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Defender Heaters?


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Hi all..

After bang on 12 months of ownership of my 1988 90 (Driving it daily through wind, snow, rain and summer) I have realised how much you can take a modern cars heater for granted!. I have to drive with the window down most of the time but also my heater doesnt work at all

When I give power to my heaters motor it doesnt work any more (It simply does nothing yet gives out a little amount of smoke). To test it I used a set of jump leads and a battery

So a few questions..

- Are all Defender heaters universal to eachother?, Would a TD5 heater fit into a 1988 90 and vice versa?.

- I plan to wire it up to a toggle switch to the maximum speed as the dash control isnt reliable either. But I plan to use the hot-cold knob and the direction knob when I took the engine out I disconnected the two cables to the heater box so how do I find out which one is which?

- Did heaters ever improve through the years?. So would a 300tdi or TD5 one be better than a "Ninetys"?

- What modifications can be done to a standard heater to make it function better?

- Is there a wiring diagramme or a diagramme of where everything should go such as operating cables and wires?

I just want a heater which works as I do not want to have to de-ice the inside of the windows whilst I am driving like last year. I just want it so I can flick a toggle switch and the heater blows on full and I can change the direction of the air flow!

Sorry for all the stupid questions but I cannot go another winter in my ninety without being comfortable!

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I think you can get an uprated heater matrix for better heat transfer and maybe wider output vents to help on the windscreen.

I think the cable that runs to the top does flips the flap that does hot and cold and the other one does feet or windshield which should run to the middle of the lower part of the dash I think.

Parts manual shows 4 different parts for the box. Whether that means they don't fit or they are just different I don't know.

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In short answer for the heater is no but with a caveat. You will find in the archive section on how to check and readjust the cables to gain maximum heat. To alternatives to kenworth engine heater or the internal espacher route. I on the other hand have a v8 which heats up quicker than the diesel models.

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I have to say that the heater in my 1988 soft top 90 is more than adequate and heats up the interior nicely. A couple of years ago we drove through the length of France in December and it was below -8c outside - the heater gave out enough heat, trouble is ice cold air attacked us through all the door gaps and holes dotted about! It got so cold that we had to gaffer tape the inside edges of the doors up and put rolled up towels round gaps in the hood to stop the needle sharp air getting in! The heater was decent enough though and once the draights were sorted we were fairly toasty.

Maybe just get yourself a motor off ebay, flush your matrix out and spend an hour sorting the cables out?

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Hi all..

After bang on 12 months of ownership of my 1988 90 (Driving it daily through wind, snow, rain and summer) I have realised how much you can take a modern cars heater for granted!. I have to drive with the window down most of the time but also my heater doesnt work at all

When I give power to my heaters motor it doesnt work any more (It simply does nothing yet gives out a little amount of smoke). To test it I used a set of jump leads and a battery

So a few questions..

- Are all Defender heaters universal to eachother?, Would a TD5 heater fit into a 1988 90 and vice versa?.

- I plan to wire it up to a toggle switch to the maximum speed as the dash control isnt reliable either. But I plan to use the hot-cold knob and the direction knob when I took the engine out I disconnected the two cables to the heater box so how do I find out which one is which?

- Did heaters ever improve through the years?. So would a 300tdi or TD5 one be better than a "Ninetys"?

- What modifications can be done to a standard heater to make it function better?

- Is there a wiring diagramme or a diagramme of where everything should go such as operating cables and wires?

I just want a heater which works as I do not want to have to de-ice the inside of the windows whilst I am driving like last year. I just want it so I can flick a toggle switch and the heater blows on full and I can change the direction of the air flow!

Sorry for all the stupid questions but I cannot go another winter in my ninety without being comfortable!

Western is the man for this one.

he has done a post which describes how to set the heater controls up. Have you done a search in the tech archive?

Mark.

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Hiya,

Im my experience the heater itself is fine just a few other things need to be sorted before you can get the full benefit from it.

Firstly, Id attack every little draught, door seals, holes in seatbox etc and then secondly, id strip the bulkhead back to be sure that you are getting every bit of warm air thats coming from the heater matrix. In the 2 defenders ive owned, the ducting is usually leaking so with some work and tape to seal where they change or meet a junction, you can get them to work soooooooo much better.

The alturnative is to just fit an aux diesel/petrol heater.

Hope that helps,

H

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I would recomend aslo fitting an air scoop on the heater intake looks like a gymmic but really makes a diffrence espicialy on motorway journeys I find myself having to turn down the heater!!

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I would recomend aslo fitting an air scoop on the heater intake looks like a gymmic but really makes a diffrence espicialy on motorway journeys I find myself having to turn down the heater!!

I found mine made no difference at all apart from perhaps a little extra noise! Does help keep rain and muck out to an extent when stationary though.

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YOu may well find the motor is nearly siezed. I had one where the hole in the bottom of the air intake that allows the water to flow out had become blocked with rubish, meaning that the rain water started to fill up the air itake. This meant my motor was sat in water and gone rusty , causing it to nearly sieze solid.

Later heaters are better, a Td5 heater has a larger matrix, but will fit, you may just have to fiddle with the heater pipes, as one comes out the side, the other then has a 90 degree turn.

My wolfs heater is superb, my girlfreind feels the cold easily, yet she is always telling me to turn the heater down in it.

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