How long does it take for your 1.8 to warm up?

[redline380]

My sedan took a pretty long time to warm up, and so does my avant.The a8 on the other hand with a big v8 and larger cooling capacity warms up from idling in 5 minutes enough to get heat. I let my avant arm up this morning (-7 F) for about ten minutes before leaving. Practically zero heat. My morning trip is only about 10 minutes, and I'll be damned if I even get the coolant temp above the bottom mark.

It has a new thermostat and coolant temp sensor in it. Only thing I can think of is maybe the fan is running?

I figured I would just e how everyone else's does.

[RoadRage]

About 5 to 10 minutes driving around 2-3k. I think it used to warm up quicker though. no clue how to diagnose that.

[DeathLens]

Mine has been pretty good. I let mine sit for 30 seconds to a minute usually then get on my way. Within about 3-5km the car is warm and warm air is starting to come through the vents, seat is burning my ass.

[redline380]

If didn't let it idle this morning for 10 minutes, the car wouldn't have even had heat after my 10 minute drive

[Seerlah]

It's not really good to let your car warm up idling. It runs really rich during this time and you are dumping a lot of fuel which can end in your sump, circulate with the oil and wash out your bearings (widening the clearance). I even dipped into the 9s the other morning, but that was only after a blimp. I was doing some testing and it only runs rich for 2-3 minutes. And you can make it go to stoich quicker if you blimp the throttle after like 30 seconds. Do it prior and you can wind up doing something like dipping into the 9s before settling in the 10s again. Best thing to do is drive the car after cold start warm up (like 30 seconds).

With that being said, coolant up to temp and 160*f+ oil temp after 5-10 minutes of driving with ambient damn near zero. I know because I dare not boost till I reach these minimum specs. This is speeds ranging from 30-80mph.

[pbcrazy]

Mine takes quite a while to warm up. In 15*F weather, my ~2 minute idle and ~10 minute drive might barely make it to the middle for coolant. As far as running rich, my car stays around 12.5 AFR for about 1.5 minutes on cold days. I find it hard to believe a 20% fuel increase for 2 minutes with make any measurable difference in oil, but I've been wrong before.

[redline380]

I really don't care what effects it has on fueling and am well aware of the implications of letting it idle like that. I don't do it often, only when it is below 10 F.

I just don't get how the car doesn't warm up for a very long time. The a8 warms up right away.

[pbcrazy]

I just don't get how the car doesn't warm up for a very long time. The a8 warms up right away.

Doesn't make sense to me either. The weird thing is that several turbo cars (gas anyway) I've been in always take a little while longer to warm up than NA cars. Never understood it considering the coolant is not only cooling the engine, but also the turbo. To me it would make sense for turbo cars to warm up faster (even when not boosting). But at the same time, we do have a huge radiator compared to other small displacement engines.

[Rodgman15]

I'm in the same boat, I saw -12 this morning. Roughly a 7 mile drive to work, and even with an electric fan it still barely got to operating temp by the time I stopped.

[Mad Cow]

I really don't care what effects it has on fueling and am well aware of the implications of letting it idle like that. I don't do it often, only when it is below 10 F.

I just don't get how the car doesn't warm up for a very long time. The a8 warms up right away.

I think it's the aluminum block, the 1.8t does take a while but it's nothing compared to the 30v. Every car I've driven with an aluminum block warms up really fast, iron not so much.

[woolveren]

Best thing to do is drive the car after cold start warm up (like 30 seconds).

^^This. Don't idle car for more than 30 seconds as the engine wear will be very high without adequate oil pressure. Even Audi tells this in their manuals

Quote from the Audi manual:
"The engine takes a very long time to warm up when it is running at idling speed. Mechanical wear and pollutant emissions are also especially high during this initial warm-up phase. It is therefore best to drive off immediately after starting the engine. Avoid running the engine at high speed."

And about the heat, my car needs around 1.5 miles of driving for it to start blowing some warm air. One thing I usually do is point the vent flow directly to the face using manual mode rather than keeping it at auto as most of the air will be diverted to the foot vents in auto mode until the cabin gets warm. This said, car starts blowing luke warm air after some 2 miles drive even with the coolant temp needle at the bottom of the gauge. But this was not the case two years before when I had a partially clogged heater core which was later flushed thoroughly by my Indy mechanic.

