2000 Windstar slow to heat-up

Windstar takes 5 minutes or more to blow out warm/hot air.

Any ideas? Coolant level is OK.

The first thing to comes to mind is the Thermostat

Well what's your ambient temperature at the moment? If you've temps in the teens you can't expect much more. As a matter of fact I think 5 mins to heat the cabin is more than acceptable. I remember when I used to live up north it took more than 5 mins on all the cars I owned or drove to start feeling hot air coming out of the ducts.

Down here where I'm at now, the temp went down to the high 30s and lower 40s and it took about 5 mins for me to start feeling hot air from the vent on my 2000 Windstar

How quick was it before? The other guys are right on all points. If it was a gradual increase in heating up time say over a year or more, and outdoor temp has nothing to do with it, you may be getting a plugged up heater core if it's not what was already suggested. Do you have good coolant flow? If so, probably not water pump either.

I concur with the other guys. it usually takes 5 mins or so with the outside temp lower than 40. however, if you were previously getting hot air earlier, then the t-stat might be your problem since it is not letting the engine heat up properly. what is the temp gauge say? mine starts to blow out hot air after it just barely passes C on its way to the middle.

I have a 2001 Windstar and live in SD. I've also driven my wife's 2001 Cady DeVille and son-in-law's Honda SUV, and both of them heat up to full temp when the temp is ZERO outside by the time I'm half way to work. It can be in the teens or 20's outside, and my Windstar will still not be at full temp by the time I get to work. I've even let my car run for 15 minutes before I leave and it's stll no where near normal temp.

Don't get me wrong, the Windstar IS putting out heat as it comes off "C", however my concern is that it takes so much time and or energy to achieve it. I may even drive it on the interstate to get it up to full temp.

Here's what I've done so far. This issue popped up a couple years ago and I had the thermostat changed. It "seemed" to improve the time to full temp, but still no where as good as the other two comparison vehicles. I'm having trouble believing this 2 year old thermostat has failed or diminished, or that it's the source of the problem.

I also run Mobil 1 oil, but lower friction should result in a slowing heating, as the other two vehicles also run Mobil 1.

The Cady I believe has an iron?/aluminum engine block? and retains the heat for quite a while. The Windstar cools down almost instantly (aluminum?), so if it's really cold outside, it'll be cold when I return shortly.

Maybe this is just a design issue?

Any further thoughts on this problem?

My '99 Winny has an iron block. And my experience with all Ford products is: The thermostats just don't last very long. I can put a new thermostat in, not matter the thermostat brand ... and I've tried many, Stant, Robertshaw, etc; the engine will heat right up in a couple of blocks driving .. no matter what season it is.

But after a few thousand miles, or months, of driving; the engine heat-up period seems to get longer and longer ... until, like today, my Winny takes miles of driving for the engine to fully warm up. I don't know if this is by intent or not. It may just be a poor selection of thermostat (longivity) specifications.

Maybe you should consider your heater core is plugging up. Are the heater hoses both plenty hot and the same temp as the upper radiator hose? Can you tell if coolant is flowing through the heater hoses? There have been cases of the water pump blades wearing down. Does the upper radiator hose seem to have a decent amount of flow when the tstat opens? If the thermostat is staying closed too much, you'll have more heat available to the heater core than if it opens as it should or opens too much or is stuck open. Who knows, maybe something is holding the tstat open.

An additional thought on the Windstar heating system is that it is a two zone system. If the heater control valve to the rear is open, you will loose heat from the lines under the van with the coolant circulating while driving in addition to the heater core with the rear fan if it is on. Even with that circuit off, there still can be a cooling effect on the lines underneath while driving. Smaller engines tend to heat up faster.

A last thought, speaking from personal experience, maybe the air temperature blend door is not going all the way over to keep the cold air out. This can be caused by a problem with the blend door actuator motor, the potentiometer that the temp knob is connected like a dead spot that keeps it from going to the hottest setting, or something has fallen into the heat system that is keeping the blend door from going to the hottest position. The center vents and the defrost vents are the most likely places something could have fallen in to block the door.

cwstang,

I still think what you experience is similar to my experience. under cold temps, it does take a longer time for my windstar to warm up than my civic and I think it is by design (whether you consider that good or bad). once it warms up, it gets very hot. I also recently did a coolant drain and fill about 2 gallons came out, though it holds 4 so that is roughly twice as much coolant in the system than my civic. that is part of the reason why i suspect it takes it longer to heat up than my civic.

the others have given you good suggestions as well.

Mundy5 made a good point that I hinted at but missed. The cooling system is larger than most vehicles because of the second heater circuit that I was pointing out. That would clearly take more time to heat up than other vehicles, but would eventually get blazing hot eventually as you said. This isn't "by" design like they wanted it to take longer to heat up, but rather a result of the design of the heating system. As you may know, the engine is more efficient at around 200 deg F than at much colder temps, so if anything, designers would want it to get hot as fast as possible not slower.

I have a followup. Ironically, the day after I made my post on this heating topic, I took my Windstar into my local repair shop for an Amsoil oil change. I brought the heating issue up while he had it on the hoist. Taking his flashlight, he walked front to back, looking at the hoses for the airconditioner and heater that run all the way to the rear of the van. Yes, it has "3" heater outlets. One in the dash, one in the middle seats, and one by the lift gate! It became obvious that most of the foam insulation that used to be wrapped around the heater and airconditioning hoses was worn away. Hence exposing the hoses and metal pipe for the airconditioning to the outside elements. So my assumption is, going to the hardware store and taking the time to reinstall the foam insulation SHOULD resolve this issue.

And who knows, may it DOES need another new heater core?

Sounds like a very plausible find! Good info to know. That certainly could have been the whole problem if not a contributing factor. You said that eventually you get really hot heat I thought. If so, I am very optimistic that you probably still have good heater cores.