2004 Accord heater temperature?

Is there any way this can be adjusted (by the dealer, or anyone?)

Even at the highest setting, the air coming out of the vents is not very
hot - "pretty warm" at best. It seems much cooler than I've seen in other
cars.

Recently it was around 5-10 degrees F here, and when using outside air, the
heater air was barely hot at all. The only way to even make the car
comfortably warm was to use "recirculate" to reheat the cabin air, but this
fogs up the windows. The solution there I suppose is to use the A/C also
but this wastes gas, especially in the winter!

Any ideas? I know the engine runs around 195F, so there's got to be a way
to heat up that air a little more before it comes out the vents.

 

I don't think this needs to be "adjusted", it needs to be "repaired".
With a 2004 you must still be under warranty so let the dealer handle
it.

 

Three things: 1) it could be that the door in the heater box is not opening
properly because the cable needs adjusting; or 2) the cable to the heater
valve needs adjusting and the valve is not getting fully opened; or 3) the
engine is not actually getting up to operating temp because of a flakey
thermostat.

The heater valve under the hood is easy to check - it's near the firewall
where the heater hoses go through - just make sure it's fully open when the
heater control is on max temp. I haven't seen that model but the cable for
the heater box door is probably on the passenger side of the box - make
sure it's anchored properly with the spring clip and check its movement as
you operate the temp control.

Rgds, George Macdonald

"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??

 

This seems to be a Honda trait. I see it in my 02 Odyssey. By
comparison, my 94 Lexus blows hot air.

 

Well, my concern is when they will inevitably say "that's normal" (see the
other poster that said "it's common to Hondas. My Lexus blows warm air."
We'll see tonight, I'm taking it in for a (free) oil change.

 

Our 2003 EX V-6 will burn the polish off your shoes. I'm sure your
heater system is the same one. There is definitely something wrong
with it. Back to the dealer.

Dick

 

Dick said...

Same here with my 2003 EX V-6. The heater will have you rolling
the windows down soon if you don't reduce the fan speed and/or the
temperature setting.


Casey

 

"Chris Aseltine" wrote

It isn't normal. My 2004 blows hot air. Don't let THEM blow hot air.

 

I emailed the dealer regarding what temperature is to be expected, we'll see
what they say.

In the meantime, today it was 0F. I noticed that when idling, the heater
temperature was quite cool. Under moderate acceleration, it warmed up some
almost immediately after I hit the gas. If I mashed the throttle, it got
quite warm, hot really.

Does that mean anything to anyone?

 

I have noticed on my '94 Civic that as soon as the RPM goes up, the
temperature of the air from the vents goes up. Probably because the
water pump runs faster and circulates the coolant faster. It is not due
to engine heating up, as the increase in air temperature comes within a
second or two of hitting the gas pedal.

 

That's interesting. I thought that when I got home, I tried revving it in
neutral, but saw no increase in temperature. Likewise, if I got on the gas
quite a bit, but not enough to cause a big downshift, it seemed to make it
much hotter.

This would seem to me like it was dependant more on the heat output of the
engine rather than just circulating coolant faster. But I agree that the
whole engine couldn't heat up that quickly in the course of 1-2 seconds.

 

I noticed this last night in a '00 Odyssey, but had never noticed that
phenomnenon in either my '99 V6 Accord or '01 CRV. But then again, it
was -15F, and since we're drawing in outside air and running it past the
heater element, the slow coolant flow coupled with very cold air could just
be keeping the heater core cold.

 

Have you checked that the reservoir level is near max when hot and when
cold, that the coolant is up to the neck of the filler cap?

Rgds, George Macdonald

"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??

 

This is interesting. It has been very cold here the last few days (-21
at my house this morning). I noticed yesterday when I left the car
idling for a while that the engine termperature sunk down very close
to the cold end of the scale. As soon as I started to drive again, it
went up very quickly to a point just under the half-way mark (which is
where I think it usually sits). In other cars, I'd say the themostat
wasn't working properly. This is an 03 Accord 4 cyl with about 7K
miles. On the other hand, it warms up quickly suggesting the
thermostat is working. Anyone else experiencing this?

 

Actually, just revving it neutral did seem to increase the temperature a
bit.

 

If the heater fan is on, yep that's normal.

Rgds, George Macdonald

"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??

 

I didnt' experience that with my '99 Accord (and by the parent's ISP and
temp, it would appear we both live in Minnesota).

I have read someplace that it's advised to use the heater, even in the
summer, as an emergency source of engine cooling. I think this was in the
context of mountain driving. Presumably you can loose meaningful amounts of
engine heat through the extra plumbing and air blowing over the heater core.

 

Yep, I'm in Minnesota where we're trading snow for cold ... a good
trade in my opinion.

I've never had a car that cooled down when idling whether running the
heater fan or not. Shouldn't the thermostat to the radiator close if
the engine temperature drops to this point? I can't believe that with
the themostat even partially closed that the engine wouldn't stay in
the heated range. It warms back up again (as per the gauge) so quickly
that it makes me think it is the location of the sensor rather than a
real reflection of the engine temperature. Is that possible?

 

Even here in NJ at ~15F I've seen the effect.

Well yeah, the heater core and fan are just a mini version of the
radiator/fan. Of course the trouble is how to put up with all the extra
heat in the cabin.

Rgds, George Macdonald

"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??

 

That is normal operation. The heat output of the engine is closely related
to the LOAD the engine is under. Revving it up in neutral is going to
increase the heat output slightly, but not by much - it is not under any
load. Drive your car under heavy acceleration up a hill (not recommended
when it is still cold) and it will be producing lots of heat. That heat is
dumped directly and instantly into the coolant, where it then hits the
heater core a few seconds later, causing heat to appear through your heater
vents.