smitch

Port is just below the pull down fuse cover by your right knee if sat in driver's seat. Don't pull this down as it is actually under the bottom of this Activate software, plug in to port then turn ignition on. There is a thread on making sure your computer is set to the right com port.

Got mine from Halfords. It was a Bosch with the Halfords code of HBS096 from memory and it is very large, comes with 5 year warranty. Think it was about

Just check VAGcom and one instance of heater overtemp but cleared and hasn't come back since and has been outside running for a little while. Temp when running on VAGcom is 275-280C. Car warmed up really well on way home despite temp outside 2.5c.

Dave, The company is Thames Valley Electro Diesel, Hyperion Way, Reading. The heater chap is called Barry. Very knowledgable and had a good test set. Erba controller to try and start the heater, various diagnostic stuff and took the time to check an explain everything. As I said he even checked the dosing pump for me. He did say that a glow plug from him would be

Went to the specialist in Reading. He plugged in an Erbaspascher diagnostic machine straight into the heater and it wouldn't read any of the data on it. He then tried to access it via the VAG-com port under the dash and all it would register is a general fault with the ECU. He thinks that the ECU is completely corrupted. He checked the dosing pump by wiring it to a feed and it clicked away happily. His suggestion was to either replace the controller/ECU for about

Davewill, Had an independant electro-diesel specialist recommended to me in Reading near where I live. They specialise in Erbarspascher and are having a look at the car this afternoon. I'll let you know what the score is. They can read about 95% of vehicles and won't charge if they can't. I'm hoping for a decent opinion on the issue.

The other bit on the bill for for the diagnosis and the fitting. As expected, Ford did the whole "you need to replace the unit" at

Gregers, thanks for the reply. I intend to take the car back to Ford in the morning, see what they come up with and argue about money already paid. If they want to replace anything or do anything that doesn't involve properly reading any fault codes first, I won't let them and check it first myself by buying a Vag Com lead from Ebay and with advice from on here. I think I'll probably get the lead anyway as it seems a good investment for the future. Rather naively, I expected Ford as a reputable company to have the correct diagnostic equipment to check the cars they produce.Still as you say, you live and learn. The exhaust for the heater was

Mirez, as usual, you are a goldmine of information. I will speak to the garage in the morning and suggest that unless they have access to a VAG-Com, that I take it somewhere else. I am concerned that they will try and push the complete unit replacement front.

Well picked car up today with it's new exhaust on the heater and despite me telling Frauds that I still don't think the heater's working sespite my last post and test of the sensor. They insisted it was. I drove it home with the coolant gauge at the bottom and the air temp gauge reading 7c and when I got home and felt the exhaust on the heater, it was cold. I phoned the stealer back and spoke to the Service Manager to complain. My overiding impression is that they haven't got a clue regarding these heaters. Below are the various statements made by the service manager and the technician I spoke to; "They only come on when it's below freezing!" - service manager "It's below 3c when they come on" - technician "It should be below 10c" - me "but it hasn't been that cold" - service manager "When it was tested it was warm" - technician "Did it have any fault codes?" - me "Our diagnosis stuff doesn't really talk to them.It's VW stuff" - technician "Well it will be warm because of the glowplug and coolant running through it. What about the exhaust was that hot?" me "Well.....you probably need a new unit then" - technician I can't see how they tested it as the scuttle plate clearly had not been removed for some time when I took it out so they clearly had not bridged the sensor and I suspect that they are not looking in the right place for the codes. I despair, you take it to the people who should allegedly know and they are obviously completely clueless!! I have phoned another manager to complain and had a real go at the chap as all I want is a solution to the problem. The car is going back yet again tomorrow. This is their last chance, the so called three strikes and you're out! The only difference is can find from when it was working last to now is that there is not a clicking from the front passenger footwell area when I start the car on cold mornings. Is this the dosing pump or a relay that I would've heard clicking?? The run on pump is definately working as i can hear it humming behind the dash.

