Permanent Removal Of Rear Heater Unit

[bpenman]

Hi all

 

I've got a mark 2 Sharan 1.9 tdi that I'm using some of the time as a campervan.  I've gradually made some "improvements" as you do, and I've been looking at the nsr trim panel for ages wondering what's behind it and whether there's any useable space, always an issue with campervanning.  Got round to removing it yesterday to find the whole space taken up by the rear heater unit.  Or at least I assume it's just a heater despite a label on it saying air conditioning unit.  I can only see a couple of 1 inch rubber pipes going in and two electrical connectors, and I'm assuming the pipes are for hot coolant from the engine.  I've done a bit of searching on here and it seems like that's one of the possible arrangements.  Anyway it's a big lump and I could find a hundred and one uses for the space.  It looks like a straightforward job to remove it and link up the pipes to maintain coolant circulation, either at the heater end or in the engine bay which is probably the better idea, I'm assuming I could take one pipe off, cut the other one a foot or so long and join it back to the open manifold or whatever (haven't actually checked this bit yet.)  Then top up the fluid.

 

So the question is will I be giving myself headaches that I can't forsee with this plan?  As with most things in the car my experience is that things are always more complicated than they look, so any thoughts from those in the know would be much appreciated.

 

Cheers

Bruce.

[daddyfixit]

 its dead easy to un-plumb it, remove it and join  the 2 pipes together but be warned;

 

1. but you will have virtually no heating system in the car when it comes to winter, which means you wont be a happy camper or traveller as you will rely 100%on heated front screen .

 

2. you will lose the extra- cooling ability for the engine if we ever get this hot weather again (or you are stuck in m6/m5 traffic jams)

 

3. the engine will take longer to reach operating temperature so it will not be as efficient as it was meant to be.

 

4. the longer an engine takes to warm up--the more its wearing itself out.

 

I would ask whats so important to add-on to a car that you risk the above ???

[bpenman]

 its dead easy to un-plumb it, remove it and join  the 2 pipes together but be warned;

 

1. but you will have virtually no heating system in the car when it comes to winter, which means you wont be a happy camper or traveller as you will rely 100%on heated front screen .

 

2. you will lose the extra- cooling ability for the engine if we ever get this hot weather again (or you are stuck in m6/m5 traffic jams)

 

3. the engine will take longer to reach operating temperature so it will not be as efficient as it was meant to be.

 

4. the longer an engine takes to warm up--the more its wearing itself out.

 

I would ask whats so important to add-on to a car that you risk the above ???

 

Thanks for taking the time to reply. To answer the last point first, space for a proper fridge and an extra 8 inches width for my bed which is barely a double at the moment.  The car is now more often in campervan mode and I plan to take it to Spain for the winter, which might take care of point one but give more emphasis to point two.  Except that I don't understand either point. 

1. Are you saying that taking the rear heater out of the coolant loop will affect the front heater as well?  Or is it something to do with the electrics?  Why will I not be able to use the front heater as normal in all its positions including front cab heating? 

2. Is putting the heating on in the cabin is an effective way of cooling the engine in hot weather?  Can't the cooling system be relied on to do that on its own?  And what about the occupants?

[bigdave982]

I think the only tjing you will lose is the ability to blow hot air into the rear of car, not an issue if no-one is sitting there. Booster heater is outside anyway. All you are doing is slighty reducing the overall fluid capacity

[daddyfixit]

the booster heater is there because (by design) the pd engine wastes virtually no heat from the combustion chamber into the cylinder block (water jacket)---so the coolant stays cooler than usual diesel cars.  the booster heater is there to heat up the coolant to allow the engine to reach operating temperature quickly (also providing hot water for the heating system)---and yes as you said, its an integral part of the engines cooling/heating system.

   by reducing the total capacity of water in the system, the safety net of having "loads" of water to cool the engine, or to heat up the car would be reduced.

 

my booster heater was off for the winter before last, I drove around 20 miles to a friends house to jump start her car in snow/icy weather and the galaxy temp gauge was still on the cold markings.....not enough to warm the screen on my car nor to provide any warmth for me to defrost !!!

[bpenman]

the booster heater is there because (by design) the pd engine wastes virtually no heat from the combustion chamber into the cylinder block (water jacket)---so the coolant stays cooler than usual diesel cars.  the booster heater is there to heat up the coolant to allow the engine to reach operating temperature quickly (also providing hot water for the heating system)---and yes as you said, its an integral part of the engines cooling/heating system.

   by reducing the total capacity of water in the system, the safety net of having "loads" of water to cool the engine, or to heat up the car would be reduced.

 

my booster heater was off for the winter before last, I drove around 20 miles to a friends house to jump start her car in snow/icy weather and the galaxy temp gauge was still on the cold markings.....not enough to warm the screen on my car nor to provide any warmth for me to defrost !!!

 

OK I think I see what you're getting at.  But the booster heater (the one under the car with the glow plug problems lots have posted about) has never worked since I got the car five years ago.  I wasn't even aware of it until I started coming on here to be honest.  I've done 100,000 miles on it and apart from the age to warm up the cab heating in the winter it hasn't been a problem, although I note your point about increased engine wear.  I've got no plans to fix that issue at the moment though, a bit technical for me I think and no way am I paying the local Ford dealership to do it.

 

I've had a look in the engine bay and convinced myself it would be much easier just linking the rubber coolant pipes at the rear heater end with a bit of metal tubing or similar, I think that would largely avoid your coolant capacity problem since it would only be the capacity of the heater itself that I'd loose.  It would also be an easy job to put it back together if needed.  Everything I've done on the campervan conversion up to now has been non-permanent and easily reversible so it would fit that approach.

[PeterMoon]

Hi,was wondering how to get the rear panels off in back of car to get to heater,where do you start? cheers Pete

[BrianH]

Hi,was wondering how to get the rear panels off in back of car to get to heater,where do you start? cheers Pete

Not relating to the heater specifically, but this should cover it

 

http://www.fordgalaxy.org.uk/ford/index.php?/topic/8129-speaker-replacement/&do=findComment&comment=61274

[PeterMoon]

Thanks Brian ,ver helpfull.Do you know whats under the left hand side ? im told the aux heater matrix but theres seems to be a large plastic box shaped unit you can see in when the small panel is removed near aux socket.

[BrianH]

I think i know the bit you mean from when i had mine off to put the load cover in. I think thats just a housing/cover nothing functional from what i remember, but I never removed it to tell for sure.

 

It could be a housing for something the aspen spec doesn't have though, or could be part of the aux heater (mine is a petrol model, so only has the rear heater fed from the engine). It may be part of the ducting for the rear heater, particularly if its black plastic?