Problem with auxiliary heater in brand new Cali

[DoubleWah]

I'm very happy with our brand new California (1 week old!) but have discovered that the auxiliary heater doesn't work. I'm going to take it to a VW dealer as soon as possible, but wanted to check whether I hadn't missed anything obvious first...

I put the heater on from the control panel and the fan turns on, blowing cold air out of the pillar vent. After a while there is some loud ticking which changes in speed, and the fan also gets faster and slower - always blowing cold air. After 10 minutes or so, it just switches off. This happened after I'd driven it 300 miles from the dealers the day before, so I'm sure the battery must have been fully charged.

The fridge seems to work, and there is no flickering of the control panel display that I can see. Any thoughts? Am I missing something simple? I'm as new to this as it is possible to be!

Thanks in advance!
Simon

 

[calikev]

What setting did you have it on simon :?:

 

[Andresz]

Observe the voltage on the central control panel, with battery properly charged should not go below 12 volts during heater initialisation.
And, does it work on hook-up?
And, observe the central panel backlight for flickering (when on batteries), you have LED lights in your van they will not flicker.
Andrzej

 

[slowcoach65]

I know this will sound daft but is the Master switch on? The trip in the cupboard in the back. Mine wasn't and my heater did the same thing. The dealer had a wry smile when he pointed it out to me After switching on the Master, all has been well

Andy

 

[shambly]

I know this will sound daft but is the Master switch on? The trip in the cupboard in the back. Mine wasn't and my heater did the same thing. The dealer had a wry smile when he pointed it out to me After switching on the Master, all has been well

Andy

That trip is for the mains hookup and should make no difference to the heater (unless your leisure batteries are flat)

Simon

 

[shambly]

I'm very happy with our brand new California (1 week old!) but have discovered that the auxiliary heater doesn't work. I'm going to take it to a VW dealer as soon as possible, but wanted to check whether I hadn't missed anything obvious first...

I put the heater on from the control panel and the fan turns on, blowing cold air out of the pillar vent. After a while there is some loud ticking which changes in speed, and the fan also gets faster and slower - always blowing cold air. After 10 minutes or so, it just switches off. This happened after I'd driven it 300 miles from the dealers the day before, so I'm sure the battery must have been fully charged.

The fridge seems to work, and there is no flickering of the control panel display that I can see. Any thoughts? Am I missing something simple? I'm as new to this as it is possible to be!

Thanks in advance!
Simon

Have you tried it a few times? It may simply need to prime its fuel supply; these heaters have lots of safety interlocks and go through a complex firing up and shutting down sequence (If you think diesel is scary I have the petrol version in my Chesil Speedster to heat its interior - no source of heat from the engine). Having said that i'm sure the PDI must involve the dealer firing up the heater and ensuring it works?

Another Simon

 

[DoubleWah]

Wow - thanks everyone for the quick replies! What a wonderful community! I'm sitting out in my Cali now and checking your suggestions.

Temperature at 10. The switch at the back is on. I don't have a cable yet to try hooking it up sadly. The voltage stays around 12.4, started at 100% charged (now down to 90%). No flickering from the control panel. Tried it twice again in quick succession, but same pattern: a cycle of slow, fast, slow of cold air, some clicks, and after approx 10 minutes everything shuts off. Maybe a slight smell of diesel, (but I could be imagining it).

Seems like it's a genuine fault, sadly. Bit gutted given that it's brand new.

My only last recourse is to get a hookup cable and see if it's any different with that, I guess.

Si

 

[Andresz]

Wow - thanks everyone for the quick replies! What a wonderful community! I'm sitting out in my Cali now and checking your suggestions.

Temperature at 10. The switch at the back is on. I don't have a cable yet to try hooking it up sadly. The voltage stays around 12.4, started at 100% charged (now down to 90%). No flickering from the control panel. Tried it twice again in quick succession, but same pattern: a cycle of slow, fast, slow of cold air, some clicks, and after approx 10 minutes everything shuts off. Maybe a slight smell of diesel, (but I could be imagining it).

Seems like it's a genuine fault, sadly. Bit gutted given that it's brand new.

My only last recourse is to get a hookup cable and see if it's any different with that, I guess.

Si

Hello Simon
You may try to reduce the level to level 1, however I think it does no matter, initialisation would be the same for 1 and 10.
More importantly, buy the hook-up cable, try heater with hook-up. The voltage display is an average, whilst the high current flow is momentary. It may easly be ,that the batteries voltage drop significantly with high current, but because it is momentary the display does not show it (like it does not show low voltage in an event of bad shunt, but low voltage is there.

Also I think there is a shut down scenario if the fuel level is low, but I think the heater would not attempt to start with low fuel level.

