V70: General V70 - inefficient heater and screen clearing

[Davedlr]

I've had my '09 V70 2.0D R-design for a few months now - I can't fault it apart from the fact that I find the heater to be asthmatic.

On a cold morning, with the front defrost engaged, I'm typically sitting in my car for 10 mins before I can safely move off - and then after 20 mins of driving the screen is still not completely clear.

Is this normal, or a rectifiable issue?

Thanks
Dave

[NigeS]

Is the the button that just directs all the airflow to the front screen? It still needs the engine to get up to temp so it can warm air onto the screen so 10 mins sounds pretty normal. I don't think its like the Ford one that is actually a heated screen.

My Audi, Volvo and Saab all have the same front screen defrost switch, but all they do is a direct everything to the screen, there is no supplementary heat other than what the engine gives. Effectively the switch is just a quick dial to set the ventilation to screen.

Get your scraper out and clear the frost, get the car moving and everything warms up and clears much quicker.

[GrantA]

It is as Nige says

Originally Posted by NigeS

It still needs the engine to get up to temp so it can warm air onto the screen so 10 mins sounds pretty normal. I don't think its like the Ford one that is actually a heated screen.

My Audi, Volvo and Saab all have the same front screen defrost switch, but all they do is a direct everything to the screen, there is no supplementary heat other than what the engine gives. Effectively the switch is just a quick dial to set the ventilation to screen.

Get your scraper out and clear the frost, get the car moving and everything warms up and clears much quicker.

It can be a catch 22 situation - you have to drive the car to heat it up quickly but you can't see where you are going!! It is of no consolation to you but my 1992 Range Rover also had a heated screen and it cleared in a couple of minutes but it had a 40A fuse and drew a hell of a lot of current, if the engine wasn't running when you switched it on it flattened the battery PDQ.

[Davedlr]

Thanks guys - that's exactly the catch 22 I have. The engine needs to be warm to clear the screen, I can't drive it as the screen is misted up from the get go.

I think I got used to my 10 yr old Subaru (petrol) which warmed up quickly and would blast the screen clear within a minute of starting the car, even at -10 in the Alps.

I'd never realised a classic 911 was also a compulsory purchase with a V70, I'd better tell my wife.

[NigeS]

Get yourself a Eberspacher diesel heater fitted on a timer switch, that sort the job.

lol the 911 came way before the V70, BTW they have very good heaters, almost too good.

Gains value, probably cheaper to own than a Volvo, you can get a weekly shop in it and take the whole family out assuming you have 2 children are less than 5ft tall. There are no negatives there, just go and buy one she won't mind

[GrantA]

Originally Posted by NigeS

lol the 911 came way before the V70, BTW they have very good heaters, almost too good.
Gains value, probably cheaper to own than a Volvo, you can get a weekly shop in it and take the whole family out assuming you have 2 children are less than 5ft tall. There are no negatives there, just go and buy one she won't mind

All that and it'll put a smile on your face every time you drive it !!! As Nige says they are probably cheaper to own than a Volvo and cheaper to buy if you can get a good one. I've had mine 8 years, long before I bought the XC70, the electrics are basic (mine doesn't even have an ECU of any sorts), the fuel injection system again is basic, the heater is almost instantaneous and rev that 3 litre, air cooled, flat six over 5,000 revs and it is music to your ears.

[Jim314]

Originally Posted by Davedlr

I've had my '09 V70 2.0D R-design for a few months now - I can't fault it apart from the fact that I find the heater to be asthmatic.

On a cold morning, with the front defrost engaged, I'm typically sitting in my car for 10 mins before I can safely move off - and then after 20 mins of driving the screen is still not completely clear.

Is this normal, or a rectifiable issue?

Thanks
Dave

The high efficiency of a diesel engine has an unwanted side effect in cold climates--it does not warm up nearly as fast as a petrol engine. The cabin heat is from 'waste heat' produced by the engine and the diesel is so efficient that it doesn't produce nearly as much waste heat as a petrol engine.

Some diesels will not simply not warm up from a cold start at idle. Some will cool down at idle even if they have been at normal operating temperature. For that reason some diesels have a fast idle function which must be engaged for extended idling.

With a diesel one is supposed to start the engine and drive off immediately to warm the engine up. If the windscreen is iced up on the outside or fogged on the inside, you can't see to drive! That is why in a seriously cold climate an electric mains block heater or a diesel fired heater would seem to be a necessity.

Having said this, I could not say whether your engine has a problem which is making this deficiency worse than normal.

One could squirt or pour windscreen deicer liquid on the top outside of the windscreen to melt outside ice, then run the engine at 1500 rpm or even 2000 rpm to get enough heated air to defog the inside of the windscreen. Then drive off.

[v70stu]

Why are so many people not keen on scraping now? I watched a neighbour stood outside his Peugeot 5008 one morning last week, waiting for it to defrost the screen. For 20 minutes in -3 cold!
Scrape it and drive away!!!

[clivea]

I just tie an old sheet to the roof bars and trap the bottom end under the wiper blades. Then while scraping the side windows the car is warming up. I also put the vents to recirculate for a short while too then quite quickly I can just press Auto and she is okay apart from really cold mornings when I keep it on Screen for a bit longer.

[GrantA]

Another one on "screen cleaning", driving down from Inverness to Fort William today the outside temp was -2C and each time I cleaned the salt spray off the windscreen with the screen jets and wipers I was left with a patch in the middle of the windscreen where, it appeared, the wipers didn't touch and I was left with a bit I couldn't see through. The wipers are these new(ish) flat wipers (only 5 months old) and I suspect they were freezing so didn't bend (mould) themselves to the windscreen every wipe so missed a bit. However if I kept the screen wash on and soaked the windscreen the wipers eventually wiped the muck off but the screen wash bottle was nearly empty after the 70 mile journey.
Okay perhaps I was too close to the vehicle in front to start with but I did drop back a bit behind the vehicles and when you are behind a big truck you still get some spray no matter how far away you are. Has anyone else experienced this or do you just use loads of neat washer fluid to keep the screen clear and clean?