21 replies to this topic

[bansuzdit]

Hi , i have a 51 plate td4 es and noticed white smoke coming from in front of the n/s/f wheel, i have since found out it has a fuel burning heater to help speed up engine temperatures on cold mornings or if the coolant temp is below a certain temperature . I believe this is controlled by the ecu but was wondering if this can be altered to operate from a timer so that it can be set to switch on say 15 minutes before i am due to go out in a morning to warm up the cab and defrost the windows ?. has anybody done this or know if it can be done and if so who sells the timers .

regards
gary

[FridgeFreezer]

Chances are it'll be a Webasto or Eberspacher unit, it'll probably have a sticker on it telling you what it is. All the manuals & specs are available online, so that's not too hard. You may find the timer as an optional extra from LR, if not I'm sure you'd find one on eBay as loads of people sell the bits for them.

[vizslar bus]

Hi had the same thing thought omg what is that its a bit annoying as on every time you start up on it goes (is that normal) & if i move around drive to get another car out it still has to go through a shut down cycle it starts to get a bit smokey after 3 or 4 start stops plus it is burning fuel, can they be removed or shut down in any way, are they set by thermostat as mine starts up every time freebe is started i only use the freebie to take dog and me training shoooting 4-5 miles the most all farm tracks 10 mph (it does get muddy) i get to bunny warrens switch of & they get their own smoke screen plus whiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr for 30 secs any advice
cheers viz

[TSD]

It's a Webasto heater, a version of the Thermotop C IIRC. Webasto offered a timer upgrade kit for the Freelander in the early days.
It's a long time since I fiddled with one, but the standard C can be switched on and off by grounding one wire. The standard timer also outputs a coded signal saying how long it's set to run for, but the C doesn't use/need it.

If you just want to disable it, one owner I know just pulled the multiplug out of the unit.

[if pigs could fly]

hi i have freelander 54 reg td4 auto my wife drives it daily we have had it over a month it has been fine but in the last 2 weeks my wife reports that she has see smoke coming from wheel arch passenger side next time it was the grill passenger side low down and there is a electric buzz coming from behind passenger headlight and last about 30 seconds i think it has a fuel burning heater could it be that or could it be the brake sticking on cheers men

[longdog]

As said, it is a Webasto unit, and can be operated by timer, IR remote, or mobile sim card. Official Webasto or not. Search here for info, http://disco3.co.uk/forum/

[Blippie]

If you do a search you will see this has been covered before, and the manuals are all at www.cameltrophyvehicles.com/downloads

Cheers

Blippie

[Rayzer]

Hi all, another newbie here. As an aside to the discussion on the pre heater, I have just bought a `54 plate Td4 200 SE and so far, including the last couple of days at 0-1 deg. temps, I reckon my pre heater isn`t working. In fact it takes about 4 miles or so before any heat starts making itself felt.

Where should I look to A; make sure I`ve got one fitted, and B; look for a fault.

Could it be the temp sensor not working? Evidently they brought out a new one with different parameters, which was green. Where is this fitted?

Thanks in advance for any info, and it`s nice to be accepted as a Land Rover owner, even though the Freebie is looked down on by "real" Landie owners!

Ray.

[Rayzer]

Hi all, another newbie here. As an aside to the discussion on the pre heater, I have just bought a `54 plate Td4 200 SE and so far, including the last couple of days at 0-1 deg. temps, I reckon my pre heater isn`t working. In fact it takes about 4 miles or so before any heat starts making itself felt.

Where should I look to A; make sure I`ve got one fitted, and B; look for a fault.

Could it be the temp sensor not working? Evidently they brought out a new one with different parameters, which was green. Where is this fitted?

Thanks in advance for any info, and it`s nice to be accepted as a Land Rover owner, even though the Freebie is looked down on by "real" Landie owners!

Ray.

As a follow up to my last post, I do have a fuel heater fitted, I can hear it working, especially after switching off. However, I don`t get any early heat in the car, just normal heat when the engine warms up, 3 - 4 miles.
When I was clearing snow from drive, I had car running and felt at the heater exhaust under bumber. Warm air was coming out, but no smoke/steam.
It appears to me the heater is coming on, but not putting any heat into the car, which is a waste of time, and fuel, if indeed it is burning any!
Any comments? How long should it take to get warm air into the car from the FBH?

