Quote:
Originally Posted by EcoCivic
... I have heard that the main point of the HCV is to extend the heater core's life by preventing the erosion caused by constant coolant flow when it isn't needed and to improve emissions by speeding up the engine's warmup by reducing the volume of coolant that needs to be heated when the heater isn't on ...
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I always start the car with the heater on the cold side. It warms up faster. Years ago I found that I could start the car with the heater core bypassed by the cold setting, drive until it hits running temperatures on my UltraGauge, switch the heater select to "hot," and watch the coolant temp drop 10 or more degrees F (depending on how cold it was to begin with). Then it would creep back up within about a minute. So, the difference is significant, but not huge.