How many miles does your van take to get up to temp.
- Thread starter yuke
- Start date
BrennWagon
He’s just this guy, you know?
It depends very much on the ambient temperature and wether your auxiliary heater exists and is working. If we aren’t talking sub zero then you may have a bad thermostat
doug022984
Sporadic Member Since 2015
Compared to the radiator replacement, I would say thermostat is easier, so go for it if you don't know the last time it was replaced. It's not that expensive of a part and its certainly nice to minimize the number of times you have to drain coolant. Just don't be surprised if it doesn't change anything....
What kind of ambient temp are you talking with your 8 mile number? Also how are we defining "warm"? Just warmer than ambient? Or warm as in thermostat opening because you've reached 195F? Mine takes about 4 miles even on a warm 80 deg day (40 mph roads with traffic lights) to get to thermostat open temp. My thermostat was replaced about 10K miles ago. My aux heater doesn't work, but I wouldn't expect it to try to on warm days even if it did. Haven't checked it yet on a cold day. And cold days here are still only in the mid 30's.
Diesels in general don't warm up as fast as gas engines. My shiny new honda shows its up to temp within like 1.5 miles of my house. But gas engines also warm up just from idling. A diesel would probably take 5 years to warm up on its own just from idling, hence why they come with aux heaters and gas engines generally don't.
What kind of ambient temp are you talking with your 8 mile number? Also how are we defining "warm"? Just warmer than ambient? Or warm as in thermostat opening because you've reached 195F? Mine takes about 4 miles even on a warm 80 deg day (40 mph roads with traffic lights) to get to thermostat open temp. My thermostat was replaced about 10K miles ago. My aux heater doesn't work, but I wouldn't expect it to try to on warm days even if it did. Haven't checked it yet on a cold day. And cold days here are still only in the mid 30's.
Diesels in general don't warm up as fast as gas engines. My shiny new honda shows its up to temp within like 1.5 miles of my house. But gas engines also warm up just from idling. A diesel would probably take 5 years to warm up on its own just from idling, hence why they come with aux heaters and gas engines generally don't.
i go 6 miles to work / 15 minutes and it gets to 160/170 in that time, 30* ambient
ptheland
2013 144" low top Passgr
I don't think miles is a good way at all to think about warm up times. Last week, I got my Sprinter up to the 190 thermostat opening temperature in zero miles. Of course, it was idling in my driveway while I was adding refrigerant to the AC.
More typical might be around 3 or 4 miles for me. That's in fairly heavy stop and go suburbian traffic, sometimes having to wait through 2 or 3 cycles of a traffic light to get through an intersection. Based on time, that might take about 10 minutes.
If you can pull out of your driveway and get right on to a highway, it could easily take 8 miles - but still be around that 10 minute mark.
As long as the engine warms up and doesn't overheat, I don't worry about it.
More typical might be around 3 or 4 miles for me. That's in fairly heavy stop and go suburbian traffic, sometimes having to wait through 2 or 3 cycles of a traffic light to get through an intersection. Based on time, that might take about 10 minutes.
If you can pull out of your driveway and get right on to a highway, it could easily take 8 miles - but still be around that 10 minute mark.
As long as the engine warms up and doesn't overheat, I don't worry about it.
grumpy-old-van
A little bit Oooh Errrr
3-4 miles if temps are above 5C no espar
autostaretx
Erratic Member
Espar is the name of the company which builds the Booster heater that's in most US/Canada T1Ns.
(depending upon your option mix, it may be called an Auxiliary Heater in your Sprinter.)
You can see what options MB put into your by entering your VIN to https://www.datamb.com/
to fetch a copy of your "datacard".
Very handy info.
--dick
Eberspacher aka Espar - OEM diesel fired engine heater. Mounted under the T1N battery.
ACRONYMS which may come up DRBIII, DAD
https://sprinter-source.com/forum/showthread.php?t=50067
vic
ACRONYMS which may come up DRBIII, DAD
https://sprinter-source.com/forum/showthread.php?t=50067
vic
doug022984
Sporadic Member Since 2015
Datapoint. 36F ambient this morning. To get to 150F Coolant temp took 10 mins and 3.5 miles of driving. To get to 180F was 6 miles and 13 mins (note I had no more traffic lights and roads went up to 55mph after reaching 150F).
autostaretx
Erratic Member
doug's experience matches mine: it would take about 3 or 4 miles (12 minutes) of mild in-city driving (i.e. traffic lights,etc) at 20 to 30 mph to bring my 2005 up to 180 F ... just about the time i'd pull into my parking lot. At roughly 35 F.
On colder days, i'd fire up the boost heater and the temperature needle would be lifting off its pin 2 minutes after coasting down a hill from "cold start" while waiting at a traffic light. Cabin heat would start being noticable.
--dick
On colder days, i'd fire up the boost heater and the temperature needle would be lifting off its pin 2 minutes after coasting down a hill from "cold start" while waiting at a traffic light. Cabin heat would start being noticable.
--dick
fisjon
Active member
My old 312D used to warm up very quickly but went on to overheat.
So I replaced the rad and the thermostat and upgraded the coolant to the pink stuff that claims to aid cooling.
Now it takes an age to warm up, about 2 miles to get to 40 degrees and another 5 or more miles to get to 85 degrees from where it never wavers.
I have also disconnected the (very basic mechanical) EGR valve so there is no warm exhaust air going into the engine at startup. (Why did I do this, the valve was popping in and out causing a jerky drive so I just eliminated it! so much easier to drive now.)
So I replaced the rad and the thermostat and upgraded the coolant to the pink stuff that claims to aid cooling.
Now it takes an age to warm up, about 2 miles to get to 40 degrees and another 5 or more miles to get to 85 degrees from where it never wavers.
I have also disconnected the (very basic mechanical) EGR valve so there is no warm exhaust air going into the engine at startup. (Why did I do this, the valve was popping in and out causing a jerky drive so I just eliminated it! so much easier to drive now.)
Patrick of M
2005 T1N 2500 (NA spec)
Without the ambient temperature the data is not that helpful
Patrick of M
2005 T1N 2500 (NA spec)
Here is some depressing info. At -20C my van will not get above 45C in stop and go city traffic....at the same temp and 100 km/h the engine reaches its normal operating Temp of 83C in about 5 minutes. This with a brand new quality thermostat and new water pump pulleys etc...
Try reading the graph. Initial H2O, atf, oil temperature = ambient temperature = 45 F
Neither of my Sprinters warm up to anywhere near 180F/80C in city traffic. Keeping in 3rd gear seems to help FWIW.
vicI found the other day that driving in town I was at 140F with outside temp of 50F. Then I got on the highway and the water temp dropped to 137F.Neither of my Sprinters warm up to anywhere near 180F/80C in city traffic. Keeping in 3rd gear seems to help FWIW.
Bad Thermostat?
What brand of termostat is preferable?
I see these available online: Wahler ($57 with sensor), Mahle ($83 with sensor), Vernet ($43 no sensor), Motorad ($60 with sensor).