This May Sound Daft But

[legin]

Reading through this forum there are a lot of people with aux.heaters playing up.I have a 2.8 so there fore no aux.heater and the rear of my car warms up lovely when ever I need it.So why do deisels need this heater if it is so much trouble?

[mumof4]

to help the car heat up faster.

[Neils TDi again]

The design of the efficient cooling system for summer operation but during our normal climate winters the engine fails to reach its optimum running temperature for emmisions and cabin comfort there fore an additional source is needed to remain within the EU legislation regarding emissions and for hte comfort of the rear passengers.

[mumof4]

what he said^^^^^^ i just put it simpler :unsure:

[insider]

Neither of which are entirely correct. The answer is that the diesel engine is more efficient than the petrol engine so doesn't generate as much waste heat. Therefore, when the weather is cold not enough heat is generated to reach normal operating temperature and heat the cabin. It therefore needs a bit of help from another heat source.

[mumof4]

But isnt that roughly translated as heats the car up quicker??..My booster heater never worked and it usually took about half an hour driving for my hands to unfreeze from the steering wheel and the kids tongues to detach from the windows so the way i see it, it heats the car quicker.as with it my Gal would have been warm a lot quicker with a working booster heater.

[insider]

Yes, it does heat the car up quicker than if it wasn't there, but my answer was to the original question:

 

So why do deisels need this heater if it is so much trouble?

[mumof4]

Ahhhh..apologies insider. :P im on a chocky high today. B)

[legin]

Thank you now Ifully understand!

[gregers]

do you?well im still baffled coz the bloody things fail constantly and cause no end of grief in people getting them to work,for an engine that is more efficient it has bolted to it a very unreliable piece of equipment.

[insider]

Efficiency does not equal reliability!

[gregers]

i know but with a bit of common sense im sure the designers could of achieved something that went hand in hand.

[insider]

I believe the new Galaxy and S-MAX diesel models have an electric booster heater which generates extra heat for the passenger compartment (but does not heat the coolant). This should be more reliable.

There is also a fuel-fired booster heater available which does the same job as the one on the Mk2 Galaxy, i.e. heating the coolant. Time will tell whether it's more reliable though!