Diesel engines will take a lot longer to warm up than petrol ones and there can be big differences between different makes. Its not a fault with the diesel its just that they are much more thermally efficient so create less waste heat. Bit of a problem in the winter if you only do short runs though as you will not get very warm inside the car.

 

The ceed has three PTC heaters in the heater and provides almost instant heat if the correct conditions are met. Having said that my ceed engine warms up quicker than any other diesel I have owned, (lots).

PTC heater operating condition

Engine RPM
Above 700 RPM

Engine coolant temp
Below 70

Intake air temp(MAF)
Below 5

Blower motor
On

Battery voltage
Below 8.9 V: Off
Above 12.5V: On

Operating time
Max. 60 minutes

 

deeps Where in the Kia specification does it say they have PTC heaters? They are very expensive devices usually only found in luxury cars.

 

Have a look in the user manual under fuses, it indicates the three relays in the fuse box under the bonnet. My car has them, and the heaters.

Eric, as your car is petrol powered it may not have them.

EDIT:- Just checked, the relays are in the "diesel only" fuse box located between the washer fluid filler and the coolant header tank.

 

Ive never tried wacking the heaters on when the engine is cold, I might try it in the morning

 

The ambient temperature won't be cold enough for them to cut in. See operating conditions above.

 

deeps I had a look in the user manual but are you sure they are used to supplement the car heater until it gets warm? They would need to draw very much more current than they are fused for to have any effect.

 

I am sure. My info comes from an extract from a Ceed training manual. It has a picture of the PTC heater (it is in one unit) partially extracted from the heater on the left footwell side. Sorry I am not clever enough with computers to get the photo here!

 

Well I am amazed from the details that I could find PTC heaters are only fitted to luxury cars. Perhaps its because a large part of Kia Cee'd customers are in the colder parts of Europe and they thought it would be a good selling point in those countries but I have never seen them promoted as an aid to sales in the same way as Air Conditioning, because its the winter equivalent.

 

I have the spec sheet for the pre-facelift models and under "Ventilation and Visibility" it does show "Pre-temperature Control" for the all the diesel models.

Not sure if it is the same for the facelift models though.

 

I had a Land Rover Discovery had a PTC heater. It had an exhaust pipe in the front wheel arch. Like Kia, the device wasn't promoted in the specs/marketing. When it kicked in during the winter, the forums were full of worried owners reporting smoke from their engine bay.

I'm very impressed the Ceed has (or did have) these. Can anyone confirm if the facelift models do have them?

 

A PTC heater is an electrical device and does not burn fuel or have an exhaust pipe (try Google for Positive Temperature Coefficient heater). My SW3 has it fitted.

 

I think it's only available on diesel KIAs with auto A/C.

 

It would make sense for it to be only part of Climate Control as owners will expect to get some heat quickly when they have paid extra money for it. I now need to check what the price difference is for the diesel engine is compared to petrol for 3 version and lesser ones without Climate Control to see if its possible to work out how much PTC costs.

 

£25.52

PS. I've just seen you're not allowed to post messages containing less than 10 characters!

 

Thanks. I wasn't sure what PTC stood for. Yes you're correct, the Land Rover heater burned diesel to raise the temperature of the engine and heater quicker. It only worked when the engine was on (no timer) and it still took a couple of miles before they was any warm heat. I guess it did no more than half the warming time up.

I've done a little bit of reading and it seems that a PTC heater is only for heating the air for the passenger compartment and not for speeding up the engine warm up. Is this correct?
I've also found these which may be of interest:
BorgWarner BERO Systems may be the manufacturer for the Kia heater. They supply Hyundai Kia. See BERU launches the next generation of PTC auxiliary heaters
Also, Kia have a patent application (in the USA) for a PTC heater. See Positive temperature coefficient heater

 

I've done a little bit of reading and it seems that a PTC heater is only for heating the air for the passenger compartment and not for speeding up the engine warm up. Is this correct?

Yes correct, some cars have them fitted to heat the engine coolant, but not the Ceed. In the Ceed it is a windscreen and people warmer.

 

PTC heater that we talk about only heats the cabin. It's a radiator-like device positioned in the air flow which heats it up when needed. That's all.

Pity it's not available on manual AC models

 

d3matt I worked out £45.00 but that includes all the taxes so we are not that different. Based upon a mark up of at least 600% that makes it between £153.12 & £270.00 as a spare part but the fitting cost would be quite high.

 

It is controlled by the climate control ECU and engine ECU in combination
with its own control unit. This along with wiring looms and an extra fuse box would make it a very expensive aftermarket addition.

 

Yes, I was working it out with VAT exclusive prices. Difference worked out at only £25.52+VAT.