Thanks for the reply, Frauds are stinging me for

Quick update, had the scuttle plate out this morning and put a bag of frozen peas on the temperature sensor. Aux heater fired up with no excess smoke. Felt exhaust where piece was missing but couldn't feel a huge amount of hot air. The heater is definately getting hot but i suspect the missing exhaust(some of it's there,the last part isn't) is affecting the noise and flow. Interior warmed up when just sat at idle. I will see what happens when the new exhaust gets fitted tomorrow and what happens over the next few cold mornings. Is it worth me changing the sensor and are they expensive??

I'll speak to the dealer when goes back on Monday for the exhaust to be changed. I don't doubt that the heater works, i suspect that for whatever reason it is not being told to fire. THe dealer actually said that the missing piece of exhaust might actually be making it work less efficiently. i would assume it would just be louder??

Thanks for the replies. Surely the dealer would have checked the sensor and does it generate a fault code if it malfunctions.i'm convinced it's not firing when it should as everytime i've used the car this week the temperature has been below 10c on the gauge

It's that time of year and yes my 05 TDI aux heater is not working. Had a look under the car after the wife complained that the car was cold when it was 1c the other morning and I saw that the last part of the heater exhaust was missing. This is the bit from the little box on the exhaust. Took it to Frauds today for a diagnostic and they told me that it was working fine apart from the little bit of exhaust missing. I asked about error codes as i'm convinced it doesn't fire up and was told that it didn't generate any. There is definately no jet engine noise from the heater on cold mornings and hasn't been since the weather has turned. i also asked about a possible temperature sensor fault as i presumed they bridged the sensor to start the heater but was told everything was ok. Does anyone have any suggestions as it's not the quietest bit of kit when it works and i'm sure even with the bit of exhaust missing i would have seen/heard something to suggest it was coming on. It would seem strange that if the dealer could have palmed a new heater off on me they would've so it's difficult to dispute what they are saying. Any advice gratefully received

Thanks for that. It just seemed strange that when it was really cold it didn't fire but did first time 10 minutes later when I started the car again on the way home. Been working absolutely fine since so will keep an eye on it as suggested. I'll try not putting any electrical load such as window heaters, stereo etc on the car just after starting it up on the next icy day and see if that makes a difference.

Having looked on the FAQ, it does mention the voltage dropping preventing the glowplug firing. I'm wondering if putting the heated screens on may have cause this??

Hi, I've checked the other posts but cannot find anything about my query. My Aux heater has been working absoutely fine but this morning when the temp was 1c the heater didn't fire up. However when I started the car again to come home from the school run, it fired up first time. Does this mean the start of the dreaded glow plug problems?? Car's done 78000 miles. Is there a cut out in the system which prevents it starting below a certain temp to protect the heater??

I've got the Philips Extreme ones on my Gal and they're excellent, well worth the money.

I'll have a look and see if I have the same problem. Funnily enough, they have worked absolutely fine today without a hint of a problem

You'll have just incurred the wrath of the ford gremlins!!

Has anyone had problems with the sensors and the weather? Reversed the car into space after work about half one this morning and everything working ok. Wife use the car this morning again with no problems. When I took it out at about 2pm and reversed out of space, there was a constant tone from the rear sounder which sounded intermittently. If I turned it off manually then put it on again, it would be ok for a minute then sound again. I have wiped the sensors, all seem to be working and the system is working fine again now. I do have a tow bar and socket fitted but this has never caused a problem before. The only thing that seems to have changed was that the wife parked the car nose in our space so the back of the car was in the sun before I took it out. Has anyone else had problems with the sensitivity of the sensors when parked in the sun or during hot weather?? I'm dreading the start of an intermittent sensor fault. I thought I best check with you all before I start telling the missus to reverse into our space.

Thanks for the advice, excuse my ignorance but will that be printed on the bottle??