Car takes too long to warm up

[bobyang]

How long does it take for the coolant temperature gauge on your car to reach the steady state position (slightly below mid-point)?

I've started to notice that my car is starting to take significantly longer to warm up than before, sometimes 5-10 minutes (driving ~2 miles) before reaching steady state temperature.

I think perhaps it could be a thermostat stuck open or partially open? However, I dont get any temperature variation once car is fully warmed up, even if I'm driving fast on the freeway.

Anyone encounter this before?

-Bob

 

[NoClgDeg]

When I first got mine a year ago it did that. I thought it was the thermostat so I replaced it along with the coolant hoses and flush the system. After that it still did the same thing so I figured that it was normal.

 

[MvM]

byang
My car take about that long to warm up also but I don't consider it a problem. There is a thermostat that will open the cooling circuit to the front after a certain temperature in the engine is reached. If that is stuck open your car will heat up all of your cooling fluid from the start and there is a lot of it in a NSX (something like 16 liters in all). As long as you don't rev the car all the way up it won't harm your engine.
As for the engine temperature, mine ALWAYS stays on the same level (halfway) under whatever circumstances. Winter, summer, on the track or even two hours in a traffic jam at 20 Centrigrade.

 

[RPM217]

I picked up my new 02 the end of January, and noticed right away, that it took almost 3 miles before the engine had warmed sufficiently for the gauge to show, and for the heat to come on. On my other cars, it happens in half the distance. I asked the service manager of my dealer, and he informed me that this was normal. Now that the weather has gotten a little warmer, I see that the gauge moves a little earlier, but not much. Get used to it, it's not a problem, just don't go into VTEC until the engine has warmed up properly, and you won't have any problems.

 

[MAJOR STONER]

This past winter, when the outside temperature was exactly 0 degrees F, I started my car to see exactly how long it takes to get it up to normal operating temperature. A full 10 minutes before the temp guage moved and then another 5 minutes to get up to normal. That is five songs into the CD!

I used to own a Porsche 928 with a 4.7 liter engine. I had a twenty minute commute to my job and the engine oil wouldn't get up to proper temperature most of the time, requiring more frequent oil changes. A car like a Lambo, designed with engine cooling in mind, would have problems coping, but I gotta wonder how long it takes to warm up a Viper engine in winter. I never see those cars on the road in winter.

 

[supergreen125]

i think it has alot to do with the fact that the engine is in the rear and the radiator is in the front. that's alot of coolant and alot of piping that needs to warm up.