Andrzej

 

[smgcowfoldparts]

How much fuel do you have in the tank? If it is low then it could cause the heater to be cutting out.

cheers

 

[beardie]

To answer your question about PDI, I don't think the vw checklists covers the camping bits. The dealer I got my first Cali from had a vehicle only (transporter PDI checklist they used). Assume those dealers with a clue have their own list. One advantage of a decent dealer.... I did phone up VW cust service and suggest the obvious but although they acknowledged the idea they weren't sounding like they would do anything

 

[Californiaman]

If you try it with the engine running, the leisure batteries will be getting a charge. That is as good as having the van plugged in to hookup I would have thought.

Our heating only ranges from 1 to 7 I think! (with 7 being way to hot to be useful - we run 3 maximum)

Our does take quite some time to start blowing warm air. The 'main switch' in the cupboard in the back of ours has zero impact on the heater in either position.

 

[lewisnoble]

Nothing to add to above, really - yes, running the engine should give the same result as being on hook up and may help you identify if there is a fault and where.

Also, bear in mind that even a 300 mile journey does not give the batteries a really deep charge, which is why they recommend that a charge of 24 - 36 hrs minimum every few weeks is a good idea.

300 miles - 6 hrs running?? Nowhere near as much as an overnight hook up. And the leisure batteries will only get what is 'left over' from lights, wipers, blower etc, which can take a fair bit at this time of year.

And as others have said, it can take several minutes for the diesel to ignite and warm air to come.

Your pattern of noises sounds similar to ours when battery is too low to kick start the heater. You do not know how long batteries have been in storage etc.

Lewis

 

[calikev]

Good points there Lewis. I don't think you can beat a good charge from hookup. The van doesn't
Seem to put the same in. I do mine once a month

 

[Calimark]

I had the same issue with mine after picking up from dealer (the cali had been sitting around for a few weeks before picking up). A good overnight charge fixed the problem and has been working fine since as long as you regularly charge the batteries. I put it down to the display not really showing the true capacity of the batteries. As stated above if you don't yet have the hookup then running the engine at the same time should isolate the problem. Best of luck

 

[DoubleWah]

Thanks again guys! You lot are amazingly helpful!

I'll try getting a hook-up lead and giving it a good long charge and also try it with engine running (it's not fuel, by the way - I've a full tank). Would be nice to fix this without having to leave it at a garage (and we're absolutely itching to get out and spend a night in it ASAP!)

The dealer (Leicester) was very honest and said that they didn't check the heaters normally, but might now add this to their pre-checks. The van is pre-reg so is likely to have been sitting around for a couple of months, so a low charge for the leisure battery is at least a plausible issue.

I'll report back to this thread how I get on.

Cheers,
Si

 

[Calimark]

I'm pretty sure it will be fine after charge...when it works it's brilliant. We spent last week in the French alps skiing and went down to -12 oC and Cali was never cold.

 

[DoubleWah]

So, I tried my heater last night with the engine running and it behaved the same way. I guess that means it wouldn't work on hookup either, right?

Oh dear - looks like we won't be camping this weekend... Time to phone Edinburgh VW.

Si

 

[Andresz]

So, I tried my heater last night with the engine running and it behaved the same way. I guess that means it wouldn't work on hookup either, right?

Oh dear - looks like we won't be camping this weekend... Time to phone Edinburgh VW.

Si

You still need to have the cable anyway, Give it a try on the hook-up to eliminate this eventuality.

 

[TwentyOneThirtyFive]

Oh dear - looks like we won't be camping this weekend...

Find a site with electrical hookup and buy a fan heater. We use a fan heater when hooked up anyway, saves our precious diesel...

dan

 

[lewisnoble]

Yes, that will get you out and keep you warm. Or a small oil filled radiator works well, I gather.

You will need to be hooked up, and plug the heater into the mains socket beside the sink / behind the passenger seat. On my 2008 model it is a continental connector - but I think on newer versions it is a standard 13 amp socket. NOT into the inverter socket, which provides limited current at mains voltage from the batteries. I think the inverter socket is still a diamond shaped thing on the side of the van, not on the cabinet side.

There may be a load limit on the 'mains' socket, I am not sure. But a small heater will keep you surprisingly warm for a kw or so.

 

[DoubleWah]

Hello again folks!

Finally got my heater fixed. Apparently it was a fault in the factory fitting. Some hose or other was not connected. Looking forward to some cold weather camping now!

Thanks for all your tips and troubleshooting ideas!

Simon

 

[mattblack]

Hi all, just picked up a 2010 Cali and loving it! When freezing a couple of nights ago I gave the heating a go on battery. It worked but I was worried about the clicking (it was 4am) which seemed to go on for a minute or so and was quite loud (glad no other campers were around). Is this normal as can't find any reference in the book. Many thanks, great forum, Matt.

 

[calikev]

Hi Matt I'm afraid it's quite normal it's just a quirk. I think it's as it heats up a bit like the central
Heating at home

 

[mattblack]

Many thanks Kev, there's a lot to learn with this machine

 

[Californiaman]

I think the noises that the van can make (Heater and electric side door etc) can sound quite loud in and right next to the van but once you're a few feet or more away, it isn't that loud really.

I've never had complaints, not once I've turned my psychobilly rock down from 11 at midnight anyway...!