Aux heater has stopped working completely - T5 California SE (2006)

[WelshGas]

Heater Lockout Reset Procedure - Webasto Air Top 2000 ST Operating Instructions Manual [Page 9]

Webasto Air Top 2000 ST Manual Online: Heater Lockout Reset Procedure. The control unit continuously monitors the heater operation. The control unit identifies errors on individual heater components and faults during operation. Should the control unit expe- rience component errors and...

www.manualslib.com

Heater Lock out Reset Procedure:
1. Using switch or standard timer control, turn heater on
2. Remove the main power connection to heater from battery or pull fuse for a minimum of
20 seconds.
3. Using switch or standard timer control, turn the heater off.
4. Reinstall main heater power connection where previously disconnected.

 

[flying banana]

Yes you’re correct. I missed the 2006 in the thread title. My mistake.
However, as there has been no mention of any problems before, lights flickering or heater starting but failing to ignite and run, the Earth shunt is probably not causing a problem or has been sorted.

After 16 years use its probably ready for a strip down .

 

[halfcrown]

Here's a long shot for you. We have large webastos where I work . When they lock out after multiple flame outs there is a way to reset them without a pc. Here goes.... Call for heat by turning it on. Nothing happens as locked out. Now kill the power by pulling the fuse, put fuse back in and call for heat again.... now within 12 seconds kill all the main heater power again by pulling fuse or battery lead . Now try it.

I'll give that a go and report back!

 

[halfcrown]

Heater Lockout Reset Procedure - Webasto Air Top 2000 ST Operating Instructions Manual [Page 9]

Webasto Air Top 2000 ST Manual Online: Heater Lockout Reset Procedure. The control unit continuously monitors the heater operation. The control unit identifies errors on individual heater components and faults during operation. Should the control unit expe- rience component errors and...

www.manualslib.com

Heater Lock out Reset Procedure:
1. Using switch or standard timer control, turn heater on
2. Remove the main power connection to heater from battery or pull fuse for a minimum of
20 seconds.
3. Using switch or standard timer control, turn the heater off.
4. Reinstall main heater power connection where previously disconnected.

Thanks for this - I tried it, but no joy.

From a look at the manuals, it seems that there are two types of fault lockout.

The first type is a "Fault lockout" - and that can be reset by rebooting the device. I suspect that this is what these instructions will acheive.

The second type is a "Permanent fault lockout" - and that can only be reset using the computer diagnostic tool. I think this is what's happened.

I have a Webasto dealer looking at it on Friday - I'll report back.

 

[halfcrown]

Well, that was a waste of time.

The Webasto dealer took one look at it and decided they could do nothing, because the heater is integrated, rather than an after-market installation.

They suggested I took it to "a specialist". When I asked what they meant, they suggested "the company that did the camper conversion".

So that would be VW then.

 

[flying banana]

Well, that was a waste of time.

The Webasto dealer took one look at it and decided they could do nothing, because the heater is integrated, rather than an after-market installation.

They suggested I took it to "a specialist". When I asked what they meant, they suggested "the company that did the camper conversion".

So that would be VW then.

That's a poor response from webasto. They should be capable of taking it off the van and giving it a service. You could get a new unit from Ebay and swap it out then sell on your old one or bite the bullet and get VW to fix it. I personally would service it myself but it depends how competent you are with the screwdrivers.

 

[halfcrown]

Update ...

I'd booked the van into a VW Commercial dealer - one that actually works on Californias.

They reset it out of the fault-lock. They tell me the heater fan started, but immediately stopped. They the did a full diagnosis on it, which came up with the fault being a "mechanical malfunction" of the "Combustion Air Blower".

The suggested remedy: replace the heater unit, at a cost of £2600 plus fitting - excluding VAT.

I then spoke with two other Webasto dealers. Both were complete aghast at the what VW had said. One of them told me he had worked on a Cali before, and was prepared to work on mine (in spite of having vowed never to do one again!). However, he is a mobile technician without his own premises, and can't cover where I live.

