Honda Car Forum

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.

Chris Aseltine wrote:
>
> 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.

On Mon, 26 Jan 2004 22:17:30 GMT, "Chris Aseltine"
<ophidian@newsnation.com> wrote:

>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.

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??

In article <ZlgRb.123521$sv6.663905@attbi_s52>,
"Chris Aseltine" <ophidian@newsnation.com> wrote:

> 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.

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.

"Randolph" <trash@junkmail.com> writes:

> 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.
>
> Chris Aseltine wrote:
>
>> 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.

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

On Tue, 27 Jan 2004 01:23:53 GMT, "Chris Aseltine"
<ophidian@newsnation.com> wrote:

>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.
>
>"Randolph" <trash@junkmail.com> writes:
>
>> 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.
>>
>> Chris Aseltine wrote:
>>
>>> 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.
>

Dick said...

> 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.

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

> 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.

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.

Chris Aseltine wrote:
>
> 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?