No Heat at Idle

[erburtt]

I've got a 2014 FiST, something kinda weird has been happening with the heating. I've never been 100% happy with the heat output, I figured the car was just somewhat cold blooded, I'm starting to think now though I've got more of an issue. When the heat is working, it will go cold immediately when I stop at a stoplight and not start to warm up again until I've taken off, and this morning (-12 Celsius) it wouldn't blow any hot air at all, despite being driven far enough to warm up and the engine temp sensor showing a normal level (though I dont really trust the digital gauges that much)... Any ideas? I've thought it could be an air block in the coolant system somewhere, or heater control valve issue, all the vents switch normally and when its on Auto it operates normal, just doesn't get warm.

I've got a warranty appointment next week but I'd rather do some troubleshooting of my own and at least try to narrow it down for the techs, I dont trust dealerships much and don't have that much faith in their tech departments.

 

[erburtt]

Update: lurked online for a while and found a lot of people saying coolant is low, I didn't think this would be it as I bought from a Ford Dealer and have only put about 3000 km on it so far, I checked though and sure enough it was low, about an inch below the "min" mark. Took it to the dealer over lunch (local, not the one I bought from) and they topped it off free of charge right there without having to wait for an appointment, heat works perfect now... Just curious if the coolant was low when they let serviced the car before selling or if I have a leak somewhere, time will tell I suppose. Happy to be warm again.

 

[Intuit]

Was it an inch low on a hot, or cold engine ?

 

[erburtt]

Inch low on hot engine, update #2, found a puddle of coolant under the car one day, took it in for warranty, they said it was leaking from the water pump, they replaced that, the gasket, and the control valve, not sure why it would have gone so early, only 55,000 km on it