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Weak Heater

9K views 51 replies 28 participants last post by  Rebmo 
#1 ·
I've had my Tundra for about 6 weeks and have only this week needed the heater.

It appears weak. I can leave it on the hottest setting but it never really gets really hot.

Thoughts??
 
#2 ·
My truck gets comfortably warm within 5 to 10 mins of driving. If you're talking about it getting so hot that you have to turn it down. It takes about 15 mins. My tundra is actually better than any vehicle I have every owned when it come to heat and air. It just depends on how you drive. If you expecting it to really warm up fast by idling.... then its not going to happen.
 
#3 ·
I've had similar thoughts on the heater in mine now that I've been using it in the mornings on my commute to work. I do however commute partially downhill and only about 6 miles all city, seems like it warms up really slow. Much slower than my previous Tacomas and both of our 4runners. I just wear a jacket and I'm fine after 5 min.
 
#5 ·
not sure if you read the manual or if this is your problem, but the truck heater fan will only go into high speeds once the truck is warm. this includes the tranny temps. after all the drive train is warm the blower will kick into high and blow alot harder. thus creating more heat. search this forum been discussed everytime someone buys a new truck and it gets cold out.
 
#6 ·
I noticed this too. Last few days has been around 0 degrees F. ~-20C.

It does take a very very long time to warm up and just like you I can leave it on a hot setting for almost half hour. I've had 20+ cars in my time from things like Honda Fit to STI. All of them warmed up quicker. I've read some magazine reviews that mention the same thing.

As mentioned above I guess the reason is, the truck needs to be fully warm to kick into full heat mode. So odd, and not ideal for places like where I live.
 
#7 ·
Mine seems to take a little while as well, but thank goodness for seat heaters. As a matter of fact, I find that fan speed vs air flow has been a mystery on my current tundra and my last 2005 tundra. Turn the fan speed all the way up and it sounds like it would be blowing a lot harder than it really is.
 
#8 ·
It doesn't blow at max speed until the vehicle gets completely warmed up.

Both my 07 and 14 wouldn't get hot very fast when idling in park. Driving normal. Different story. This is one of the reasons I don't try to warm the vehicle up before I drive. I just get it and drive. Warms up very fast to me. I will crank mine up some times and drive my daughter down to the end of the road to catch the bus and cut it off. Wait 5 mins or so until the bus shows up and its seems to be blowing as much warm air it would if I'd left it running.
 
#12 ·
Is it logical with a improved capacity for high heat and towing that compromises be found in the time to warm up?
Last couple days its been down to -30c/-22f, my Tundra ran for half an hour before I got in.... it was on the cool side still. Gotta love heated seats, 5min down the road towing the trailer and I had so much heat barfing out of the registers that I had to turn off the seats and set the climate to 23.5c/74.5f.
I personally prefer better heat handling and longer warm-ups but I use my truck as a tool so my expectations may differ from others..... imagine a truck acting like a truck... LOL
 
#13 ·
Is it logical with a improved capacity for high heat and towing that compromises be found in the time to warm up?
Last couple days its been down to -30c/-22f, my Tundra ran for half an hour before I got in.... it was on the cool side still. Gotta love heated seats, 5min down the road towing the trailer and I had so much heat barfing out of the registers that I had to turn off the seats and set the climate to 23.5c/74.5f.
I personally prefer better heat handling and longer warm-ups but I use my truck as a tool so my expectations may differ from others..... imagine a truck acting like a truck... LOL


That's f*cking crazy! I would die, right there, instantly. :eek:

I went shopping today, rolled all 5 windows down on the way there.

It warmed up, and I used the A/C on the way home. :disco:
 
#15 ·
It's 19 here this morning. All I can add is that the heater blower is weak. My truck doesn't seem to take an abnormally long time to warm up, but I would say it takes a couple of miles before getting any noticeable heat.

Larger engines take longer to heat up for obvious reasons. This truck is MUCH better than my Dodge with the Cummins was because of the huge block.
 
#16 ·
One of my biggest complaints about my Tundra. The HVAC is decidedly weak compared to just about everything else I've owned.

It's not terrible. But it's bad enough to bug me on particularly hot or cold days.

