Reasons Why Your Car Heater is Blowing Cool Air

Your car heater is blowing cold air?

One beautiful day, when winter comes, the air in the car that should be coming out warm into the cabin comes out cold. Horror! In addition to the problems that can be caused by not defrosting the windshield, if the interior temperature does not rise to a comfortable level, we will have to keep warm, but that is a wrong solution, especially for the driver, who will not be able to drive the vehicle efficiently. But why does cold air come out if I have the car heating on?

Why doesn’t the car heater heat up

It would help if you were patient when it is cold because it takes longer for the vehicle to generate heat once the car heater is on. Some cars take longer than others to reach the required temperature. But if after a while, you do not perceive improvement in the interior temperature is that there is a problem that can have different origins:

• Several causes:  The entry of heat inside the vehicle is produced thanks to the operation of a set of elements. Therefore, it can be one or more of those elements that cause the system to malfunction, which ends up causing cold air in winter or heat in summer.
• The frequent failures:  The most frequent causes of the malfunction of the heating are usually the failure of the thermostat, that of the electric water pump, or the internal plugging of some water hose or an electro valve.
• And if it is not a problem of heating?:  It does not have to be a mistake of the heating or air conditioning system itself that causes a lack of heat. The failure of some engine component that does not allow it to reach the proper working temperature may be the one that generates the problem.

How does heating work?

You’ve probably never asked yourself, but you might be interested to know. When the engine is running, it generates heat, and the radiator (supported by the fan) is responsible for ensuring that excessive temperature is not a problem; Well, just that leftover is the one that is used to heat the cabin. But there are different heater systems:

• Mechanical. They are the oldest. They work thanks to a small radiator mounted behind the dashboard that connects via two sleeves to the engine cooling system. In many cases, it incorporates a tap that opens or closes the passage of water to this central radiator.
• Two other fundamental parts of the circuit are the flaps that channel the air inside the heater with the help of the fan, which forces the air circulation. To request heat, manually turn on the tap (if incorporated), or the trapdoor, and the air is directed towards the desired outlet. If we want more heat sensation, we start the electric fan that is located in front of the radiator at the desired speed.
• Automatic They are the most modern and are also very varied. The way to obtain heat and its operation (except for exceptions such as electric vehicles) is similar to that of old systems. Still, with a fundamental difference: all actions are performed automatically by selecting (in auto mode) only the temperature that we wish. Under these conditions, an electronic module controlled by microprocessor verifies the climatic conditions of the interior and exterior of the vehicle and depending on them adapts the elements to achieve the comfort values ​​that we have requested.
• Electric heaters. A substantial change that has occurred in heating systems is that many of these use electric heaters to get heat quickly without waiting for the engine to warm up.

Why can the car heating system fail?

The first of all that we should know is that not all cars take the same time to generate heat inside the vehicle’s interior to defog the windows.

But one definite thing, if you have been waiting for a long time and everything remains the same, the reasons why the heating fails can be the following:

• Malfunction of the electric water pump.
• Thermostat failed.
• Internal plugging of some water hose.
• Some of the solenoid valves.

In some cases, the fault may be in some component of the engine, which could be causing the car not to reach the proper temperature.

The best way to make efficient use of heating

Patience is essential in life for many cases, and when it is freezing, you must also have it when waiting for the vehicle to warm up.

If the temperature is shallow, the car takes longer to warm up, so it is advisable to wait a bit from when we start the car, until we turn on the heating. Why? If you turn on the cooking as soon as it starts, the air coming out of the radiators is cold, and this will take longer to heat the interior cabin.

Good advice to follow to have a pleasant atmosphere in the vehicle once the march is started is to distribute the hot air to the feet and the windshield at the same time. The hot air by inertia tends to rise, and in this way, we will get on the one hand that the windshield defrosts, and we will also be at a perfect temperature.

It is also essential to monitor the engine coolant since the hoses of said liquid connect to the radiator that is inside the engine coolant circuit. 

Finally, the heating system should be used from time to time, more or less often. Not using this system can also cause system failures.

Remember that proper maintenance is necessary for any car.