[Davdraco1]

If I start the car cold and drive right away, it take easily 10 mins before the heat is noticeable.

[Mad Cow]

If I start the car cold and drive right away, it take easily 10 mins before the heat is noticeable.

That's not right, I get weak heat in under 5 minutes of driving and the needle is near the middle after about 15 minutes. For all the people who have to wait a long time for the heat to come on, do you have an OEM thermostat? I had this problem in the 30v when I put in an aftermarket thermostat, it took at least 10 minutes just for the air to start getting warm and another 10-15 for the needle to hit the middle.

[redline380]

That's not right, I get weak heat in under 5 minutes of driving and the needle is near the middle after about 15 minutes. For all the people who have to wait a long time for the heat to come on, do you have an OEM thermostat? I had this problem in the 30v when I put in an aftermarket thermostat, it took at least 10 minutes just for the air to start getting warm and another 10-15 for the needle to hit the middle.

Funny thing. I was scanner the car after driving it for an hour so it was very nice and hot. Let it idle for a few minutes and the temp actually started going down, to about 160 degrees.

[Avant Nate]

About 10 minutes for coolant to reach the middle, and oil temp 175ish, gentle driving. But I also don't have a big dumb mechanical fan running all the time.
If you cts is saying 160, I would think that your thermostat is bad.

[Davdraco1]

That's not right, I get weak heat in under 5 minutes of driving and the needle is near the middle after about 15 minutes. For all the people who have to wait a long time for the heat to come on, do you have an OEM thermostat? I had this problem in the 30v when I put in an aftermarket thermostat, it took at least 10 minutes just for the air to start getting warm and another 10-15 for the needle to hit the middle.

My temp needle won't move for 10 mins of normal driving. And the thermostat is just an OE replacement I got from the ecs timing belt kit I did a 2k miles ago.

[Mad Cow]

My temp needle won't move for 10 mins of normal driving. And the thermostat is just an OE replacement I got from the ecs timing belt kit I did a 2k miles ago.

The ECS tbelt kits don't come with an OEM thermostat. I bought an ECS kit for my 30v that also didn't come with an OEM thermostat, took damn near forever to warm up. For future reference never buy ECS kits, they love to sprinkle in cheap parts with decent ones to keep the price down while still maintaining the image of quality, and still they somehow manage to make it more expensive than the exact same parts bought individually in most cases.

[redline380]

My tstat is a brand new beck arnley, made in Germany. It is fine.

I just wanted to gather what others are seeing and it sounds like my two cars aren't very far off the curve. Guess they just take a long time to warm up on a cold day

[adam044]

It's not really good to let your car warm up idling. It runs really rich during this time and you are dumping a lot of fuel which can end in your sump, circulate with the oil and wash out your bearings (widening the clearance). I even dipped into the 9s the other morning, but that was only after a blimp. I was doing some testing and it only runs rich for 2-3 minutes. And you can make it go to stoich quicker if you blimp the throttle after like 30 seconds. Do it prior and you can wind up doing something like dipping into the 9s before settling in the 10s again. Best thing to do is drive the car after cold start warm up (like 30 seconds).

Beat me to it.

My car varies on the temp outside. I'd say 10 minutes at least these past couple days when it's been in the single digits and teens. I really dont pay attntion because honestly I don't care.

[smittyzz]

My sweet. 8 12v worms up very quick pushes head before temp gets to quarter way warmed up

[RoadRage]

I just timed my car today at lunch. Let it idle for about 15 seconds. After 4 minutes the HVAC got to 2 bars of fan speed. (Temp set at 70 on auto). After 6 minutes fan speed was up to 5 bars blowing warm air. Oil temp gauge was barely off the 150 mark. Coolant temp needle was reading 1/8th and climbing.

[woolveren]

I just wanted to gather what others are seeing a

Was getting bored at work, so when leaving thought of taking a video to find out how long it will take for my car to reach operating temp from a cold start of -13 Deg_C.

Looks like it took around 8 1/2 minutes, but am pretty sure I lost more than a minute sitting at two signals. There is only 3 miles from work to home and the speed was around 35 to 40 MPH through out with couple of stop signs and signals.. :) Started getting lukewarm heat after 3.40 minutes when the second song started..Lolz

And sorry for the crappy video..

[Koldham]

il get dressed, start the car, then go in and pack my lunch, then leave. Its a nice long climb out of my neighborhood in 60+mph traffic so i have to get on it pretty fast. usually warm by the first traffic light.

