Is it good for a car to keep the heater on?

Question

Sometimes at night when its cold out, I like to blast the heater and roll down the windows. It's a really fun sensation. I heard that keeping the heater on is good for the car because it brings the heat from the engine into the car, which helps keep it cool. Is that true?

Answer 1

absolutely fine for the car! unless u have a Ford, of course. those break for no apparent reason.

Answer 2

Where did the crazy idea come from that turning on the heat causes stress on the engine? Heat is generated by the engine all the time it is running, and the water pump is moving the coolant all the time after the thermostat opens up. That is the way it works for water cooled cars. If turning on the heater caused stress, it would be the same just having a radiator hooked up. The heater core is exactly the same as a rad, it is just smaller and at the cabin end of the engine compartment, not the front. The heater core transfers heat from the engine into the passenger cabin, helping cool the engine as well as keeping people warm in winter. In summer, if you run into an overheating situation, and I am not talking about a car that needs service because it overheats every time it is driven, the heater can indeed be used as an emergency measure to pull some heat out of the engine.

Answer 3

Back in the summer of 1993, i was picking up some friends from Milwaukee's Summerfest using my mothers old 1985 Buick Century. While driving around the area to pick them up, i noticed police blocked the last 2 blocks of streets that were toward Lake Michigan, so i could not drive toward the lake to find my friends. I was getting frustrated, and panicky as a result of this. To make it short, the car had a problem with overheating if you let it idle for too long because the fan would not work. Of course without a doubt the car overheated that night in the jammed downtown Milwaukee traffic. The temp light came on, and white smoke was starting to whisp from under the hood. I then found my friends just in time, and was partially relieved. As we drove home, the temp light was still on until my friend Ted reached from the back seat, and turned the heat on! After a couple of minutes, the temp light finally went out. I was practically cheering in joy while driving. When i got back to Ted's parents house, i topped off the radiator with antifreeze, and was on the road again until i totaled the car a year later. When a car is overheated, technically you are suppose to turn on the heat to draw the heat away from the engine to cool it down. What does that tell ya!

Answer 4

Keep in mind that the heat comes from a Heater Core. The Heater Core is very small compared to the radiator but is similar in design, where air passes over it and Coolant in it. A small amount of the Coolant actually goes through the core. The car actually doesn't need the Heater Core to run and can actually be bypassed in an emergency. I dought that it could keep the car from over heating. But what you are doing on cold nights can't hurt the engine or the car.
Now if your stuck in traffic, the best thing to do is to turn the engine off. No need to waist gas if your just sitting there.

Answer 5

that is absolutely true. if you ever get in a situation where your car is overheating often, you'll quickly learn that blasting the heat will indeed make it go down. the cooler an engine is, the better and putting the heat on does exactly what you were told it does. to completely answer, there's no way it's ever bad to have the heat on (for the car).

Answer 6

I think it is true, I had a car that overheated years ago, and I remember being told to turn on the heater if I was stuck in traffic to help it cool down. That really sucked in summer!

Answer 7

Alright I don't know what these guys are talking about. Talk to any mechanic and they will assure you (and I know mechanics are known to be liars... I mean talk to a mechanic who does it as a hobby, not a job), that turning on the heat causes more stress on the engine, therefore resulting in more heat. If your car is overheating DO NOT turn on the heat. Instead maybe you should consider getting your cooling system fixed...