Heated seats help though :D
 
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#22 ·
One of my biggest complaints about my Tundra. The HVAC is decidedly weak compared to just about everything else I've owned.

It's not terrible. But it's bad enough to bug me on particularly hot or cold days.
This. My Tundra will not blast me out of the cab with extreme heat or cold--I have owned a number of vehicles that will.
 
#26 ·
I agree 100%...

The heater/AC "stuff" might simply be undersized for the size of the double cab or crew cab...

If it is fairly cold, say <15F, the windows will stay frosty on the outside and foggy on the inside unless you put all of the air flow to the windshield. These lends itself to having nice cold feet...

Good-luck...BCB
 
#17 ·
The HVAC in our Tundra is excellent, and maintains "temps" better than our last Lexus and current Acura.

It does take more than twice as long to warm up as the Ford EcoToot; but then again the radiator and other coolers (like tanny) are humongous compared to the Ford. Also the engine is lot bigger and has more water to heat up. The interior has more cubic feet inside and the seating material is a lot thicker (more time to heat up or cool).

Generally the Ford would began to warm up good in about 5 miles and the Tundra about 10 miles. Once you get beyond that point the Tundra is a lot better HVAC IMHO.
 
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#18 · (Edited)
Delayed heat and premature shifting



The two issues I've had with my 2014 tundra double cab SR5 LB(tow package) are premature downshifting and week heat. The (my) transmission doesn't shift properly when cold. I'm starting to think the engineers know this and have modified the heating system to get the transmission warmed up as soon as possible and in my case in spite of the extra cooling of the tow package transmission cooler.
My 2001 Tacoma would warm up very quickly with more heat than you could ever use.
 
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#19 ·
I let the truck warm up for about five minutes, then about two miles into driving I'm getting cooked out of the truck. I noticed this truck reaches temps really slow. Every Toyota I've owned has baked me out of the truck.
 
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#21 ·
Crew Max



I believe your crew Max has dual climate control, I think my double cab has a different system. Either way I think the Toyota engineers gave the six speed transmission priority to warm-up.
 
#20 · (Edited)
I notice our truck does warm slower than most other I've been in but not that much longer. I personally don't warm my truck up for more than two minutes. Driving it warm the truck up much quicker.

I have done lots of research and have asked many questions to fellow mechanics I know; friends, family and professional. They all said the reason why most people still warm up there vehicles is, it seems like the norm and people are use to doing it. Most vehicles now are FI so no need to do warm-up. Back in the days it was carburetor.

All it takes is 30 second is for the oil to fully circulate around the engine so there is no harm done mechanically. They went into more details but I will stop here.

This all made lots of sense to me so I stop warming up any of my vehicles but drive it for a few minutes before I start the heater. Summer I start and go, winter I usually give it one or two minutes and never had any problem.

Some might argue and is debatable but it make sense and I have not had any problem cause by doing this.
 
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#24 ·
We are spoiled. Try using a diesel as a daily driver in cold weather.

-night before, but on radiator cover to keep engine temps.
-plug in diesel to timer. Start 4 hours before needing to start.
-start truck, wait a minimum of 5 min. In that time, scrape all windows..because heater won't be on for a bit.
-jump in and off to work. About 10 miles into a 13 mile commute the heater really starts working.
- 3 miles later, stop, cool down turbo and shut down. Plug in if you can.
-8-12 hours later...repeat for commute home.
-check weather for next day. Ah crap...temps going to be 55*. Go remove radiator cover so you don't overheat your trans and motor.

Fun.
 
#28 ·
Temperature versus heat



My double cab will eventually get hot after a very long time on recycle.
Heat, BTUs is different then temperature, A lit match will get much hotter than 142° but will never heat the truck cab. Again, I think the transmission must be warmed up before the cab
 
#27 ·
I find it strange that some have good heater/AC climate and others don't.

Looking at some of the signatures, some trucks are new and some are 07-08.

Glad mine works great in all conditions...but coming from a dodge diesel, anything is better. Sometimes a spray bottle and small fan was better for ac.
 
#29 ·
I see your point. Some people were talking about how the cab doesn't stay warm. This is just a reference to what my truck puts out at operating temp. Mine warms up quickly. Now if the trans isn't up to temp, the blower motor will only come on a little bit even if on maximum until motor and trans is up to temp.

