Booster Heater, Fires Up But No Heat

[2ManyKids!]

Hi All,

 

I've spent some time searching but unsuccessfully, so I hope someone can suggest what the solution might be to this?

 

The booster heater (under the car) fires up and makes the jet engine noise, but no heat comes through the cabin until the engine is warm. If it makes a noise I'm guessing the glowplug works okay, so the problem is with water not circulating through the heater back to the heater matrix? I've read on here the water pump vane can come unstuck from the shaft on early Mk II's so is that a likely cause?

 

Also, the temperature gauge also only shows a minimum temperature reading (50 degrees), though when I first got the car last summer it used to fluctuate between 50 and 90 degrees, so I'm guessing the Temp Sender has failed so will be replacing in due course.

 

But, it suddenly occurred to me: they aren't related faults are they? I clearly don't want to risk cooking the engine through some sort of blockage in the water system. I have a Peter Russek workshop manual but I find it almost useless in it's depth of detail/advice. Is the water pump for the booster heater on the back of the engine, or driven off the fan/auxiliary belt in the traditional way? I think I also read on here the water pump should be replaced when the cam belt is done, but only the belt was done (by Ford dealer) by the previous owner before selling.

 

Car is X-reg 2000 Mk II, 115PD, Ghia with dual aircon, done 55k miles. Aircon also failed (yes, thanks to seller for lying about 'everything working'! and he works for Ford so presumably could have got it fixed cheap, grrr).

 

If anyone has any tips would be a great help! I appreciate I won't be needing the heater soon with the weather turning, but I'd like to get it sorted at my own pace before something expensive breaks (and while it's dry and warm outside)!

 

Many thanks, Steve

PS when the engine is warm it barely gives any heat into the cabin but I guess thats normal for this diesel?

Edited March 24, 2010 by 2ManyKids!

[Bigjeeze]

Hi All,

 

I've spent some time searching but unsuccessfully, so I hope someone can suggest what the solution might be to this?

 

The booster heater (under the car) fires up and makes the jet engine noise, but no heat comes through the cabin until the engine is warm. If it makes a noise I'm guessing the glowplug works okay, so the problem is with water not circulating through the heater back to the heater matrix? I've read on here the water pump vane can come unstuck from the shaft on early Mk II's so is that a likely cause?

 

Also, the temperature gauge also only shows a minimum temperature reading (50 degrees), though when I first got the car last summer it used to fluctuate between 50 and 90 degrees, so I'm guessing the Temp Sender has failed so will be replacing in due course.

 

But, it suddenly occurred to me: they aren't related faults are they? I clearly don't want to risk cooking the engine through some sort of blockage in the water system. I have a Peter Russek workshop manual but I find it almost useless in it's depth of detail/advice. Is the water pump for the booster heater on the back of the engine, or driven off the fan/auxiliary belt in the traditional way? I think I also read on here the water pump should be replaced when the cam belt is done, but only the belt was done (by Ford dealer) by the previous owner before selling.

 

Car is X-reg 2000 Mk II, 115PD, Ghia with dual aircon, done 55k miles. Aircon also failed (yes, thanks to seller for lying about 'everything working'! and he works for Ford so presumably could have got it fixed cheap, grrr).

 

If anyone has any tips would be a great help! I appreciate I won't be needing the heater soon with the weather turning, but I'd like to get it sorted at my own pace before something expensive breaks (and while it's dry and warm outside)!

 

Many thanks, Steve

PS when the engine is warm it barely gives any heat into the cabin but I guess thats normal for this diesel?

 

Steve

 

 

I am sure you are going to be deluged with advice.

 

Firstly you have in effect two water pumps. There is one on the engine and yes a belt change is a good time to change this, but, you should also check the Run on pump which is an electric pump situated on the bulkhead to the right of the engine bay. You should hear it humming when you switch off the engine. Apart from that you could check for an air lock in the system. There is a huge amount of stuff on the forum about this so enjoy searching!!

 

 

BJ

[George106]

Hi All,

 

Also, the temperature gauge also only shows a minimum temperature reading (50 degrees), though when I first got the car last summer it used to fluctuate between 50 and 90 degrees, so I'm guessing the Temp Sender has failed so will be replacing in due course.

 

 

What about the stuck thermostat open ?

[chrispb123456]

Hi All,

 

I've spent some time searching but unsuccessfully, so I hope someone can suggest what the solution might be to this?

 

The booster heater (under the car) fires up and makes the jet engine noise, but no heat comes through the cabin until the engine is warm. If it makes a noise I'm guessing the glowplug works okay, so the problem is with water not circulating through the heater back to the heater matrix? I've read on here the water pump vane can come unstuck from the shaft on early Mk II's so is that a likely cause?

 

Also, the temperature gauge also only shows a minimum temperature reading (50 degrees), though when I first got the car last summer it used to fluctuate between 50 and 90 degrees, so I'm guessing the Temp Sender has failed so will be replacing in due course.

