My son's 99 Chevy Cavalier takes a long time to warm up. We replaced the T-stat with the recommended 180 model. The car is still slow to warm up and the temp gauge only points to the low side of normal range. Can I go to the 190 t-stat without any problems? The car is in great shape with only 14000 miles on it. Any help is appreciated.
Tom

When you say it takes a long time to warm up, are you talking about the motor, or heater? Are you sure the gauge is correct? I wouldn't think it would be a problem going to the 190' stat, but I would make sure it was needed first.

If you've already changed the stat, changing to a 190 won't make it warm up any quicker.

Hello,
Thanks for the input. I'm comparing the Cavalier to my Honda, my wife's Dodge and even my 82 Vette. They all seem to reach "normal" operating temp within 1 or 2 miles of driving. The Cavalier will go for 5 miles and
the temp gauge barely moves. The heater output is not very warm, leading me to believe that the gauge is accurate.
Thanks,
Tom

It sounds more like the heater flow does not have enough flow. You may want to try flushing the heater core. Perhaps the entire cooling system.

If the car does at some point get good heat, moving up 10 degrees on the t-stat really won't make much difference. Maybe a little bit, but I would stick with the factory stat rating.

The time to warm up is more dependent on the vehicle design. Granted the Honda warms up very quickly. They tend to do that. They have very small metal mass in the engine compaired to others. The more metal, the longer the warm up. That is also dependent on combustion temp generated. My old 66 Pontaic took about 15 minutes before it gave out almost any heat, but would then bake cookies. But a 10 minute warm up in not bad at all. In fact it's average to better than average. Faster than all of my cars. The real judgement is, does it get hot enough when warm.

|UPDATED|1/22/2005 12:16:31 PM (AZT)|/UPDATED|

kstyer said: The time to warm up is more dependent on the vehicle design.

it may just be me but in the winter.. i generally let a car idle a few minutes before driving it anyway..

my truck will hardly warm up on a cold morning if i get in and go.. if I start it and take a smoke before driving.. its warmed up.

Well, on a similar note...my C-3 (79 L-48, auto) NEVER runs hot....165 indicated in July.......in the winter, it barely ever gets off the low peg, forget the heater ... What ya think? Cooling system flush? Replace thermostat? I haven't done anything about it, because ya gotta love the summer temps......

Roy

That would be a thermostat. But for warm weather I don't think I would change it in a non computer car.

Is there any fix for the winter? (besides the blanket I keep in it for over my legs, that is ...)

You could put a coolant heater in the car. You need to plug it in at night, but you have almost instant heat.