It's about zero degrees out tonight and I noticed the heater in my daughter's '96 850R has been blowing only warm air. Not enough heat to warm up the car. Only enough to take the edge off the the biting cold. The engine temp gauge is dead-on in the middle and I tried various setting on the heater controls. But the air blowing out never get more than warm.

Any ideas?

 

I would say Flush the cooling system. Add new antifreeze and change the thermostat. It is cold as all get out here too, right now it is -14F and I had to take my 850 to the store, thank God the heater kicks butt in that car! Did you check the coolant level? Has anyone ever added a stop leak, maybe the core is plugged? Did the heat ever work properly? Good Luck

 

When you start the engine, do you see the "REC" and "AC" LEDs blink for a few seconds? If so, there may be a fault code(s) in the ECU. If this is the case, you need to go to the dealer to retrieve fault codes.

One possibility could be one of the damper motors may be stuck partially open. This should set code but once in a blue moon the ECU seems to fail picking up codes. See attached. If the temp gage is pointing at 3 O’Clock, the thermostat is probably fine but I would replace it if it has never been replaced.

See what others have to say.


JPN

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I agree, try flushing it, add fresh coolant, and possibly a new thermostat. Do the heater core hoses get in the engine bay get warm after the heat is on for a bit?

 

It's a new (used) car but the heater core was replaced when we got it. Although my daughter now tells me the heat never came up hot since purchased. The hoses seemed to be warm, not hot, but I'll check them again.