 

But, it suddenly occurred to me: they aren't related faults are they? I clearly don't want to risk cooking the engine through some sort of blockage in the water system. I have a Peter Russek workshop manual but I find it almost useless in it's depth of detail/advice. Is the water pump for the booster heater on the back of the engine, or driven off the fan/auxiliary belt in the traditional way? I think I also read on here the water pump should be replaced when the cam belt is done, but only the belt was done (by Ford dealer) by the previous owner before selling.

 

Car is X-reg 2000 Mk II, 115PD, Ghia with dual aircon, done 55k miles. Aircon also failed (yes, thanks to seller for lying about 'everything working'! and he works for Ford so presumably could have got it fixed cheap, grrr).

 

If anyone has any tips would be a great help! I appreciate I won't be needing the heater soon with the weather turning, but I'd like to get it sorted at my own pace before something expensive breaks (and while it's dry and warm outside)!

 

Many thanks, Steve

PS when the engine is warm it barely gives any heat into the cabin but I guess thats normal for this diesel?

Hi Steve If the temp guage is only showing cold to warm even with the booster heater running it sounds to me like an open or partly open thermostat I know you said air con s not working but is it still in AUTO mode which means the cooling fans will be running even while engine is cold.

The electric water pump over the back of the engine does circulate the water through the booster heater and rear cabin heater and also runs on for about 5 to 10 mins after engines turned off. If booster heater is still running at full speed after 20mins running and engines still only warm suspect thermostat.

With a normal working Galaxy with working booster should be up to normal working temp 90 deg c in 15 mins. when that temp is reached booster still runs at a reduced rate until temp drops to about 88 deg or if outside air temp rises above 10 deg booster will be turned off. ;)

[2ManyKids!]

Thanks all for your advice! Stuck Thermostat? hadn't thought of that: would that explain the fluctuating temperature reading (it doesn't fluctuate often now, mostly just stuck at 50 degrees)? It looks like my plan of attack is first I will have a listen for run-on pump operation after engine shut-down, then mess about with climate control settings and see if that influences booster heater or temperature gauge operation. Next step might be to replace the temp sender as that looks like a fairly simple operation (as long as I order the right one!), then if there's an airlock that might be tricky to diagnose and fix? Would getting VAG-COM give any fault codes to help (with heater but also aircon issues), assuming I can figure out how to get it working?!

 

Thanks again for everyone kindly taking the time to reply!

Steve

[chrispb123456]

Thanks all for your advice! Stuck Thermostat? hadn't thought of that: would that explain the fluctuating temperature reading (it doesn't fluctuate often now, mostly just stuck at 50 degrees)? It looks like my plan of attack is first I will have a listen for run-on pump operation after engine shut-down, then mess about with climate control settings and see if that influences booster heater or temperature gauge operation. Next step might be to replace the temp sender as that looks like a fairly simple operation (as long as I order the right one!), then if there's an airlock that might be tricky to diagnose and fix? Would getting VAG-COM give any fault codes to help (with heater but also aircon issues), assuming I can figure out how to get it working?!

 

Thanks again for everyone kindly taking the time to reply!

Steve

Hi again just a few more points for you.

If the booster heater is running continueous for more than a few minutes there's unlikely to be anything wrong with the pump they are usually ok for 80 to 90 thousand miles.

Now that the outside air temp is above the 10 deg mark its unlikely that the booster heater will fire up, if it doesnt fire up you can try this start engine leave it ticking over for 10 - 15 mins locate the large water hose going to top of radiator if this feels warm then the thermostat is open or partly open allowing water to flow through the radiator while engine is still only warm also if you say your aircon isnt working make sure its in ECON that should turn the cooling fans off.

Leave temp sender till you have checked/changed thermostat, any air in the system will usually bleed itself out if you leave the cap off for a few minutes.

Common aircon problems are the gas leaking from condenser which is in front of your cooling radiator.

I have a number for a mobile auto aircon man if your in the Maidstone/Medway towns area.

[2ManyKids!]

Thanks ChrisPB!

 

That has given me a few valuable pointers so will be investigating heater hose etc further at the weekend. And hunting through my near-useless Peter Russek manual for details on replacing thermostat!

 

Many thanks, all advice is much appreciated.

 

Cheers,

Steve

[Bigjeeze]

The thermostat it housed behing the Power steering pump. You have to undo the pump and push it to one side - It's fiddly.

[2ManyKids!]

The thermostat it housed behing the Power steering pump. You have to undo the pump and push it to one side - It's fiddly.

 

Eek, that spells sore knuckles! But thanks for the info, much appreciated.

 

Didn't have any time at the weekend but did about 350 miles and paid closer attention to temp gauge and it's actually showing 60 and sometimes 70 when the engine is properly warmed, which does I believe look suspiciously like the thermostat, dammit! Will also try the top hose test on warm-up to confirm when get a moment one eve this week.

[stanwood]

i bought my 1.9td galaxy very cheaply as the previous owner was sick of spending on it i.e new autobox