal for accord).
I dont know if my thermostat is operating correctly but I dont think ive got a reason to suspect it being faulty.

I will try running the temperature on Hi + Auto tomorrow after work (it sits in garage so I cant test it out in the morning) and report back.
 
That sounds normal Stefan. Also if you think the outside temp reading is incorrect, there is a way to adjust by upto +/- 3 degrees.
 
F6HAD said:
Also if you think the outside temp reading is incorrect, there is a way to adjust by upto +/- 3 degrees.
Click to expand...


Really, I think mine is too high. How do you adjust?

Thanks.
 
1. Turn the ignition switch to the ON position.

2. Push and hold the reset select button (the one for trip odometer resets and dash light brightness) for 10 seconds. While you continue to hold the button the display will scroll through temperature settings from +3 to -3 degress as follows, 0, 1, 2, 3, -3, -2, -1, and repeat.

3. When the desired correction value appears on the display, release the button, and the recalibrated outside air temp. will be displayed.
 
F6HAD said:
1. Turn the ignition switch to the ON position.

2. Push and hold the reset select button (the one for trip odometer resets and dash light brightness) for 10 seconds. While you continue to hold the button the display will scroll through temperature settings from +3 to -3 degress as follows, 0, 1, 2, 3, -3, -2, -1, and repeat.

3. When the desired correction value appears on the display, release the button, and the recalibrated outside air temp. will be displayed.
Click to expand...

Great - thank you for that.
 
Just to update - tried it today after work.

Outside temperature was reading 5 degrees C and as soon as I got into the car I turned the driver's side knob to Hi (Auto button was already on).

Fans started blowing right away and after about 3 minutes I did indeed get warm-ish air coming through so it seems the heater does work. At around the 8 minute mark there was a noticeable sound and increase in airflow (started coming in through the footwell as well) and I ***ume thats when the air from the engine actually started coming it (it had warmed to about 1/3 its normal operating temperature at this point).

This seems like quite an oversight by Honda though as you have about 3 minutes of cold air hitting you square in the forehead before it starts warming up. I wonder if I am missing something - there must be a way to have the heater warm up without blowing air and only when its ready put it through the system?

In the summer when the car has been sitting out in the sun for a while, I get in put on the AC and literally in about 10 seconds I have cold air flowing through. Wish there was a way to have this in the winter too :(


P.S. Thanks Fahad, ill take a temperature gauge with me next time and make sure my thermometer is reading accurate :)
 
Its not a hot gas heater as in a seperate diesel powered heater that gives instant hot air like in trucks and boats etc and is fitted to some mercs etc.

Stole this from a previous topic:

Hot gas Heater System
on diesel models only
Your vehicle has the hot gas heater system. It ***ists the heater until the engine warms up after you start the engine. This system uses your vehicle's air conditioning system to warm the air. Under the following conditions, the hot gas heater system operates automatically.

1. The engine coolant is cold(about 75 degrees C)

2. The outside temperature is low (about under 5 degrees C)

3.The temperature control dial is set to any position except for the "LO" (The interior of the vehicle is cold).

4. The fan is set to the desired speed.

After the vehicle warms up or the outside temperature is high, the hot gas heater system will stop automatically. You may hear some noise from the engine compartment. This is normal it is the hot gas heater activation. The hot gas heater system will not activate if the outside temperature is too cold (under -30 degrees C)


Mine does work, you can notice it when its really cold outside by the time you scrape the ice off the car the air coming out of the vents is luke warm.
 
If you set your temperature to HI or press the Screen Demist button I think it sticks the fan on full regardless of the temperature of the coolant, if you have the temp set at say 24 then once the coolant warms up then the fan speeds up and you get the warm air.
 
dave,

thats exactly what I thought at first and what sounds the most logical to me, but through my own experience its exactly as husky said - if i leave the temp at 24 and Auto I dont have warm air flowing through until the engine temp begins to rise ~8-10 minutes. Whereas today I had warmish air coming through at the 3 minute mark by having the fans blowing from the beginning. Weird.
 
Maybe it does work on anything other than Hi, but you can't feel it. If it's set to even something like 21 as soon as the temp rises the fans go fast - if the hot gas heater system was that good it would put the fans fast straight away (or after 3 mins ideally) to reach your desired temperature.
 
I cant remember off the top of my head what mine does in all honesty. I probably have it set to HI and Demist Windscreen when its really cold till it warms up but its around the 3 minute mark when you get warm air.
 
HuskyMan said:
Maybe it does work on anything other than Hi, but you can't feel it. If it's set to even something like 21 as soon as the temp rises the fans go fast - if the hot gas heater system was that good it would put the fans fast straight away (or after 3 mins ideally) to reach your desired temperature.
Click to expand...

Yeah I agree with you on that, its using the A/C basically in reverse to generate heat and then the warm air is then blowing through a cold heater matrix before reaching the interior maybe thats why its not hot hot as such. The fan does still blow but only slowly when its not set to HI and the car hasnt warmed up etc maybe its just designed to take the chill off the air coming in until the coolant has warmed up (clutching at straws now lol).

Maybe we should just install a proper diesel night heater keeps my cab nice and warm all night :)
 
Im sure I read the gas heater works if engine or outside temp is below a certain point and only doesn't operate if you select A/C off. Is that correct.
 
Can I ask a silly question on this? Why is this necessary on the diesel engine? I've a 2.4 petrol and TBH after 3 minutes the car is getting warm and I'm getting warm-air out the fans. Does the diesel lump take longer to warm up?
 
All diesels take longer to warm up than petrols, and they don't run as hot either.
 
Oi - they're only 70kG more than petrols... you'll give your car a complex ;).
 
I've recently tried what Trev suggested with setting to HI.

It does appear to work better in that there is warmish air pretty quickly, whereas if you have the temp set to say 24, the fan blows but not as strongly, until the temp gauge has moved!

Dave could be right with if it is set to a specific temperature, the fan only increases when the car has warmed up a little more as in the mixers are not detecting enough warm air to justify increasing the fan speed, to increase the cabin temperature. Whereas when you set it to high, you basically saying that you don't mind the temperature, don't bother mixing just supply via the warm air source, hence slightly warmer air quicker.

This is something we all probably used to do, before automated climate control, in that we would turn up the heater to max, however we now tend to just leave the climate control on a set temperature and wait for it to warm up.

Will try it again when the cold weather returns (apparently next week)
 
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