improved heating?

[tomo-tdi]

sorry for all the questions guys but is there anyway of improving the heating in the 90's? im using it daily and sometimes at half 5 in the morning and well you know what there like

[bogie]

Cover haolf the front of the rad with a bit of card,thata warm the o girl up!!!!

[tomo-tdi]

haha awesome that sounds a bit temporary tho is it?

[Ja1983]

i found a good dose of WD40 through the intake (with fan on full) not only made inside smell wonderful, but revived the old fan quite well.

If its really cold, I sometimes shut the window too!

if you dont have a headlining/side panel lining, they make a big difference, as does sealing drafts etc.
other than that, your stuck with a primative design that comes standard. Dress for the weather is the most effective way to get around this unfortunatley

[TDi90]

i baught and plumbed in an Ebberspacher Diesel heater into the cabin.
not cheap new they are

[mass199]

I stick a hot water bottle down my jumper on really cold mornings :lol: I sometimes cover half the rad with cardboard works a treat.

[tomo-tdi]

lol so which part do i cover up or does it not matter and yeh i seen a review a few years back on the ebberspacher heaters but i dont really want to spend that much

[TDi90]

the top.

[graham2306]

Check the cable adjustment on the hot/cold cable.  I checked mine last February because it was much warmer in my mates 110 than in my 90.  We tightened the cable up and the tap opened another 1/8th of a turn.  Now its roasty toasty in my 90.

[tomo-tdi]

yeh i will try that graham cheers and as for the ebberspacher didnt they fit one of there models to late mercedes sprinters under the passenger side seat? do you think you could plumb one of them into a 90?

[UK CRAIG]

What I'm thinking of doing is buying a 2000w inverter and an ordinary household fan heater, the both would cost about

[Litch]

Just replied on the other heater thread.

The main thing is to get the control-cables correctly set up, if the engine is getting up to temperature ok then that heat is available through your heater matrix and into the cab. I run a soft-top 90 with standard heater, viscous fan and no carpets (just lots of bare metal) and often leave for work at 0530 yet I have no need to block off the rad or dress up in multiple layers of clothing even in the coldest of winters (like last your for instance). The cab is draught-free (yes really) and I have a fume curtain fitted which reduces the area to be heated. Warm-up is a tad slow (heated windscreen helps here though) but luke-warm is available after 2-3 miles and full heat after 4-5 miles (total journey to work is 10-miles).

[T30CDB]

fitting one of the plastic air scoops to the left hand front wing helps make a difference. you seem to get a lot more air blown through the heater system. usually find after a while i have to turn the heater down and open the window a bit

[Litch]

fitting one of the plastic air scoops to the left hand front wing helps make a difference. you seem to get a lot more air blown through the heater system. usually find after a while i have to turn the heater down and open the window a bit

I've had one of those for about 8-years, initially just one of the scoops but more recently an LRX one.
It doesn't get the air flowing through the matrix much faster when the vehicle is moving although it does give it a bit of a boost but it does mean that you don't have to have the fan motor running to get a decent flow of air when on the move.

[NiteMare]

it might be worth taking your heater matrix off the bulkhead and giving it a thorough flushing ...

i run an old series3 truckcab as a daily driver (200tdi powered) and the heater was pretty much crap/non existant, i've just flushed tons of crud out of it which has helped, unfortunately tho the 200tdi appears to be pretty slow to warm up and rarely gets above luke warm (yes it has got a thermostat in it) but once it's done 3 or 4 miles at a reasonable speed it gets quite comfortable in my cab, just the draughts to sort out sometime  :lol:

[tomo-tdi]

ok guys ill check it out thank you

[TDi90]

I am getting rid of my heater all together.

Just going to be running the ebberspacher

[V8MoneyPit]

It's worth bearing in mind the difference between a truck cab and a hard top..... the latter has a huge volume compared to the truck cab and and takes a lot more heating. Mine has a new matrix and the cables were all set up properly. New foam seals on the heater flaps and between the heater and dash. It still isn't what I'd call great, but I do have trouble getting the engine up to temperature so I'm just about to make up an aluminium shield, folded over at the top, to slide between the rad and the front panel. The folded section hooks over the upturned section of the front panel and can't bounce out once the bonnet is shut.

[Range Rover Blues]

What I'm thinking of doing is buying a 2000w inverter and an ordinary household fan heater, the both would cost about

[baz2236]

Hi I  spent a bit of time last weekend looking at my heater as it was only Luke warm. I put in the new foam seal cleaned out the matrix and heater duck of mud wedged the matrix back in with foam around the edge. Also adjusted the cables this has made my heater better but as Steve said getting it to temperature is the problem mine is N/a diesel and the temp gauge will get to the bottom of the gauge after 5 miles but to get it to quarter in these cold night takes quite a while but when you do it toasty. So I was thinking  blankin half the rad off to get it up to temp quicker or an electric fan rather then the fixed fan currently on. It is worth the effort to adjust the cables and clean it out as it has made a difference.


Steve if you fancy making 2 alloy covers I be happy to pass a few beer tokens your way.

