Coolant heater, Good or bad? (Heater runs on diesel fuel)

[syncro_user]

A thermostatically-controlled/vacuum-operated hot air feed (commonly found on old carburetted cars, built into the air filter housing) would also help. If I can get hold of one before winter it's something I'd like to try as well. Diesels suck a lot of cold air otherwise, which slows the warm-up cycle right down.

edit: actually thinking about it, without the heater your engine will be using diesel fuel from the tank to warm itself up anyway, while the engine is working less efficiently, thus giving worse fuel economy. Run the heater, decrease the warm-up time and you're ahead. It probably is controlled by the ECU, but standalone controllers may be available.

[andyn666]

I will be adding a grill block at some point obviously this will help to keep the heat in the engine through winter, I had to take my last one off during summer as my engine temps started to get too high, I will also be blocking the intercooler too as I don't drive aggressively enough to need the extra power

Andy

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

This is actually the first I've ever heard of a diesel-fired coolant heater.

Volvo has them as well, depending on which market the car is destined for.

In some countries they are even fitted , but not electronically activated.

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by andyn666

no not imp. mpg us mpg getting nearly 52mpg imp

I'm suitably impressed

I will definitely be fitting the switch to try it out, during temps below 15c my engine can take 20mins or more to heat up!

Just make sure it still cuts out in due time, when you force it on earlier than Ford intended it to be on.

20 minutes to heat up is an awful long time.


Trapping the heat / keeping the cold out also works wonders - it's a side effect of a grille block .

[andyn666]

I'm suitably impressed

Thanks I'm shooting for 70 imp mpg though.

Just make sure it still cuts out in due time, when you force it on earlier than Ford intended it to be on.

No worries about that, the heater is cut on a different circuit than it is started on so as soon as the coolant hits 85c it will cut the heater

Andy

[meelis11]

I would definitely use it to warm-up engine. I am sure that it does not make yopur car to consume more fuel. Heater uses all that fuel for heating, engine uses most of its fuel for running itself, heat is only side-effect. And that side-effect in diesels is quite small...
Engine gets heated quickes and interior gets heated quicker - car is happy, you are happy, your wallet is happy

[andyn666]

Well I got bored after work today and set the heater to fire up whenever i want it to, from cold it took just under 5 minutes to warm the engine up and cut out while the engine idled. I'm going to take the car out later and time how long it takes to warm the engine while the engine is under load. I also found out the heater will carry on heating even if i turn the engine off so i would still be able to EOC while its warming the engine, or even let it warm the engine before i set off

Andy

[meelis11]

Originally Posted by andyn666

Well I got bored after work today and set the heater to fire up whenever i want it to, from cold it took just under 5 minutes to warm the engine up and cut out while the engine idled. I'm going to take the car out later and time how long it takes to warm the engine while the engine is under load. I also found out the heater will carry on heating even if i turn the engine off so i would still be able to EOC while its warming the engine, or even let it warm the engine before i set off

Andy

If it has electric coolant pump (probably has) and you can start it without starting engine, you have successfully converted supplemental heater to parking heater (ofter only difference is in software and dealers take money to convert it to parking heater)! Very good. You should start it 5-10 minutes before you start car engine - no more cold starts.

[AndrzejM]

My wife's Mietek - MB W168 has the same setup with Webasto that is using diesel fuel for heating coolant when temp drops below 8c. Definitely it helps to keep the engine warm. Can't say if it helps global FE or not, haven't tested it yet. I'll thry to get some numbers though when cold days will come.

[andyn666]

Well i took it for a drive and found a few things;

Outside temp was 11c, coolant temp started at 18c.
The heater started up straight away and took 7 minutes to heat the engine to temp and cut out, I assume it took longer than at idle due to the air flow into the engine bay. This morning on my way to work it was about the same outside temp and took about 25 minutes to warm to temp.

One thing I did notice was the heater started cycling on and off while i drove it so it would seem while i hypermile my car it doesn't put enough heat into the system to keep the coolant above 85c!

If it has electric coolant pump (probably has) and you can start it without starting engine, you have successfully converted supplemental heater to parking heater (ofter only difference is in software and dealers take money to convert it to parking heater)! Very good. You should start it 5-10 minutes before you start car engine - no more cold starts.

Luckily it does have an electric coolant pump, and fortunately the system the heater uses is so simple it can be started just by turning the ignition on for a few seconds while switch I've add is on, so yes your right i now have a parking heater

Andy