Poor heater in all the Chevrolet Silverado's i have ever owned

[Ralph Spears]

Start the truck and let it idle for 30 minutes gets up to 180 degrees if you have the heater fan on it takes an hour to get to 207 degrees. driving in city traffic. I have owned 6 of these trucks 4, 6, or 8 cylinder they all do the same thing, If you do not have the heater on it heats right up.

[67since67]

What year?? I've owned Silverado (or Sierra) trucks going back several generations, not noticed an issue?

[SS427]

Same thing here. I currently own 3 and have owned many over the last 20 years and have never had a heating problem with any of them. Annie's 2004 GMC 2500HD would literally blow you out of the cab it got so hot.

[Ralph Spears]

Currently 2024 Silverado 4 cylinder but i have had V6 & V8 I drive 3 miles from home all city driving not over 30 mph

[lbnaz]

2024 GMC Denali Duramax 3500 DRW and it works like a champ. Plus electric seat. No issues.

[Ralph Spears]

When i drive 3 miles from my house going no more than 30mph temp reaches 180 degrees i park and race the engine to 2500 rpm and watch the temp go up to 207 with the heater fan on high speed i let it back to idle speed and watch the temp gauge go back down to 180 every truck i have had did the same thing.

[Too Many Projects]

Might want to use "tow/haul" mode, if you have it and keep the trans in 3rd gear for the 3 mile drive and see if it helps. 3 miles with mine in cold weather takes longer too, but there isn't anywhere I can get in 3 miles around here.

[Rsconv68]

At 30 mph, the engine isn’t working hard to make heat, and takes a lot longer to make 4 gallons warm.

[396 SS/RS]

I've never had a reason to complain out of all of the GM trucks that I've had.

[Ralph Spears]

And by the way it only gets 10 mpg 4 cylinder 2024 (regular cab) 4 wheel drive Silverado all city driving

[big gear head]

I didn't even know you could get a Silverado with a 4 cylinder. My 5.3 warms up well.

[69Z11Pacer396]

What year out of curiosity Ralph? Have a 1994 5.7 silverado I picked up for my daughter and heat is intense..

[Too Many Projects]

I didn't even know you could get a Silverado with a 4 cylinder. My 5.3 warms up well.
4 cylinder turbo became the base engine a few years ago. And with the reviews I've read about the poor mileage, I have no idea how it meets EPA regs, or helps the overall average of the division. :no:

[Ralph Spears]

What year out of curiosity Ralph? Have a 1994 5.7 silverado I picked up for my daughter and heat is intense..

2024 Silverado regular cab

[Ralph Spears]

What year out of curiosity Ralph? Have a 1994 5.7 silverado I picked up for my daughter and heat is intense..
All my driving is within 3 miles of home at 20-30 mph below freezing temperatures it takes an hour to reach operating temp.

[Too Many Projects]

The only issue I ever had with a Silverado heater was on my 2000. I bought it 5 years old and the second winter I had it, it did not blow very warm, even though the temp gauge was at 210. I started reading about this online and people claimed the core plugged with crap from assembly. They, also, complained about the cost to get it replaced and the DIYers said it was a huge job.
As a former mechanic I had run into this years ago with certain models of cars with a heat hose shut off valve and all we did was back flush the hoses, valve and core, so that is what I did and it heated like a boiler after that and never gave another hint of cooling down from debris.

I know this is not the same as your engine not warming up. Maybe you could do an experiment with a piece of cardboard covering about half of the radiator and see if it heats up better. It could be a malfunctioning thermostat that is stuck partway open or opens too early. Have you talked to the dealer about this and is it still under warranty ?

[Ralph Spears]

I have owned 6 new Silverado's 4 --- 6 & 8 cylinder and they will not get up to temperature within 3 miles from home in the cold weather where i do all my driving. If i shut the heater fan off and dial the temperature control knob to cold, it will reach operating temp of 207 but when i turn the heater on and put the fan up to high you can watch the temp gauge go down to 180 this is all city driving below 30 mph

[Derek69SS]

I've never had one take more than about 5 minutes to warm up.

2000 with 5.3, 2011 with 6.2, and 2024 with 6.6 all warm up pretty quick, and all have pumped out a LOT of heat once warmed up.

[Too Many Projects]

As I suggested above, go old school and block off half of the radiator with cardboard. Be better than being cold.

[67since67]

And by the way it only gets 10 mpg 4 cylinder 2024 (regular cab) 4 wheel drive Silverado all city driving

10 mpg, Yikes!! My 1500 Baby Max never gets below 20 mpg under any conditions.
FWIW Last month I was running around town at below zero and heat was toasty warm with negligible change on the temp gauge. No grille cover.

[Rsconv68]

Ralph, in cold weather, you will never get the good heat from the vents from a low speed, low rpm, 3 mile drive. Ever. That’s because the heater core is displacing the not so hot coolant from the engine.

[dustinm]

10 mpg, Yikes!! My 1500 Baby Max never gets below 20 mpg under any conditions.
FWIW Last month I was running around town at below zero and heat was toasty warm with negligible change on the temp gauge. No grille cover.


He's letting it warm up for 15 minutes before each drive and with only 3 miles of travel its a real calculation.
When we had that last cold snap I was in the 8mpg range with the same work drive and warm up procedure. Mine doesn't sit in a heated garage either

[Ralph Spears]

Chevrolet gives you a $1,350 credit for buying the Turbo Max 4-cylinder engine it is listed on the window sticker.

[Derek69SS]

On the next truck, get heated seats and steering wheel, and you'll barely notice if the heater isn't working. ;) Heated steering wheel is the thing I miss most when I drive my old truck instead of the new one.

Honestly, you'd probably save a lot of gas as well, since you wouldn't need to let the truck warm up for 3X longer than the actual drive... just hop in and go, you'll be warm in a minute.

[Ralph Spears]

They don't offer heated seats & steering wheel on a work truck. I don't let it warm up before driving it is parked in an unheated garage

[67since67]

Chevrolet gives you a $1,350 credit for buying the Turbo Max 4-cylinder engine it is listed on the window sticker.

On my dealer's lot is a black standard cab short bed 1500 with the TurboMax, only engine available in it I'm told. Really cool truck.
I've had two TurboMax owners tell me they love the power it has.

[RPOLS3]

On my dealer's lot is a black standard cab short bed 1500 with the TurboMax, only engine available in it I'm told. Really cool truck.
I've had two TurboMax owners tell me they love the power it has.

We bought one (4 cyl) for work a couple years ago when you couldn't find anything full size with a 5.3 in it anywhere. If I recall the 4 cylinder actually has more torque than the same year 5.3. Guy that has it says it has plenty of power compared to his old 5.3. Only real issue is the other guys razzing him about driving a 4 cylinder truck.......and it sounds a little wimpy. We don't really track the mileage so not sure about that.