"Zathras" > wrote in message
...
> On Fri, 26 Nov 2010 10:17:52 -0000, "GT" > wrote:
>
>>Air in system perhaps? Anyone know where the bleed tap is?
>
> If the cooling system wasn't working properly and the radiator wasn't
> warming up then I'd expect the engine to start glowing unless the
> cabin heater was working pretty well. Because you say that you're cold
> and the engine radiator is cold and you've not mentioned the engine
> over-heating, there is some weirdness in there. Perhaps you're
> expecting too much from a short journey or you're just getting old and
> decrepit.

The only real comparison I have (my own driving style and roads) is the Alfa
GT I had as a courtesy car at my last service. From a cold start, driving
from my house, there are about 10 mins of local town roads, then dual
carriageway for ages. My 156 takes the first 10 mins before the heater even
lets warm air through, then a while on the dual carriageway (another 10
mins+) before it is nicely warm. The GT was blowing warm air at me after 2-3
minutes and hot before I even reached the dual carriageway.

Both are petrol. The GT was a 1.8 compared to my 2.0, so the lower power
might warm up more quickly, but I would expect in the region of 10% more
quickly, perhaps not even a noticable difference.

I just seems to take ages to get warm. The only time the temp guage in the
car goes over 70 degrees is after a blast down the motorway, then into a
traffic jam. it will trickle over 90, then come back down pretty quickly.

The thermostat isn't stuck open as I suspected as the large pipes to the
radiator don't get hot at the same time as the small pipes to/from the
reservoir.

Someone suggested air in the system might prevent the heater from getting
heat from the coolant, but someone else said not to touch the bleed screw on
the radiator because they get corroded and turning it will knacker it!
Also - its on the radiator, which isn't being called upon very often, so
there is no flow through that during the warming up period!

> I must say that my shortlist of 'must haves' for any car had heated
> seats added to it when I hit my mid-forties. Same with the wife.

You can get heated wives? Remarkable - Korean is she?