[Corrado_Guy]

I take a short run through the hood and then stop and go for 1.5 kms and the temp gauge is at 90 degrees C and the oil temps are just coming up on the gauge. It blows warm fairly quickly and by the end of the 1.5 kms the heater can take skin off. I warm my car up for maybe 30 seconds until the idle settles and then off I go. I have the heater set to econ and manually set to defrost and then just let it run adjusting the fan manually as it gets hotter. Once it hits 90 degrees it never budges one way or the other and this is with a new rad, thermostat, coolant pump, electric fan, and original oil cooler and heater core.

I have idled my car to running temps a number of times when doing rebuilds and so on and it takes about 10 - 12 minutes to get the temp gauge in the middle. If yours is not doing this then it usually points to a thermostat that is not installed properly which is very hard to do or it is not closing properly or somehow letting too much coolant bypass. Just because it is a brand name thermostat it doesn;t mean it is working properly. Most coolant issues relate to too much heat and not enough and in the end it is usually the thermostat that is the cause.

[coolgraymemo]

FWIW, my S4 (AAN) warms up in about half the time that my A4 (1.8T) warms up. Don't have the exact times.

Not sure if it's something with the 1.8T that takes it longer to warm up.

[MrSnickelsnizer]

To got Damn long. Start it every morning, let idle,for 8-10mins, heat is usually not even registering on the climate control by then, drive 4miles to work maybe an 1/8 of the way up on the coolant temp and heat barely blowing warm. Gf's 08 imprezza, And mothers 04 forester, will give you heat almost immediately. So much bull.
-15°F mornings up here at 6am.

[ECS Tuning-Audi]

For future reference never buy ECS kits, they love to sprinkle in cheap parts with decent ones to keep the price down while still maintaining the image of quality, and still they somehow manage to make it more expensive than the exact same parts bought individually in most cases.

Sounds made up.

Many of the parts we use in our kits are the OEM part but directly from the manufacture. So it might not be "Genuine Audi" but its the same part without the brand price increase. This allows us to buy the same parts the dealer gets but at a lower cost, thus allowing us to pass savings on to the customer.

If for whatever reason you do not feel comfortable with a part we choose to include in one of our kits you can always give sales a call (1-800-924-5172 ex130) or shoot them an e-mail ([email protected]) and they will be happy to swap the part out for another option on the site.

Jason

[Mad Cow]

Sounds made up.

Many of the parts we use in our kits are the OEM part but directly from the manufacture. So it might not be "Genuine Audi" but its the same part without the brand price increase. This allows us to buy the same parts the dealer gets but at a lower cost, thus allowing us to pass savings on to the customer.

If for whatever reason you do not feel comfortable with a part we choose to include in one of our kits you can always give sales a call (1-800-924-5172 ex130) or shoot them an e-mail ([email protected]) and they will be happy to swap the part out for another option on the site.

Jason

So you're telling me that a VEMO thermostat, GEBA water pump and URO t-belt tensioner are equivalent to OEM? And that's just your AWM timing belt kit, I don't even know how many times I've seen parts from budget brands thrown into kits. If it doesn't have OEM markings and look exactly like the OEM part then it's not equivalent, it may be nearly as good but you can't in all honesty go out and say it's the same. I respect you guys from a business perspective, I love that you were able to make such a huge name for yourselves. I have no problems with tossing in lesser quality parts to keep your prices down because that's what the average consumer wants, but don't try and tell me that your kits are the exact same parts as you would find in a dealership because that's a bold-faced lie.

[Avant Nate]

I still think your thermostat is bad. A few degrees fluctuation, ok, but 30F? I had a similar problem when I originally bought mine, and bought a Stant. It would heat up, but the temp would drop at highway speeds. Replaced with a Behr one, problem fixed.

[redline380]

I still think your thermostat is bad. A few degrees fluctuation, ok, but 30F? I had a similar problem when I originally bought mine, and bought a Stant. It would heat up, but the temp would drop at highway speeds. Replaced with a Behr one, problem fixed.

