Thanks a lot for the input guys


I do leave all of the controls off until I know the truck is warm enough, which is usually right before the temp gauge reaches the "N" in normal. Which again takes about 10-15 minutes whether I'm driving or parked.

It has AC, so I will try the Max AC the next time I drive it. And I don't know if it matters or not but it hasn't worked since I got it, I've never bothered to look into it since I may only need it once or twice a year.

I will pick up a thermostat and see if that helps first, hopefully that's all it is.

 

Have you felt the inlet and outlet hoses?
Are they the same temperature?
Maybe you just have a blocked heater core???

Real simple to change in a AC truck.

 

What? That's wasting a lot of defrosting time, there is no need for this you can have the fan blowing on a medium speed and it will start defrosting the windshield even before the temp gauge moves. The only time I don't do this is when the truck is covered in fluffy snow, that stuff can get pulled inside and blown around so I make sure the hood and windshield is cleared off first and then turn on the fan while I clean off the rest of the vehicle.
I have also noticed that vehicles with a double core rad take a lot longer to heat up and the 4-cyl Briggs & Stratten seem to be fairly anemic heat producers too so I have always had to block the rad on those trucks in the winter. I cut a piece of 1/8" ply, painted it black and attached brackets to hang it in front of the rad on the rad support for the 4cyl rangers we had.

 

I have not felt the hoses, but I will do that after I get home from work.

I've tried turning the defroster on as soon as I start the truck and the air that comes out is ice cold until the temp gauge goes up.

 

Well, that would make sense.
The sender is in the intake, not the radiator.
Too bad your truck doesn't have a fast idle cam.

 

Go to the store, buy one of these:


Cut it so in fits between the steering wheel and throttle so it puts on a little pressure to raise the idle....

 

Even "ice cold" (to your feel) air will start to clear a windshield. If I need to clear my windshield I'll turn the fan up about 15-30 seconds after starting the truck. On the other hand if I'm just trying to make it more comfortable for me I'll wait another few minutes because although the air will start clearing the windshield pretty quick, it feels worse to me having the "cold" air moving around.

And "max A/C" isn't always the hot ticket for clearing windows. Although it may be warmer air, it's also often more humid air. So don't use it if you're trying to clear fog on the inside of the windows.

 

Say what? If the A/C is fully operational, putting the selector on MAX A/C will dry out the air as it passes over the refrigerant coils. It's air that's been dehumidified...

By NOT having it on MAX A/C, you're pulling in outside air, which can be quite humid, even when it's cold out, say 31ºF and snowing.

Besides, it's good to run the A/C in the winter occasionally to keep it in good working order and to keep all the seals from drying out.

Jason

 

I guess it depends on where you are. Here in Minnesota the outside air is usually bone dry while inside there are people breathing and snow melting. So the inside air is usually wetter than the outside air. I could imagine times and places when the outside air might be wetter, but even in more humid places people's breathing and melting snow can add a lot of moisture to the inside air.

And yes, the AC coils dry out the air, but they dry out the outside air too when you aren't on max AC. So it'll defog best if it's drying the dryest air to start with.

So I'll clarify my original statement. If the inside air is more humid than the outside air you will clear fog from the inside of your windows faster if you don't use max AC.

By the way, I've also heard that the AC doesn't come on in defrost mode when the temp is too low. Not sure if that's true or not. If it is, max AC would still recirc less-cold air, so it would still warm up a little faster. But it would make it imperitive to use outside air if your windows are fogging up when it's really cold (but windows don't usually fog up in really cold weather until the truck has warmed up inside anyway, so you could still use max AC for warm up).

 

Edited to add: Nothing Special, you typed faster than me!



A couple of people are touching on this…

The AC dries out the air.

The heater warms the air.

The heated air helps dissipate the condensed moisture from the glass, putting it into the surrounding air. But that moist air needs to be pulled back across the evaporator to have the moisture removed. Just pulling it off the glass is half the process.

Keeping in mind your body is expelling moisture with each breath.

The heat is also handy to help keep the outside of the windshield clear.

And your body likes the heat too.

Without heat the cold air takes longer to dissipate the moisture from the glass.

But, without AC you have to decide which air is drier; the outside air or inside. And select the MAX position, or no, accordingly.

Original Poster…does your AC work?

 

The thing is the air only has to be warmer than the windshield to begin defrosting it. If you take a loaf of bread or whatever out of the deep freezer and put it in the fridge it will thaw out.

 

No, the AC does not work.

I understand that, and using the defroster will clear up most of the windshield even when blowing cold air, but I'm still freezing my @$$ off for most (or all) of my drive.

I do not expect to have instant heat as soon as I start the truck, but I just don't think it should take as long as it does. If this is just an issue with the 460 because of the size of the engine, that's fine, and I'll live with it. But if something is wrong, I would like to find out what it is so I can fix it.

 

I have a 460, no cardboard in front of the radiator, no special thermostat, and we've had highs in the teens this week. I start getting warmish air in a minute or two, about the time the temp gage gets up to the lowest bar on the scale. Within 5 minutes it's blowing pretty hot, but the needle still isn't getting very close to the "N". In 15 minutes I'm home and the needle is maybe up to the "N". And for reference, my needle sits right on the "O" in summer driving.

So if you aren't getting heat for 15 minutes, it sounds like you've got issues.

 

Have a 7.5L and drive it for 2 minutes. xD My heat is cooking me out at 5 minutes. Lol.

 

The point of Max ACis that it is heating the air already in the cab..
Think of it as 'Recirculate'
If it is -20* out and the fan is on high, the air moving through the heater core has a split second to gain what heat it can.
If on recirculate, the air has already made a pass (or dozens) through the heater.
Say the first pass it gains 30*F.
It's still only 10*F.
But the next pass, it becomes 40*F, and the next 70*F.
This is why putting the control on recirculate helps in the dead of winter.
Setting the fan -slower- can also help because the air has more time to be warmed by the heater core.

Slush melting off boots can cause major humidity in the cab, but if you get the inside of the glass above the dew point, water cannot not condense and fog the windshield.