Confused by heating system on 2007 T5 Cali

[Ryemslie]

Viewed a 2007 california today. Has a few issues that the garage a working through but it was a nice van nonetheless. I was confused by the heating system though so looking for some advice. The aux heater if I’m right is the main heater when parked up & operates from the central roof control unit or the remote fob & blows through the vents on the sliding door pillar etc? There was also a rear right mounted heater control with I think a 4 setting switch, is this just a secondary control for the aux heater? Lastly there was a Webasto unit under the drivers seat with what looked like a control knob for heating of sorts. Why would this be needed in a California if you already have the aux heater? I’ve never seen this one in any other cali I’ve looked at granted I’ve only looked at newer T5.1’s with three zone controls. Any help in understanding would be appreciated

 

[Ryemslie]

Webasto control knob in question

 

[westfalia]

There was also a rear right mounted heater control with I think a 4 setting switch

That is for heating in the rear.
Not sure about the control knob under the seat.
It´s not a standard thing.

 

[Ryemslie]

That is for heating in the rear.
Not sure about the control knob under the seat.
It´s not a standard thing.

So when you switch on the aux heater via the control unit does this on come out of the dashboard vents?

 

[westfalia]

So when you switch on the aux heater via the control unit does this on come out of the dashboard vents?

No. it comes out of the vent by the sliding door.
The eberspacher is the parking heater that keeps you cosy.
The webasto is an extra heater that warms the engine when the temp is
below 4° or 5°.
Then you have the normal heater front and back.

 

[Gazellio]

And the knob under seat?

 

[westfalia]

The knob under the seat is an add on.
Even the grey plastic cover that it´s fixed to doesn´t
look original to me.
I may be wrong though.

 

[Sad]

I'd almost think the original unit has been replaced and what you have there is only controlled from that knob and will give warm air through the driver's B pillar, but I don't know, not seen it like that before.

Did you test the heating at all? Did it work via the control panel?

 

[Sad]

Just thought, was it an SE or a Beach?

 

[Gazellio]

Yup must be air heating under seat and rear factory car heater at back...

 

[westfalia]

Just thought, was it an SE or a Beach?

They didn´t do RHD drive beaches in 2007.
So must be a full fat SE with the heaters. ?????

 

[Sad]

They didn´t do RHD drive beaches in 2007.
So must be a full fat SE with the heaters. ?????

Ah, fair enough...

 

[Ryemslie]

Yeah 2007 se. Couldn’t test aux heater as it wasn’t working. The control panel cam up as error for heating. He said the workshop had tested batteries, etc & that the my thought it was the control module that needed changing. They’ve only just got it in the workshop after it was traded in so they haven’t got to the bottom of it & other faults yet. The sales man had no idea what the knob below the seat was for either. We’ll hopefully get some feedback soon and revisit next week

 

[Sad]

Looks like a webasto heater control... Wonder if it was just installed by a previous owner to negate the heater fault in the central control panel...

 

[Ryemslie]

So to confirm the aux heater is the night heater which you set to maintain a certain temp & blows out the side vents either side of sliding door & front side steps at doors? The rear heater works the same but is used for when you park up for a cuppa etc? Do both these use diesel to heat? The one underneath the drivers seat may be another aftermarket air blown heater, maybe electric element or something.

 

[Ryemslie]

Looks like a webasto heater control... Wonder if it was just installed by a previous owner to negate the heater fault in the central control panel...
View attachment 29199

Yeah that’s it. Did wonder but not sure how it would work. Wouldn’t imagine it would have been cheap however it works

 

[Sad]

You just turn the dial up... Had these units as night heater when I was an HGV driver...

 

[Ryemslie]

You just turn the dial up... Had these units as night heater when I was an HGV driver...

Yeah, I meant what is it linked to. Does it bypass original control panel & act as a manual control of the original system or is it linked to a separate aftermarket system. Tempted to go back tomorrow to suss it out.

 

[westfalia]

So to confirm the aux heater is the night heater which you set to maintain a certain temp & blows out the side vents either side of sliding door & front side steps at doors?

Correct.
There is no rear heater. It only works like the front heater in the cab but its for
the passengers sat in the rear. Unless you park up and press the rest button
on your front heater controls ( not the control panel ) and then it will keep
you warm as long as the engine is warm.

Normally the webasto is the engine coolant heater and the eberspacher is the
aux heater.
There should be stickers on one of the door pillars for the heaters.

 

[Sad]

It'll be a separate system to bypass, hot air will still come out the B pillar I expect...

 

[Ryemslie]

Thanks for the help folks. Hopefully they get the original system working as the the above wouldn’t work for us.

 

[Ryemslie]

So went back to see this again today. The manual knob under the drivers seat is exactly that which works & seems to control the heating via I’m assuming the original thermostats. Are these in the unit under the main control module? They hooked up a laptop to the heater and managed to get it to fire that way too & also tried a new control unit in it which had no effect. Looks like one of the past owners has installed this manual control knob himself & im assuming has spliced into the original wires coming from the control unit. There is also what I think is an earth cable coming from the manual knob to underneath the passenger seat, possibly connecting to the leisure battery. The garage are not prepared to fix the aux heater as The costs could spiral so are saying it’s a buy as is deal. They are saying as the heater works via the manual knob then you have a working aux heater, classic vw garage talk!

 

[andyinluton]

Are you 100% sure that the van you are looking at is a genuine California? as against an older van with a cali interior fitted. Also are you 100% sure it is a UK spec van? I would have expected it to be LHD if it isn't, but I know in some markets the heater is an option even on a SE.

If it is 100% genuine, I would guess it was suffering from the earth shunt problem back in the days when no-one really understood what the problem was & has bypassed the control panel to get the heater working.

Did the van have the remote heater fob?

 

[Ryemslie]

Yes genuine 2007 California se. Theres a service invoice from 2014 that suggests the owner at the time was going to investigate & look to fix an Earth shunt fault. Also has a remote that effectively does nothing at the moment

 

[andyinluton]

In that case it does sound like the heater was adapted too get round the earth shunt problem.
It would be interesting to see whether that was ever fixed properly.