You talking to me? I really don't think it is my thermostat. Both my b5's take a long time to warm up, and I certainly wont be draining coolant on my avant just to replace the tstat. I had the motor out of it two weeks ago. I'll just deal with it. And it should be done be really cold after today (I hope) for the rest of the season. Anything 20 degrees or above doesn't bother me

[ECS Tuning-Audi]

So you're telling me that a VEMO thermostat, GEBA water pump and URO t-belt tensioner are equivalent to OEM? And that's just your AWM timing belt kit, I don't even know how many times I've seen parts from budget brands thrown into kits. If it doesn't have OEM markings and look exactly like the OEM part then it's not equivalent, it may be nearly as good but you can't in all honesty go out and say it's the same. I respect you guys from a business perspective, I love that you were able to make such a huge name for yourselves. I have no problems with tossing in lesser quality parts to keep your prices down because that's what the average consumer wants, but don't try and tell me that your kits are the exact same parts as you would find in a dealership because that's a bold-faced lie.

Audi doesn't produce parts. They have other manufactures that produce parts for them which they then stamp with their branding and deem it "Genuine Audi".

We happen to know many of the manufactures who supply Audi with their parts and can buy direct through them. Thus getting a better price than Audi can give us to sell their parts. Not saying this is always the case with every kit and every part on our website but when we can put a part that we buy direct thats the same as OEM we will try and include it in our kits.

As I said before if you don't feel comfortable with a part we have selected to use in a kit you are more than welcome to swap it out for an OEM part or one of your choice.

Heres an example below.. 2.0T diverter valves, first pic is a Genuine VW/Audi Valve, price $131.98



Next is a Pierburg valve, price $62.95



These are the exact same part - look at the branding and manufacture markings. Only difference is the price and one is deemed "Genuine VW/Audi" and the other is the original equipment supplier.

Jason

[pbcrazy]

I have owned my b5 for three years and have replaced the thermostat several times trying to fix this very problem. It may be a cause for some people, but the thermostat/air bubble/CTS is not the cause for my 1.8t. I think it's just how the cooling system is designed, not sure how or why though.

[seanf86]

my 97 1.8t takes forever to warm up, if I max the fan speed out it actually removes more heat than the engine can make at idle and my temp guage drops until I start driving again, my b6 seems to warm up faster, maybe its because there isnt a mechanical fan blasting ice cold air over the block as its trying to warm up. Coolant heaters would really help these cars when its really cold warm up faster but the lack of frost plugs makes that impossible, I'm almost tempted to buy a circulating coolant heater/pump for mine just so I have heat on those really cold days, it was -31C here this morning.

[pbcrazy]

it was -31C here this morning.

[viceprp]

If you replaced the T-Stat and CTS, I would do a coolant flush. Might be a clogged heater core. Blast vac system.

I would rather idle my car for 5 minutes than start up and drive lightly. I would never cold start my B5 and drive off.

You guys are using the auto setting to heat up your cars, correct?

[seanf86]

If you replaced the T-Stat and CTS, I would do a coolant flush. Might be a clogged heater core. Blast vac system.

I would rather idle my car for 5 minutes than start up and drive lightly. I would never cold start my B5 and drive off.

You guys are using the auto setting to heat up your cars, correct?

Yes I'm using the auto setting, I try to usually let it run until the fan kicks up to the second bar however that usually takes too long so I cap it at 5 min running. To the people who start and go after 30 seconds, how the hell do you get it into second gear? That's the real reason I let the car run so long. Ive also changed my t stat and p/o changed t stat same long warm up time. Who is running an oil pan heater? I have a 125 watt 120v aviation heater stuck on my oil pan. It doesn't help with warm up but I like to think it helps the oil circulate a bit faster.

[redline380]

Its tough getting into second, but I will usually double clutch for a while. It sucks the tranny case is aluminum otherwise I would just use a magnetic heater on it.

Maybe next year for the avant I will wire in a magnetic block heater and a pad on the tranny.

[viceprp]

Piston swelling.

Warm your vehicles up properly.

[A4Moby]

My oil temp gauge moves before my coolant temp gauge moves. It usually reads ~170 before the coolant gauge says, huh, things are warm, maybe I should do something. Same with HVAC. I get reasonable heat well before the coolant gauge moves. And it isn't the coolant sensor sender. I'm on my 3rd sender at just under 80K, they all have "warmed up" at the same rate and they all fail in a real consistent way (and it isn't delayed registering of warm up). I think it is the location of the coolant sensor sender itself to a certain degree.

[Koldham]

my temp gauge will hit normal before the oil gauge even moves.