2016 CX-9 Heater... weak?

D

dennyd75

:
2010 CX-9
Happy 2018 to you all.

Anyone living in the land that winter affects: what are your thoughts on the 2016+ CX-9s heater?

We took a road trip this weekend in this recent frigid Midwest weather. My wife and I took a road trip and heat seemed fine during the day on the highway, though it was a long trip and the heat was only set on 68 degrees. Last night and this morning (after sitting for a number of hours) the heat never really warmed up like (I think) it should. Air blew out luke-warm to warm after 20 minutes or so and cooled down to cool while stopped at a light. This was with the heat set at maximum of 84 degrees. Outside temps spanned from 8-15 Fahrenheit.

I called our dealer and while they agreed to look at it, they said its just so cold outside. But any other car Ive had at those temperatures (or colder) have always had to turn the heat down. Anyone else experience this? Is this the new normal?
 
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I also have a '16 and I have noticed it does seem to take a while to heat up. Once at operating temp I haven't noticed any problems. It has been around 0˚F a few times.
 
Canadian here, just endured a couple weeks of -25/30 Celsius.(-22 Fahrenheit)
We have a 2017 GT, and After 5-10 minutes, it heats up nicely and we have to turn it down to 18Celsius/ 65 Fahrenheit, otherwise it gets too hot. Id say its comparable to other cars Ive owned. Sounds like you might have a problem.
 
dennyd75 said:
Air blew out luke-warm to warm after 20 minutes or so and cooled down to cool while stopped at a light. This was with the heat set at maximum of 84 degrees.
Click to expand...

Cooled down to cool -
while stopped at a light??
That doesn't seem normal!

I have a 2018. I was driving in single digits the other night thinking, "This is the best heater ever" and then I thought about my first car, a '68 Ford Galaxie 500. That car could burn your feet.

My CX-9 is toasty. Basically, I have to keep the fan on one of the two lowest settings and the temp on 66-68 or I'll barbeque myself.

Happy 2018 buddy.
 
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My 2016 seems to be working fine. I turn it to max until it warms up, but then have to turn it back down to about 70 or else it gets too hot and stuffy
 
Fruitwolf said:
Cooled down to cool -
while stopped at a light??
That doesn't seem normal!

I have a 2018. I was driving in single digits the other night thinking, "This is the best heater ever" and then I thought about my first car, a '68 Ford Galaxie 500. That car could burn your feet.

My CX-9 is toasty. Basically, I have to keep the fan on one of the two lowest settings and the temp on 66-68 or I'll barbeque myself.

Happy 2018 buddy.
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Galaxie 500! My dad had one and loved it. I grew up riding around in it and always wanted one.

I remember on cold days, we had to roll down the windows the heat was so intense. So I agree on the heater.

For my CX-9 the heater is plenty good.
 
Horton said:
Galaxie 500! My dad had one and loved it. I grew up riding around in it and always wanted one.

I remember on cold days, we had to roll down the windows the heat was so intense. So I agree on the heater.

For my CX-9 the heater is plenty good.
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Horton, dad gave the car to me after he bought a new, light blue VW pickup!

It was white with a 302 engine and seemed enormous... It had a single dash speaker, AM radio and footwell light.

You could lay down on the bench seats with the girlfriend too.
 
Thank everyone, glad to know I may be crazy but not fully insane. Ill keep the dealer appointment and see what they have to say.

Doing some research I see that if the engine fails to reach a minimum temperature within a certain timeframe then the CEL is lit. We do not have any warning lights on.

Doing a little experimentation the rear heat blows much warmer than the front does so perhaps this could be a blend door issue? Either way hopefully the dealer will get this resolved. Theyve been great to work with thus far (and sadly this car has been in the shop more than any of our cars in the last 17 years combined).
 
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Similar experience with 2017 GT model as well. In Syracuse, NY area it's been as cold as -15F but I've only driven it when it's been above 0F. It does seem to take a long time to fully heat up - about 15-20 minutes of driving. I noticed yesterday when temperature was in the single digits that the heat did not feel very strong even after car had fully warmed up (driving for over 30 minutes). And I too noticed a drop in engine temperature and cabin air/heat temperature when at a red light.

It just seems like this car was not designed well for cold weather: heat issues described above; no heated windshield washer fluid nozzles; no low washer fluid warning light; average seat heaters; rear defroster takes a long time to melt snow/ice and doesn't work well when driving around when temperature is <10F.
 
We've endured minus 25-32deg C temps the past 10days and with car sitting even inside garage it takes a long time for the vehicle cabin to warm up (2017 MY). Good thing I have remote start but even after letting it run on idle for 10-15 mins and driving car for say almost half an hour still the blower up front isn't blowing enough warm air...I guess it wasn't designed for extreme cold climate areas just like another poster mentioned. Good thing the heated seats and steering wheel helps a bit
 
I find it heats up very nicely. I've had 0F weather lately and it starts up smoothly and will get too hot and stuffy unless I put the fan speed down to one.
 
Goldbug said:
Yep, it was brutal. Worst cold snap that I can remember.
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BTW - how did the CX-9 start up under those conditions in the morning? Curious minds wanna know what the viscosity of the oil might have been - eeks. Hope you did not hear a lot of clanging and banging on start-up!

Ah, yes. This is where Amsoil really starts to pay for itself:

The Mobile1 did kick butt in this test, but it lost a lot of ground in high temperature stability tests that I've seen. It burns far more quickly than Amsoil and since my Mazda 2.5l Turbo runs on the positive side of the temperature scale, I decided on Amsoil.

However, for those of you that buy Walmart "oil" and you live in very low temperature climates, this test might concern you just a bit.
 
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Goldbug said:
Canadian here, just endured a couple weeks of -25/30 Celsius.(-22 Fahrenheit)
We have a 2017 GT, and After 5-10 minutes, it heats up nicely and we have to turn it down to 18Celsius/ 65 Fahrenheit, otherwise it gets too hot. Id say its comparable to other cars Ive owned. Sounds like you might have a problem.
Click to expand...

I have 2017 GT as well and man, even after 15 - 20 minutes on idle, it's not heating up even after 15-30 minutes of driving. I might need to visit my dealer to have it checked.
 
Aeems like all Canadian models and US MY2018 models have good/quick heat. That leaves US MY2016-2017 models as having issues with heat in the extreme cold.

Does anyone know if the thermostat is different between US and Canadian models? Or is there something special setting for cold weather that can be set by a dealer? I don't recall if it was Mazda or some other brand, but I seem to recall seeing something online recently about a cold climate mode that could be enabled by a dealer: in the US it was disabled but in Canada and other cold regions in the world it was enabled by default.
 
CJ4 said:
BTW - how did the CX-9 start up under those conditions in the morning? Curious minds wanna know what the viscosity of the oil might have been - eeks. Hope you did not hear a lot of clanging and banging on start-up!

Ah, yes. This is where Amsoil really starts to pay for itself:

The Mobile1 did kick butt in this test, but it lost a lot of ground in high temperature stability tests that I've seen. It burns far more quickly than Amsoil and since my Mazda 2.5l Turbo runs on the positive side of the temperature scale, I decided on Amsoil.

However, for those of you that buy Walmart "oil" and you live in very low temperature climates, this test might concern you just a bit.
Click to expand...

Great video. That Walmart conventional oil is scary.

Mine cranked a little slower on startup in -29C temp this morning.

Anyone know what oil is used when the car comes brand new from the dealer? Or would that vary from dealer to dealer or by country?
 
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