Was just wondering if anyone knows how the climate control system works in terms of heater operation.

I have a KH and a KJ and on cold mornings, as we know, the climate control sits idle until the engine warms up enough to heat coolant, then it starts pumping the air to the feet.

My KH takes about 2-3 mins until it comes on which is normal.

The KJ takes around 6-7 mins to do the same, even though the engine is at full working temp and you can feel the hot air comming over the dash from the windscreen.

Was just wondering if anyone would know why such a delay as the coolant is already hot and ready to go.

I know there is a water temp sensor under the dash for the climate system. Maybe it may be that. I'm not sure.

Obviously the flow of coolant is fine as i can feel it from windscreen, its just the delay of another 5 odd minutes over the KH that pieves me a little.

Thanks guys.

dodgy thermostat? maybe stuck open a fraction

Yeah was thinking it might be related to thermostat but the car heats up at a steady rate, same as my other rada's and also the fact that the heat is there as i can feel it from windscreen position means that side of things is ok.

Its just the delay of the climate control going to the feet position and increasing the fan speed that is strange.
Thats why i was thingkig water temp sensor as obviously the climate system thinks the water isnt warm yet.

Anyone else had this prob?

possibly your interior ambient temp sensor isnt reading how cold it actually is to crank up the speed on the fan quickly (hence the delay on changing to feet & screen and nice hot air to warm you up)

mine can be a little slow at times, but when i wanna start heating the car fast - i just turn the temp to max heating and it starts to pump out hot air in the feet and screen positions at a fast rate, even tho the air isnt that hot or anything just yet (like straight after starting the car in the mornings)
then i turn it bacck to where i want it (norm 26ish in the way to work)

if it was a E series falcon, i could give you a bit more help on climate control diagnosis... coz it has a self test / diag function inbuilt.. dunno if magna / veradas do?

Mine takes about 6-7mins before I get warm air on a cold (aka. 3-5C) morning. Never felt it was a problem, just waiting for the engine to warm up. Toasty when it's warmed up, but bloody freezing beforehand!!

Just seems strange as my KH and other family members Ke, and KJ do it in about 1-2 mins once the air temp is slightly warm.

My guess is the water sensor must be the prob as there is hot air comming out of the windscreen vents while the system is at idle before it goes to the feet and blasts the fan.

I don't believe it.

I found the problem and fixed it.

I was looking at the Verada workshop CD manual and found the part on the water temp sensor under the dash.
I though i would give it a go. After spending 30 mins trying to make out where i should be looking from the very simple diagrams in the CD manual and many cut hands later, i found out where the sensor is.

The first thing i noticed is that the sensor wasn't where it was ment to be. It was just dangeling in mid air suspended by the cord. It is meant to be located up in the heater box. The only reason i found it was because i had a look at my KH where it was located.
It is held up with a metal clip in the KH, but i couldnt find the clip in the KJ. Must of fell out somewhere where i cant find it.

I went to the local wreckers and got a clip for nothing.
Problem solved and system now starts in 1 to 2 mins.

Here are some pics of where it is located if you think you have the same problem.
As you can see, it is the metal stick just hanging there.
It goes up vertical just behind that white lever and is held in with a clip like a long wide set of tweezers. You can feel a little tiny hole that goes up into the plastic where the sensor and clip go up together.