How long to warm up?

Just bought a 2001 110 CSW TD5 to replace my 1983 110 CSW V8. How long should it take to warm up? So far I've mostly only done short-ish journies, say 5-6 miles, although these can take 20 minutes. Tonight in the snow, closer to 30, but the temp gauge barely budged and the heater was luke warm, despite stop-start conditions. Is this common, or do I need to start looking for problems (thermostat jammed open?)

Thanks

Neil

I am running the same configuration as you but with the standard viscous fan and no engine modifications my heater starts to kick in after about 4 or 5 miles. It’s no good idling the engine (even when up to temperature) as the heat is robbed by the fan the temperature gauge actually drops significantly when stationary. When up to full operating temperature the heater works well – in fact the foot wells on my 90 CSW get very hot and the trim etc is certainly warm to the touch. It’s fair to say that at low speed the engine does not produce enough heat in cold weather such as this to heat the whole car effectively but the front is warm enough.

Incidentally I would check the heater vent pipes going to the windscreen vents – they are known to become dislodged and leak reducing the effectiveness of the heater – all that hot air just circulates around the bulkhead and I have partially obscured the passenger windscreen vent to improve airflow to the driver’s side.