Webasto thermo top c or Eberspacher

[gonewestnz]

Hi guys and girls,

My 90 is a petrol V8 and. Having recently moved to NE Scotland from sunny NZ was thinking a pre heater would be good for me and my land rover as winter draws round. I have looked at webasto thermo top c and like the idea of the engine being warmed up in the early hours, I realise I will need a separate fuel tank for diesel. I also see eberspacher do heaters but mostly ones like the Airtronic that just heat the interior( which would be nice).

I see people on here suggesting using an oil radiator plugged into the mains to warm the interior and defrost the windows which suggest an Airtronic would be an expensive all but second hand option.

What recommendations do you have

Thanks G

[Ex Member]

You can buy petrol versions of the heaters. You do not need to run a diesel tank. Either brand is fine. They are both well built and reliable.

[TSD]

I've got a thermotop C and also an eberspacher air heater. At one time I even had them both installed in the same vehicle at the same time!

Coolant heater is great for pre-warming the truck, de-icing the windows, and potentially reducing engine wear.

De-ice and de-mist is the greatest trick the coolant heater does, in my view. You trudge through the snow and ice to the car, start the engine, operate the wipers once and drive away. No stopping 50 yards down the road to scrape the ice that reformed in the breeze as you pulled away.

It's a little more complicated to install, because you have to mess with the cooling system pipework.

It won't make your heater work any better than it currently does (especially with a V8) as you drive along.

Air heater doesn't (usually) do such a good job of defrosting the screen unless you take steps to blow air at the screen. Not to say it doesn't do the job, but it's not as total as using the coolant heater through the factory demister vents, at least in my experience.

It can make your truck much warmer as you drive, as it's all extra heat in the cab.

It occupies some of the precious space inside your 90, unless you get clever about mounting.

Assuming your factory heater is working properly, both should be able to make it uncomfortably warm inside the truck, but the air heater will let you wear t-shirts and drive round with the windows open at -20C.

Coolant heater will defrost your windscreen and warm the interior at -20C, but once you're moving your heater will only work as well as it did before. You may notice the interior get cooler as you start to drive.

I got my Webasto brand new about 12 years ago, when they were still fairly unknown in the uk,and there wasn't much of a second hand market. It's never let me down, and I've never regretted the purchase, but if I were buying now, I don't really know which way I'd jump.

On a previous vehicle, I nearly fried an engine due to a leak in an aftermarket coolant heater. Not a thermotop, but it did remind me that every time you add parts to a critical system, you introduce new ways for it to fail, and probably make it more likely. I've also sat shivering in a snowstorm in the middle of the night for 2 hours, on the side of the road, waiting for a flatbed taxi, unable to use the coolant heater due to the coolant having escaped through the failed head gasket.

There are other options worth considering, like 240V powered coolant heaters, which are cheaper but less convenient.

[gonewestnz]

Thanks great feedback most informative. Nice to here pros and cons from someone who has both.

It looks like I may be on the hunt for a webasto thermo top c, good to know they do petrol fuelled version.

Seen a webasto on flea bay that has apparently had a full service but will enquire at local agent to see what they cost new.

[Guest wunntenn]

I'm in the top end of Scotland too, and have an Eberspacher D4W in my 110, it's plumbed into the engine and does the engine coolant heating thing described above by TSD.

Personally the coolant heater is the way to go. Don't underestimate the difference having a warm engine will make to driving out on a sub zero winter morning. Being able to heat the vehicle interior AND engine at the same time is well worth it.

It can be installed as an engine preheater/interior heater, or with an add-heat option so it helps heat cool running vehicles, or in various other ways to heat a water tank to allow hot water for showers, hand washing etc. Very versatile. Basic install like I have is not too terrible: fuel feed from the fuel line, air intake pipe, exhaust pipe, and the two hoses into the coolant line/heater pipes. The toughest part was finding a spot to install the actual heater unit in the engine bay.

My Eberspacher has been installed for almost 15 years, and repairs are fairly easy - I've replaced a few bits over the years and its been a good solid bit of kit.

[supaimpy]

For the Eberspacher , either Airtronic or Hydronic you can download the installation manuals on the Eberspacher website, best advice I can give is make sure you get the fuel pipe size right and the pump angle right, don't take your feed feed after the engine fuel filter. if you go Airtronic make sure you get the ducting size right or you'll cause overheating issues.

Follow the manuals and you'll have little hassle, try to 'improve' on the manufacturers design and expect it all to go expensively wrong