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For the last years I've had a very poor heating in my RS. I searched for the problem many times and couldn't find anything. I'm thinking of simply buying a 12V electric heater. My only worry is, what is the man current you can draw from the cigarrette plug in the dash? Has anyone tryed one?

It's comething that looks like this...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=4510625007&category=34197

Anyone knows what the difference between ceramic and halogen heater?

Did you already try replacing your thermostat with the OEM one? it's a cheap fix and if you haven't done it in years then you should.

but a 12volt heater rated at 200watts max. let's see

Amps = Power / Voltage
Amps = 200 / 12
Amps = 16.66666667

I believe that the cigarrette fuse is rated at 10amps. But the heater shouldn't be at max heat, and your car while driving will put out 14.4volts, lets try that again.

Amps = Power / Voltage
Amps = 200 / 14.4
Amps = 13.89

So unless your charging system sucks, u should be ok with that heater - seeing as it only hits 13amps at max power.

check ur thermostat and other temperature sensors

The thermostat was changed last year for another reason (not because of my heating problem). My heating problem has there before and after the thermostat replacement. I tried to check the temperature of the 2 pipes coming out of the engine (at the back towards the firewall) and they seem to get as hot as the radiator pipes.

12 v heat sucs,fix yours,if both hoses in and out of firewall are hot i think you mixing flap is stuc on cold.

Have you had a look at the online manual? Theres a section on the heater that seems to cover it pretty good.

I'd avoid an electic one. It will never dissipate the heat as well as the warm air through the ducts, it will be a concentrated heat. Also the heat generated will be very dry, ie no humidity and may make the car uncomfortable after some time.

i've had that problen on a couple cars and it was always the hot/cold valve sticking on or near cold, check out the shop manual on this site and keep trying. Those 12 volt heaters suk, and don't defrost your windows very well!

I'm not planning to use the electric heater as a replacement for my stock heater. The heater is still working at about 40-50% of its normal capacity. The electric heater would just be there to help.

when was the last time the whole cooling system was flushed out? Also often if the heater isn't used over the summer particles the float arount in the coolant collect in the inlet of the heater core and block flow. It is not uncommon to need to that the heater core back flushed seperately. Not easy to do outside when it is -10C LoL

where is your temp gauge pointing after your motor is warmed up?

The cooling system was flushed last year and the whole radiator was changed a few months ago anyway.

My temp guage is point just a little over the middle, which seems to be standard on the 1.6 SOHC.

You probably need to back flush the heater core it probably wasn't done when the cooling system was done. Chances are that when it was flushed all the crap in the cooling system was flushed into the heater core plugging up the inlet This is why you will need to remove the hoses from the heater core and force water through the return hose and drain out the inlet hose.