Ray.

[FridgeFreezer]

Before you decide it's not making a difference, try unplugging it and see how long it takes to get heat into the car without it. It's a small unit and it's got a big cold block of metal to heat up, you can't expect miracles.

[Rayzer]

Before you decide it's not making a difference, try unplugging it and see how long it takes to get heat into the car without it. It's a small unit and it's got a big cold block of metal to heat up, you can't expect miracles.

So it heats up the engine? I thought it somehow put heat into the car until the engine got up to temp.

This is the bit of info I wanted to answer my questions. Crikey, that TD4 IS cold blooded! Every other car I had was putting warm air in the car inside 1 mile! Mind you, I havn`t owned a diesel before. I just swapped my Jaguar XJ6 3.2 in for my landie about 3 weeks ago, just in time, and that thing had heat before I had done 1/2 mile. That "big cold block of metal" also kicks out a lot of heat.

About the only things I miss about the Landie is acceleration, especially when cold, (Er, should I go now? could you please confirm the last throttle position please!), and the above lack of heat. Otherwise I love it, and I got a newer car for the same price as an older Disco, which is what I was going to get.

Ray.

[FridgeFreezer]

Having just read the RAVE manual on this unit, it heats the coolant on its way to the heater matrix but only fires up when the air temp is below 5degC, looks from the wiring diagram like the 5deg switch (and it seems to be just a thermoswitch) could be replaced/bypassed. I'll be looking at doing this soon having just bought one and the boss showing off his telestart every time it gets a bit nippy

[Rayzer]

Having just read the RAVE manual on this unit, it heats the coolant on its way to the heater matrix but only fires up when the air temp is below 5degC, looks from the wiring diagram like the 5deg switch (and it seems to be just a thermoswitch) could be replaced/bypassed. I'll be looking at doing this soon having just bought one and the boss showing off his telestart every time it gets a bit nippy

Won`t that mean it`s on all the time? could affect fuel consumption. Maybe it could be connected to a switch, to turn off when coolant warms through?

Ray.

[FridgeFreezer]

It would only be on all the time if you modified it to be on all the time

Given they burn about ~0.3 litres/hour flat out and 0.1 on low power I don't think it's going to be sucking your tank dry.

[Dorsetfreelander]

Modern diesel engines like the TD4 are much more efficient than petrol (due to higher compression ratio - it's a thermodynamics thing) and they will not warm up unless they are under load. I have a TD4 auto and a drive to work of 7 miles of country roads consisting of about half a mile up a hill then flat for 5 miles then a 1.5 mile slow incline. It's only in the last mile that the engine gets properly warm and that's with the fuel burning heater going. It's not much different in the summer.

[Dorsetfreelander]

I have just got back from a 200 mile motorway trip in cold weather with my TD4 auto and whenever I stopped anywhere (eg motorway services) the fuel burning heater was still going. Does this sound right? I am beginning to wonder if this engine is overcooled or if the thermostat (where is it?) is stuck open.

Does anyone remember in the old days how we used to blank off half the radiator in the winter? I am thinking of doing it again!

[FridgeFreezer]

I'd suggest a read of the Webasto manual - the heaters don't (can't) just shut off - there's a small fire going on inside, so they have to keep the fan running and wait for the fire to go out (fuel to burn off) and things to cool down (I.E. it's definitely not on fire any more) before they can shut down. The Eberspachers have a special mode for use in hazardous goods vehicles (petrol tankers etc.) where they can be forced to switch off instantly, but the intimation is it's not the best thing for the heater to be doing.

[tomcat404]

well blow me down with a feather, my freelander has one of these heaters too ! I've had it for over a year, probably didn't know I had one because it doesn't seem to work lol,.

So I have the part number for a new sensor just in case i need one, I just need to check the fuse......any pointers to the correct fuse would be appreciated

and then buy a controller for manual operations,

any further info out there gents?


thanks nathan

[FridgeFreezer]

Nathan - there's not much to it and all the wiring & fuses are in the RAVE manual, which is in the sticky at the top of the part numbers forum. To force it to start manually you can probably just change the sensor for a switch and extend the wires.

[Forby4]

Am I right in thinking that the heater runs constantly?

Like the above post states, I've driven 30+ miles and find the heater is still going when I park up. I would have thought once the engine has reached optimal temperature the heater should switch off?