How long for heater to warm up?

[nosajwp]

My heater seemed to warm up a little slow this morning. Of course, I'm used to the heater in the '01 Dodge Ram I had, which would warm up about 5 minutes after you started driving. It took about 12-15 minutes for the heater in my XJ to warm up this morning. Is that normal? I think the heater core is ok, because both heater hoses run at the same temp as the radiator hose when the engine is warmed up.

 

[HossHoffer]

Sounds like you need to do the XJ heater core cleaning. Take the hoses off at the firewall and backflush the core with your garden hose. You will be amazed at the gunk that comes out and how much more heat you get. You also might want to check your thermostat. As to how long it takes, 5 to 10 minutes should be plenty of time to start getting heat.

 

[dmillion]

The question is, does it also take this long for the engine to warm up? If the engine is warm but the heater is still blowing cold then you have a problem with the heater core. If the engine is taking a long time to warm up then it is most likely the thermostat.

 

[DaveD912]

I had an '01 1500 Ram, and my '01 XJ heats up twice as fast. It was 25 out this morning here and my XJ was pumping warm air within 2 minutes - about the time it took me to scrape the thin layer of ice off my windshield. It reached operating temp. in about 5-7 minutes.

 

[bretto]

The thermostat has nothing to do with the heated coolant to the heater core. It gets pumped right off the head when you slide the lever to heat which opens the vacuum valve under the hood. The block doesn't have to be fully up to temp b4 you have heat like other cars. I get heat way b4 the engine heat gauge moves. Check the heater core for clogage.

brett