The other thinks that it is possible to sort out, but they needed to do some more research before committing.

How difficult is it to take the unit off the vehicle? Once it's off, how difficult is it to replace the "combustion air blower"?

 

[flying banana]

Update ...

I'd booked the van into a VW Commercial dealer - one that actually works on Californias.

They reset it out of the fault-lock. They tell me the heater fan started, but immediately stopped. They the did a full diagnosis on it, which came up with the fault being a "mechanical malfunction" of the "Combustion Air Blower".

The suggested remedy: replace the heater unit, at a cost of £2600 plus fitting - excluding VAT.

I then spoke with two other Webasto dealers. Both were complete aghast at the what VW had said. One of them told me he had worked on a Cali before, and was prepared to work on mine (in spite of having vowed never to do one again!). However, he is a mobile technician without his own premises, and can't cover where I live.

The other thinks that it is possible to sort out, but they needed to do some more research before committing.

How difficult is it to take the unit off the vehicle? Once it's off, how difficult is it to replace the "combustion air blower"?

i think that part is perfectly possible to replace. you will need to get under thw vehicle, use your levellers on one side to get the van up higher. remove the undertray and you will see the heater. not difficult to dettach although i have never done it. you will need to detach the exhaust, the fuel line, the wiring harness and the air intake and out put pipes. the way i understand it the 'combustion air blower' is a small fan inside the heater that pulls in fresh air into the combustion chamber. not to be confused with the large fresh air fan on the end of the unit. you could probably swap out the whole unit for a service exchange one for about £800. you will need to know the exact heater model number fitted. it will have a sticker on it.

 

[WelshGas]

Update ...

I'd booked the van into a VW Commercial dealer - one that actually works on Californias.

They reset it out of the fault-lock. They tell me the heater fan started, but immediately stopped. They the did a full diagnosis on it, which came up with the fault being a "mechanical malfunction" of the "Combustion Air Blower".

The suggested remedy: replace the heater unit, at a cost of £2600 plus fitting - excluding VAT.

I then spoke with two other Webasto dealers. Both were complete aghast at the what VW had said. One of them told me he had worked on a Cali before, and was prepared to work on mine (in spite of having vowed never to do one again!). However, he is a mobile technician without his own premises, and can't cover where I live.

The other thinks that it is possible to sort out, but they needed to do some more research before committing.

How difficult is it to take the unit off the vehicle? Once it's off, how difficult is it to replace the "combustion air blower"?

If the vehicle is jacked up then you will see a plastic panel underneath, directly below the driving position. Remove that exposes the heater.
I haven’t done any work on this heater, but I believe most parts can be replaced.


One word of warning. If the heater has to be replaced then a proprietary Eberspacher heater will not work with the VW built in Control Panel as the Eberspacher version VW uses has specific VW firmware/software.

This might help. See Page 17.

 

[halfcrown]

Final update (TL;DR - it's fixed)

I managed to get hold of the Webasto dealer in Guildford, David Hammond. I think normally he's pretty booked up, but on this occasion, he actually had space to look at my heater straight away.

He quoted me about £640 for a replacement combustion air blower, and suggested that I invested in a new burner and flame detector, at around £320 for the kit. A lot of money, but if it meant that the heater was good to go for the remainder of the life of the vehicle, it seemed worth it. And a lot less than the £4000 I would have had to fork out to the VW garage for a replacement heater, supplied and fitted!

In the end, when he took the old blower off, he found it clogged up with 16 years accumulated dust, mud, hair, dog-fur and assorted detritus, which was literally preventing from spinning. He cleaned it out and it spun freely. Inside the combustion chamber, he said it was clean and looked as if it had hardly been used. He decided it didn't need any parts replaced.

He put it together, and tested it running over the course of a couple of hours - it worked perfectly.

All done for £140 for two hours work.