[Litch]

Hi I  spent a bit of time last weekend looking at my heater as it was only Luke warm. I put in the new foam seal cleaned out the matrix and heater duck of mud wedged the matrix back in with foam around the edge. Also adjusted the cables this has made my heater better but as Steve said getting it to temperature is the problem mine is N/a diesel and the temp gauge will get to the bottom of the gauge after 5 miles but to get it to quarter in these cold night takes quite a while but when you do it toasty. So I was thinking  blankin half the rad off to get it up to temp quicker or an electric fan rather then the fixed fan currently on. It is worth the effort to adjust the cables and clean it out as it has made a difference.


Steve if you fancy making 2 alloy covers I be happy to pass a few beer tokens your way.

I had a NA D for several years and after I had set-up the cables the heater worked fine with no need to remove the viscous-fan or blank off the radiator. Sounds to me like the engine is taking too long to warm-up, is the viscous-fan working ok? The other option is to remove the viscous-fan and fit an electric one, in this weather it probably won't come on anyway but at least it is there. Have you tried a hotter thermostat, I seem to recall you can fit either 88 or 92 degree items?

I blanked-off the rad on my old S111 back in the cold winter of 1987, I had a fixed 4-blade fan and the sheet had plenty of 25mm holes drilled in it but even with the temperature down to about -8 degrees it still boiled over about 6-miles after starting off. From that day I have never been tempted to use a sheet and would rather get the system working correctly first because when functioning 100% correctly it is effective.

[baz2236]

my NAD has a fixed fan not a vicious fan it does get to temp after a very long run. why would the engine be taking to long to warm up ?

[Litch]

If you have a fixed fan then that will be blowing cold air through the engine-bay all the time and not helping the situation, also they sap more power than a correctly working viscous unit so I do recomend removing it and fitting an electric one.
Is the thermostat working correctly? If it isn't closing properly then it might be allowing water to flow through the radiator all the time and with that fixed fan it will be taking an age to warm up.

The quickest thing to deal with is the thermostat, I would forget testing it and just go and buy a new 92 degree one plus gasket and fit that. Hopefully that should make a difference.

[Niel]

sorry for all the questions guys but is there anyway of improving the heating in the 90's? im using it daily and sometimes at half 5 in the morning and well you know what there like

++

Ebby timer controlled engine heater, pre-heat engine and cab, coriflex plastic sheet to cover 2/3 of the grille (all in really bad weather/wading), extra bulkhead behind seats (110 has 6mm clear plastic sheet behind second row) to reduce volume to be heated, electric fan, works for me, though I ride a K1100LTIC ex  most of the time except when snow is expected, and Thursdays when I charge the 110's battery (quietest day on the road with an early finish) so I don't tend to notice the cold... :twisted:

[baz2236]

I have another go at my heater today and finally cracked it I change the thermostat to a 82 my old one was 74 bleed the system double checked my cables too it out and it was much improved started to get nice and warm after about 5 miles. I then fitted a small scoop on the wing and wow what a difference that makes. The heat is plentiful now and I found myself turning it down it got too warm inside.

Now I am a very warm 90 driver thanks for your helpful ideas guys.

[Litch]

Another satisfied customer who appreciates how well the standard heater works when correctly set up, never heard of a 74-degree thermostat though.

I maintain that often the heater-cables are not adjusted correctly at the factory and many owners put up with a poor heater not realising that 15-minutes work would solve all their heating problems.

[Litch]

I always bang on about getting heaters set up correctly rather than finding 'cures' or alternatives, it surprises me how much people are willing to spend or how much work they are willing to do rather than simply getting the standard heating & cooling system functioning as it should.

My 300TDi 90 soft-top is completely standard with a viscous fan & NO rad-muff yet it is fully warmed up in 5-miles and even in these sub-zero temperatures (-4 this morning) the temperature of the air coming out of my dashboard & windscreen vents is consistantly between 60-63 degrees C. A complete lack of carpets & sound deadening don't help retain this heat but I am draught-free, have a fume curtain and am able to drive in just light clothing WITHOUT the need to wear various layers including coat, fleece, gloves, hat etc.
A bit like a normal car really! :lol:

[V8MoneyPit]

My heater was fine when it was first built. We used it in -15C temperatures in Scotland last winter and it just about coped.

I had put a new 82 degree thermostat in when the 90 was built, but thought I'd change it over the weekend just in case..... bingo! Had to wind the window down this morning because it got hot so quickly!

With the blanking plate in (about a 3rd of the rad blanked) it runs with the gauge about 2/3 across and the electric fans don't cut in (these cut in when the gauge reads about 3/4). I'll try it with the plate out, but I suspect it will run about 1/2 way.

[baz2236]

I have been out on about 50 mile run in mine a bit of slow green laning and then back up to flat out 55 - 65 ish and temp gauge sits at about half way and i have to open the window as it gets a bit too hot inside even with the heater blower on the first click its still warm enough.

It warms up now after about 3 - 4 miles and thats with a fixed fan. I am now loving the nice and warm landy there is no excuse not to use it now.