heater doesn't blow hot on idle

Hi Guys,

Got my first TD5 last winter and i'm sure the heater used to blow warm air even on idle...(i know it's a luxury that it works at all!!)...but it's not doing it now unless the engine is working - does this sound likely/normal? and was it just a dream that i could start it up 10 mins before i needed to leave and it would have de-iced??!!

If there's the slightest possibility it could be the case, any ideas how to fix it?

I've found that while sitting in traffic jams caused by cars sliding into each other, if it aint reving it starts to blow cold....

Cheers

Just like mine then.

so pretty normal then?...at least it motivates me to pull them out of the way to warm up.

Take off the viscous fan and fit some sort of radiator muff. Every little helps but just keep an eye on your engine temp when working the thing hard.

Radiator Muff - Defender - black

You could try one of these to get the engine hotter, keep an eye on the temp gauge though and open it up if needs be

cheers for the advice...off to find out what my viscous fan is.

cheers Mike...the thing is my temp gauge only seems to work randomly and as long as it's revving it really chucks out warm air...

It will never get hot idling because the fan sucks constantly. Because it is so cold outside, this cools the engine more than required at low revs. You can either fit an electric fan or just for the winter, block the radiator. Slide some thick carpet between the radiator and the grille.

Or leave it how it is and be thankful you have hot air coming out at all

I've been having the same issue with mine since last winter too!

Finally pulled my finger out and got the thermostat changed, which seemed to make the engine run slightly hotter but still took ages to warm up. Although it still lost its temp when I hit traffic or just at idle.

With the recent cold weather I've fitted a rad muff and taken the fan off and it seems to have made quite a differance. Warms up much quicker and holds its temp at tickover.

That said, today at -8.6 it still didn't seen to get to full running temp but without the rad muff and fan still attached I recon it wouldn't have warmed up at all!!

Guess the Td5 is just too good at keeping itself cold!

Where abouts are you? I bought the fan spanner off ebay for £20 and it worked a treat. You're more than welcome to pop round and use them

sible88 said:

Or leave it how it is and be thankful you have hot air coming out at all

Click to expand...

Exactly!! ive been driving around without a working heater as im sure many landy owners have! why do you think warm coats and gloves were invented??

Mine works a treat heats up from idle and holds temp fine. But my two mates don't work at all, I do take the **** yes lol but I wouldn't complain that it only works when driven that's for sure.

I must have a good cooling system on my 200 because whatever I do, it stays in the middle of the gauge. I always block my radiator off road and the temperature never goes up. The only time it's gone past half way was when my radiator got caked in 2 inches of mud back and front whilst off road.

Took mine out to play in the snow yesterday and I can honestly say that the inside was absolutely warm as toast ... I even took my Land Rover Ice Hat and gloves off. It did take five hours of driving to get to this stage though! ... cold on idle but I guess a rad muff or a farmers fertiliser sack is required!

Havin the same problem with my TD5,,,,,,radiator muff arrived today so will fit it tomorrow, Santa doesnt deliver the haynes manual until Saturday so could someone explain in an idiots guide how to disconnect my viscous fan

Undo the nut but it's a left hand thread and it's a 31mm spanner.

On the TD5 its a standard thread - righty tighty lefty loosey.

Just get a spanner on it and give it a tap to loosen it then turn the fan by hand to unscrew the viscous coupling from the pulley. You dont need a fancy fan spanner, I use a slim adjustable pipe spanner. You can slide some cardboard down in front of the radiator so that you dont damage the fins when removing the fan if you dont have steady hands.

sible88 said:

Undo the nut but it's a left hand thread and it's a 31mm spanner.

Click to expand...

cheers guys - i'll try the carpet trick.

arboorman - i'm in High Wycombe, Bucks - thanks for the offer...how does it go temp wise on longer trips?

On long trips if you are travelling it will get enough air through the rad to cool it

Just up the road then (Sandhurst/Berkshire GU47) - very welcome to pop down and use the spanners.

I know it's do-able without them but I was struggling to take mine off so thought sod it and bought the set on ebay - to be fair they made taking the fan off and piece of p#ss!

Not been on a really long journey yet but in the recent weather with the rad cover totally closed (M3/M25) at a constant 60mph, it got up to temp much quicker and once at the 11 o'clock position on the gauge it didn't move any further.

I still carry the fan in my wagon just in case. If I do a longer journey I'd definately open the rad cover to get some air flow to the rad/engine.

Give us a shout if you want to pop down