Aux Heater Glowplug

[galaxygranddad]

I am not mechanically minded and have a Galaxy 1.9 diesel to move the grandchildren around.

 

Every time it gets cold I am covered in smokey diesel fumes.

 

The garage has identified the glowplug on the aux heater as the fault, which does stop the fumes

until the next cold snap.

 

I have now had four replacement plugs in three years and Ford have decided it

must be the control box, which is a very expensive solution.

 

Any thoughts on my next move.

 

Thank you

[Bigjeeze]

Firstly

 

Year, Model and mileage would help. It may be something small like a sensor - or the metering pump or even a new heater complete ( around the

[chrispb123456]

I am not mechanically minded and have a Galaxy 1.9 diesel to move the grandchildren around.

 

Every time it gets cold I am covered in smokey diesel fumes.

 

The garage has identified the glowplug on the aux heater as the fault, which does stop the fumes

until the next cold snap.

 

I have now had four replacement plugs in three years and Ford have decided it

must be the control box, which is a very expensive solution.

 

Any thoughts on my next move.

 

Thank you

Hi there firstly welcome to the site.

 

A few points to check.

A. Certain amount of fumes to be expected as long as there's no visible smoke when running, you should only see a puff of smoke when starting up and shutting down.

B. If you do a lot of short start stop journey's there's probably oily soot built up inside combustion chamber, (will require strip down to fix)

C. Blower (combustion fan) partly seized, does the heater sound like a jet turbine when running?

D. Does the heater seem to start and stop repeatedly even though the engine still showing cold. (if so run on pump not working)

 

see how you get on, there are detailed instructions with pictures on stripping down heater. :rolleyes:

Edited October 19, 2010 by chrispb123456

[Mirez]

To go through that many plugs would indicate the heating cycle is running way more then it should do. So as chris says, the runon pump and motor should be checked but also the temperature sensors within the unit are reporting good readings. Lots of small journeys (less then 10 minutes) do seem to have a negative impact on the plugs life though. Generally, Eberspacher make good kit, and the aux heater is fully serviceable so replacing the whole unit is realy a last resort. If they want to replace the control unit then I would want to know exactly what they are making that call on.

[gregers]

just for info,ive just had a price from my loal vw for a replacment glow plug,

[chrispb123456]

just for info,ive just had a price from my loal vw for a replacment glow plug,

[gregers]

just for info,ive just had a price from my loal vw for a replacment glow plug,

[Mikef]

I had thw white smoke issue for a while last winter...then toward the end it stopped producing smoke, and stopped heating...thes elast few days of cold waether have reminded me that I need to look at it again. If it isnt heating, or producing smoke, is tehre a logical next step to look at, or do you think its beyond redemption?

 

cheers

 

mikef

[Bigjeeze]

Dear All

 

 

Have a look at this doc - I don't remember who posted it but it was so good I kept it. Apologies to the originator.

Booster Heater.pdf

[Mikef]

Thanks for posting that Bigjeeze...it makes the process look straightforward (though I suspect that in practice you spend a lot of time ttrying to loosen up nuts and need gallons of penetrating oil!!).

 

I'll have to invest in the VAG software, I'm not totally convinced that my problem is just the glowplug now.

 

 

cheers

 

mikef

[Mirez]

Have a look at this doc - I don't remember who posted it but it was so good I kept it. Apologies to the originator.

 

That would be me, I need to make the copyright info bolder evidently :) I'm actually going to ammend it soon with some more info on the pump and vagcom testing.