B9 Heating Issue?
 

I posted this over in the B9 Allroad forum, but since my Allroad is a B9 I figured I would post here too in hopes of getting as many responses as possible.

When I first start the Allroad after it has been sitting overnight I need to leave the interior temp setting on “High” for the first 45-50 mins of driving in order for the interior to heat up. If I set the temp control setting to any other setting the vents blow cool (not cold) air.

For example, after driving for approx 20 mins on several occasions, I lowered the temp setting to 84 degrees and the vent would still blow cool air. Only after driving for approx 45-50 mins am I able to lower the control to 84 and receive heat. In addition even after driving for 50 mins, if I try to lower the temp control to anything below 80 degrees it blows cool (again not cold) air.

On a very cold morning I lowered the temp to 74 degrees after driving approx 30 mins and within 2 mins the interior windows fogged up. And no, the recirculate system was not on and it wasn’t raining outside. It's frustrating because on our Q7 after 15 mins I can't keep the temp setting over 73 or the interior gets too warm.

I put a call into service and while awaiting a response figured I would ask.

Thanks.

Do you have it set for auto or not auto? Either way, I have my temp set for auto at 72 year round(never touch it) and my car is warm within 3-5 minutes of driving it in 20 degree weather lately. It shouldnt take 45-50 minutes for your car to warm up.

I tried both, set it on auto at 74, 78 and 83 and it blows cool air, not until I manually set it to "High" do I begin to feel any type of heat.. Just to make sure I was clear, it doesn't take 45 mins for it to warm up as long as it's set on "High". But on any other temp setting other than High, it takes a minimum of approx 45 mins to feel any type of heat after the first start of the day.. Crazy..

Unfortunately, we can all armchair tech it and try to guess what it would be, but the best thing to do is bring it to the dealer. Hopefully it is still under warranty.

My B9 A4 is garaged so it doesn't experience the low temps of the night but I did leave it in a covered outdoor parking area while I was traveling for work and I was so impressed that it heated up completely in about 3 minutes. It had gotten down to around freezing and my car sat outside untouched for a couple of days, but heated right up when I returned. I even made a thread here because I was so impressed after having cars that you had to remote start 20 minutes in advance to get warmed up.

Even after coming back to it when leaving work and it sits in cold, it heats up very quickly. I have a 6 minute commute from my house in to work and it's warm at the half way point on my way home. The heated seats and wheel are almost instant it feels like, and the vents are blowing warm air after the third minute or so.

Definitely sounds like something is wrong with your car if it's taking 45 minutes to warm up.

This is my experience as well - this car heats up strangely well for a European 4 cylinder, largely due to the integrated exhaust manifold I believe... (does anyone know if this car has a supplementary electric heater as well?)

I remember picking up the car from the airport on a very cold wintery day once... and I feel like it started blowing warm air roughly by the time I made it to the exit of the parking garage. (Folks who live around here... probably don't need to be told about how tricky it can be to get out of the CYYZ Terminal 1 parking garage... so that's maybe 2-3 minutes)

If it's taking much longer than that, you need to have a serious chat with your dealer.

It gets fairly cold where I am, so for my second year of ownership I decided to install a remote starter in hopes of getting into a warm car on those cold days. Today it was about -20C (-4F) and at 10 minutes of idling, only a tiny portion of frost on my windshield began to clear and the car was still cold inside. Luckily the seat heater comes on with the starter, so the seat was warm. After about 2 minutes of driving, the coolant temp reaches normal levels, but the heat didn't kick in full force until about 5-10 minutes of driving.

I wonder if the lack of load on the idling engine somehow played a role in that...

Check your coolant circulation pumps. They are located just behind and below the coolant reservoir.
Has your coolant level dropped recently?
I had my coolant level drop and then began having coolant pump problems stemming from a leaking thermostat housing and water pump, (both of those are located on the block just below the throttle body which is below spark plug 3.) This leaking coolant was draining down the wiring and was interrupting the run signal to the circulation pumps. One of the pumps circulating coolant to the heater core in the cabin and the other moves coolant through the transmission cooler.

here is the link to my ordeal

https://www.audiworld.com/forums/a4-...-open-2963618/