Hello everyone I am new to this forum because I just recently purchased a 07 outlander and I have been having a problem with getting the heater to blow hot in very cold temps. While driving it seems to blow heat just fine but when I am sitting a red lights in the city the heater starts to blow cool air. The engine temp gauge doesn't seem to move but I was going to replace the thermostat. I have done this on older vehicles before and was just wondering if there is anything I have to be aware of when attempting to replace this. Does anyone have a simple procedure to follow or has anyone ever replaced a thermostat before on a outlander.

Thanks

 

look at the end of the service manual thread...there is a downloadable copy linked.

Most likely is a thermostat issue.

 

It's a known issue. There was a tsb a while back that was supposed to address this by raising the idle a few 100 rpm's when the outside temps were below ~30* (or something like that). Unfortunately, it never solved the problem for me (original owner of a 07) and we've just learned to deal with it. Dealer claims it's normal, its not. There is over a 30* temp difference from moving to being idle. It has nothing to do with your thermostat, so don't bother wasting your time or money.

 

You probably have to block off part of the radiator to get it to stay warm. It's basically way too efficient when it comes to cooling, so either that or floor it at every time you stop until it warms up.
Likewise, if you are waiting for a long time, put the car in neutral and hold the gas to increase the RPMs a few hundreds RPM.

 

Well said by others. This is a design defect with the engine and heater. The water pump doesn't create enough pressure at a 600rpm idle to move much water through the heater core at idle. The dealer can reprogram the engine to idle at higher RPM (burns more gas and only increased the temp from cold to lukewarm) when it's cold or you can just learn to live with it.

To be completely honest, if you don't have a garage and are relying on the defroster to clear ice off your windows every morning then you've absolutely made a mistake and bought the wrong car.