webasto coolant heater

[flying banana]

is it possible to run the webasto engine coolant heater without waiting for the temperature to drop below 5? ie for maintenance testing ? I have both in my beach according to the door pillar but for the life of me I can't run up the coolant heater. I don't want to wait until winter before finding out its not working.

 

[Hotel California]

Good question , think i can be done but only if you have knowledge to acces the heater itself and the thermostat i guess....
It is located arround somewhere under the left part of the underbody , where on a Ocean the kitchenunit sits ...you only can see the exhaust outlet.
Picture of the underbody without protection plates here....
https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/cali-technical-tips-tricks.9457/

 

[WelshGas]

is it possible to run the webasto engine coolant heater without waiting for the temperature to drop below 5? ie for maintenance testing ? I have both in my beach according to the door pillar but for the life of me I can't run up the coolant heater. I don't want to wait until winter before finding out its not working.

I think you need VCDS, the VW capable Diagnostic and programming software + OBD cable. Could be wrong.

 

[flying banana]

Cheers. at least that means I'm not that dumb that I can't get it running. seems a bit daft there's no override for owners to test them. thanks.

 

[briwy]

Somewhere there is a thread on this. I seem to remember that there is a kit available to enable it to be fired up but quite expensive just for trying it out.
No doubt if you can get a feed to it it is possible but then the canbus might throw a wobbly.

 

[flying banana]

in that pic that's the eberspacher surely? going on the exhaust looking backwards the eberspacher on mine is in the same spot. ie no coolant jacket to heat up

 

[Hotel California]

Cheers. at least that means I'm not that dumb that I can't get it running. seems a bit daft there's no override for owners to test them. thanks.

VW assumes everything should work when a Cali leaves the factory and owners don't need to have acces to everything....
We as owners know better and sure like to doublecheck every detail...

 

[Hotel California]

in that pic that's the eberspacher surely? going on the exhaust looking backwards the eberspacher on mine is in the same spot. ie no coolant jacket to heat up

Have you scrolled half way the first page on the link i gave?

 

[WelshGas]

in that pic that's the eberspacher surely? going on the exhaust looking backwards the eberspacher on mine is in the same spot. ie no coolant jacket to heat up

Post 5 is the Webasto Heater. Prior to that @hotel california has posted pictures of the Eberspacher Heater in Post 4

 

[flying banana]

I did. I see it now. takes a technical mind to spot the previous heater there. cheers again. if only we knew where the temp sensor was a quick spray with electronic freeze spray would kick it i I reckon

 

[flying banana]

pre heater I meant. not previous. auto correct is funny sometimes

 

[WelshGas]

I did. I see it now. takes a technical mind to spot the previous heater there. cheers again. if only we knew where the temp sensor was a quick spray with electronic freeze spray would kick it i I reckon

A little more complicated than that I'm afraid.
Fuel tank level has to be above a certain level. Battery and Alternator output are check, as it only starts once engine has fired up. I believe the ECU compares all the temperature sensors , not just one.
If it fails to start 3 times in a row then it locks out and will show Diagnostic codes and has to be reset with VCDS.

 

[flying banana]

I fix passenger trains for a living and we have webasto coolant heaters on those. although alot bigger . when we have maintained them we just flick a switch that says preheater on. if only vw was the same. if only carlsberg did preheaters

 

[flying banana]

looks to me like the general rule here is your wait until winter. and hope it works.

 

[MattBW]

I spent quite some time looking into this before I got my parking heater fitted. The coolant heater is a Thermotop C (or should be) and you can get a remote kit but it's not cheap. If you have a parking heater probably not worth the expense to be honest.

If you fit the remote kit then the auto feature below 5c stops working. Edit: Apparently it will still work but the info i found suggested not.

 

[MattBW]

looks to me like the general rule here is your wait until winter. and hope it works.

You will know its working because you can hear a very faint ticking left front side under the floor and you may see the exhaust underneath if you look.

 

[mrcheesbrough]

@flying banana You'll most likely find the temperature sensor for the coolant heater behind the front bumper in a fairly exposed position. You can easily disconnect it and bypass the sensor with a short loop of wire firmly pressed into the two contact points on the plug. You'll need to fire the engine up as the heater won't activate unless it knows the engine is running. It should come on pretty swiftly assuming it's all working correctly.

 

[Max-Felix]

I used to have a Kenlowe (electric pre-heater) on one of my old Military Landy's - brilliant thing that you plugged in 30 mins before take off to pre-heat the coolant/engine and also warm up (well, sort of) the 'cabin'.

 

[markh]

If you fit the remote kit then the auto feature below 5c stops working.

I've fitted the remote kit and the heater still comes on automatically on cold days.

 

[Paul gourong]

@markh Where do you get your remote kit from ?

 

[WelshGas]

@markh Where do you get your remote kit from ?

http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/archive/index.php/t-284613.html

Kit from here.
http://www.carsystems.pl/multivan-t5-web,tag.html

 

[markh]

@markh Where do you get your remote kit from ?

I got mine from: http://www.carsystems.pl/vw-multiva...-t91-engine-heater-parking-heater,id1639.html

Not enitrely trivial to fit as you have to get under the van and run a wire from the heater to under the passenger seat, Worth it though on those frosty mornings, as it clears the windscreen much faster than the normal air heater!