Maybe some of you guys that are in extreme cold need to look at radiator covers.

Another thing for the people that have issues with fogging, I would look at the cab filter. I change mine out about every other oil change and remove it, blow it out with compressed air every oil change. These filters get dirty quick and affect the performance of the HVAC system....at least that is what I have seen. My first change on the cab filter was at 14k miles and it was dirty and the blower motor wasn't working well for obvious reasons.
 
#32 · (Edited)
My 14' takes longer than my 02'. I wonder if the heater core on the later models are bigger. This would take longer for the coolant to warm. Also the huge cab I have now would take longer to heat. Side note my heated seats are not as fast as my other cars.
 
#34 ·
With the CM, you get more heating duct & vents, volume of cubic displacement should be made up with vents? DC only have vents in front and under seats, CM have vents in back on center console.

I have owned a lot of SUV / CARS in my life, when i purchased my first truck, first thing i noticed was the longer time to heat / cool.
 
#36 ·
I have never been happy with the heater in my '07. I had the reflash done on it which helped a little but not much.
Today is a good example. It was 12 degrees with a misty light snow. I drove a total of 9 miles with two short stops. I never was able to get it warm enough to keep the snow from freezing on the windshield. If I had let it warm up for about 10 minutes before I left home it probably would have been OK, but without that the heater never caught up.
 
#38 ·
I've always thought of it kind of like this:

A vast majority of us have the 5.7L. That's a fair sized engine and will require some time to warm up and generate enough heat to spare for the passenger compartment. When we start our vehicles on a cold morning the thermostat is closed to prevent coolant from going to the radiator and radiating produced heat to the atmosphere until the coolant in the block reaches the temp that opens the T-stat to get rid of the unwanted, extra heat.

Meanwhile, us fragile bags of water have the temperature control in the cab turned over to it's warmest setting. I don't know how much coolant is in that circuit, but it probably makes some difference in the time it takes for the engine to reach operation temp. Also, I suspect that there is a heat exchange circuit that probably sends warming/warmed coolant to the transmission to aid in warming that up as well. I've noticed that while driving when it's really cold and my truck is freshly started, the transmission maintains a lower gear. I suspect that this is to keep the engine at a slightly higher RPM to create more heat and warm both components up faster.

As the coolant warms the heater core and the fan finally begins to push warmed air into the cab, all the things in the cab are going to wick that heat from the air. The dash, seats, plastic door panels, glass, YOU. The bigger the cab.....

Now I know that you're thinking that sure, you have a standard cab so you're truck should be warmed up in no time, but when it's legitimately cold outside, it's a good 20 miles of highway speeds, or more before I would consider my truck "warmed up".

Something else that might be a factor is that on a casual commute, or a run to the store, we're really not working these truck very hard at all. From the reading that I've done on these trucks, the radiator and transmission coolers do what they're meant to, anyone ever see the gauges creep above normal while working them hard (save for a malfunction or failure)? When I've done longer drives in the bitter cold, the heater in my truck is such that I've able to drive in a T-shirt.

As far as warming up my truck from a cold start, I will wait for the radiator fan to disengage at a minimum, winter or summer, then drive off. Bitter cold or snow, remote start as I exit the house, throw my gear inside, brush, scrape, and drive.

Enjoy!
 
#39 · (Edited)
Also, I suspect that there is a heat exchange circuit that probably sends warming/warmed coolant to the transmission to aid in warming that up as well. I've noticed that while driving when it's really cold and my truck is freshly started, the transmission maintains a lower gear. I suspect that this is to keep the engine at a slightly higher RPM to create more heat and warm both components up faster.

As the coolant warms the heater core and the fan finally begins to push warmed air into the cab, all the things in the cab are going to wick that heat from the air. The dash, seats, plastic door panels, glass, YOU. The bigger the cab.....
The transmission and coolant are not exchanged except in the radiator which is on the other side of the thermostat. The reason why it will not shift into Lu/overdrive is a thermo switch. Also when the fluid is extremely cold it is thicker/higher viscosity which causes it to not flow through the transmission orifices as fast. This causes it to shift thumpy and sightly later. As for the wicking theory.....I do believe that it is warming more mass regardless of more vents in the crewmax.
 
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