[SJukeF]

The temperature has dropped over the last few days and I find the Juke is struggling to cope. Below about -20C the heated rear window does not clear completely. The heating struggles to keep the side windows clear at the front. The side windows at the rear always have ice on them, so I assume passengers sitting in the rear seats would be cold. The temperature for the driver and front passenger is OK, barely, but this is with the heating on full. I don't know what it will be like when the real winter comes. Even my wife's car, a soft top, copes with cold weather better than this. The only thing that does seem up to the job is the seat heating, which is plenty warm enough.

 

[Deks]

-20, don't think I want to swap places thanks, if it drops that low over here I'm emigrating. I do think the ventilation and heating in the Juke is lacking tbh. Sufficient but not brilliant.

 

[actd]

Yeah, I agree - it warms up enough on a long run, but that's with outside air temperature of only around zero. Putting the heating on to recirculate while having the aircon switch on (to demist) might help as you are then reheating air that's already warmer, rather than heating air from cold, but not tried this to do anything other than clear ice from the screen so far.
Redirecting the side vents to the side windows might help a bit as well.actd2012-12-04 13:25:25

 

[SJukeF]

Thanks for the suggestions. I already have the side vents directed to the side windows but I haven't tried the heating on recirculate yet. I have tried to avoid that because running the air con in cold weather seems "off" somehow, but I guess I'll have to give it a go.

 

[Pentagon]

Air con can be used all year round, infact it does it good and its reccomended to use it at least once a month to keep the seals lubricated

 

[actd]

It was worse in my old voyager - in winter it needed the aircon on to demister the car at the same time as running an auxiliary diesel heater to warm it up quickly.

 

[SJukeF]

That's one solution I suppose. Where did you get the diesel heater? Did you run it from the same fuel tank as the car's engine, or did it have a dedicated tank? Did it burn much diesel?Other options I am considering are:Fit a more powerful mains-powered engine block heater. The one fitted by the Nissan dealer barely warms the oil in the sump and doesn't make the engine warm up any quicker.Block the grill so the engine warms faster and maybe runs a bit hotter. At least this should be better when the car has been parked somewhere it can't be plugged into the main electric.The car has a mains-powered cabin heater. I might run this from an inverter whilst driving, to supplement the car's own heater.Run the heated rear window when the car is plugged into the mains. I should be able to rig something up with a battery charger to avoid running down the battery.Insulate the bonnet / engine compartment to keep the engine hotter, so it retains heat for longer when parked.Anyone have any better ideas?The car will be having its 30 000 km service in the next week or two. I won't start any mods till after that.

 

[Deks]

Sound to me SJF like you have it all covered, quite surprised how many extreas Nissan have addedalthough for your market I would say a necessity. Hope your winter driving warms up soon.

 

[actd]

The auxiliary heater was standard on diesel voyagers, I think because they are slow to warm in winter. Used fuel from the fuel tank, but didn't operate if the tank was less than a quarter full or the heating control was set to less than 3/4 maximum, and switched off when the car got warm. The fan would stay on for about 5 minutes after you switched the engine off. I tried the Juke with the aircon on, and air recirculating and seemed fine - didn't mist up and the fan automatically came on at a higher speed - I'd give it a go first as it doesn't involve doing anything to the car. Otherwise, there's these http://www.beru.com/taxonomy/term/36/all
actd2012-12-06 13:12:12

 

[SJukeF]

I tried running with recirculating air and air con today, but that is worse. Before very long I got thick ice forming on the inside of the windows. Started at the top of the windscreen and spread down (quickly). I soon abandoned this test.My little tootsies are getting cold as I have to keep all the heat on the windscreen to stop it icing over. Driving in snow I can't see where I have been either, because snow just builds up on the rear window and the heated rear screen doesn't work well enough to clear it.When I first tested my mains-powered cabin heater I thought it was OK, but the ambient temperature was relatively warm then. Now the weather is colder I realise it is not up to the job. After running it for 2 hours it is hardly warm in the car and the snow on the windows hasn't melted at all. I bought a higher-rated cabin heater today. I just have to wire it in.

 

[Deks]

SJF. Have thought about letting Nissan Finland/Europe now of your findings it may lead to them upgrading some parts in the future.

 

[SJukeF]

The car goes in for its 30 000 km service next week. I will mention all this then.

 

[Deks]

SJF, I forwarded this thread to Nissan Europe, so they could look at it and maybe address issues at a later date. They told me that apparently you Scandinavians are having a particularly cold time at present which is playing havoc with all manufacturers not just Nissan.

 

[SJukeF]

Yes, but no. Yes, it has been unusually cold for this time of year, but no, we haven't seen temperatures as low as we often get later in the winter. So if I am having problems now I expect bigger problems in a month or two. The weather is certainly playing silly b*****s though; only a few weeks ago the forecast was for an unusually mild winter.