Parking Heaters

[Bailes1992]

Just after some opinions.
My car uses the EGR during the winter to warm the engine up. Basically when the tempreture is below a certain tempreture it keeps the EGR open which makes the car almost undriveable. The reason being there is a water jacket in the EGR pipe between the exhaust and inlet manifold. When the exhaust gasses flow it sems up the coolant that flows through the water jacket.
I have disabled the EGR valve as it improves the economy and generall engine charecteristics by quite a bit. It also ensures engine oil life is maximised as it reduces the amount of abrasives in the oil and also keeps the acidity to a minimum.
Now the car takes about 5miles longer to warm up once the tempretures start dropping. No big deal really. It gets upto about 70°c quite fast but takes about 10miles to get from 70°c to 90°.
I have dropped down to a 0w30 oil to ensure better protection while the engine is cold. I have a suplimentary heater before the heater matrix which comes on when the outside tempreture is below 6°c so heat is instant anyway so interior heat isnt an issue escpecially with the quick clear windscreen.
I'm more concerned about getting upto tempreture quicker.
I have been reading up on Webasto parking heaters. They fit between the engine and the heater matrix and burn a small amount of fuel to warm the interior and the engine of the car.
Worth a read...
http://www.parkingheater.co.uk/fileadmi ... 009_uk.pdf

I'm currently waiting on a price which I expect to be around £500 - £700, although pricey I think it's piece of mind that my engine will be warm when I get in it on a cold morning. It can also be wired up to the heater blower so when you switch it on it blows hot air into the interior.

What do we think?

Bailes.

[FarmerPug]

Ive always liked the idea of one of these to avoid wear on the engine when starting up, but i suppose in a car like the 406 that has been through 11 winters its a bit late (although it still has its EGR valve in place), on your mondeo though which is newer and with no EGR it would make sense.

Have you thought of putting a run lock kit in the car instead, it would be a lot cheaper. Turn the car on, turn on the run lock, take the key out and lock the car, go inside and have a cup of tea then return to a warmed up car.

[steve_earwig]

It probably won't like idling for that amount of time

If you do fit one, put a big sign in the window for the firemen...

[Bailes1992]

The engine dosent idle with the parking heater on. That's the point! No need to start the engine cold!

I am thinking about a run lock kit, mainly for when I'm in and out of places like shops etc.
They're easy to make and if I do fit one il be fitting switches on all the pedals so if anyone presses any one of then it will cut the engine completely.

I wouldn't fit a parking heater on a HDi as you could probably pick up an engine for £250! A secondhand engine with my engine code is around £1700 fitted. If I go to ford for a new engine fitted I'd be looking around £6000.
Saying that I could probably pick up a TDDi/TDCI engine from a focus and swap all the pumps and ancillaries over.

[FarmerPug]

I suppose there might be a bit of wear when starting in the cold, but i thought giving a car the beans when its cold is worse for the engine.

The run lock kits are easy to make, i bought the kit for the 406, but did the same on the subaru with bits and pieces i had lying around, i still have the wiring diagram that came with the kit i bought, send me a PM if you ever need it.

As for picking up a HDi engine for £250, ive got one sitting in my garage, picking it up is the only issue, its a bit heavy

[Bailes1992]

I think the majority of wear occurs that first few seconds when the engine is spinning and there's no oil circulating. This was the main reason for dropping down to a 0w30 oil.
I think that aslong as there is oil flowing regardless of temperature very little wear is going to be done unless you do boot it while it's cold.
My morning ritual is to turn everything off and dip the clutch to start the engine with minimal load. I wait for the preheater light to extinguish and turn it over. As soon as it starts I let go of the clutch and let it idle for about 60s. Then il start turning heaters and headlights and whatnot on. Then drive off.
I drive it as easy as I possibly can keeping it under 2,500rpm until it starts warming up.

With the EGR fully functional the car gets upto 90 degrees in just a few miles but it car drives like a pig until it warms up as the ECU just jams the EGR fully open. You have to pull off at 2,500rpm minimum or it will just bog down and stall. Surely that alone can't be doing the engine any good! Let alone the clutch.

[steve_earwig]

The engine dosent idle with the parking heater on. That's the point! No need to start the engine cold!

Well yeah

I probably mentioned this before but they're fitted as standard on some TD Flealanders (my dad's had one) and I remember following a thread on the owner's klub where one owner finally figured out why his didn't work - it'd been nicked

[Bailes1992]

I think most the ones fitted as standard are electric. The HDi has them. It's basically a block with 4 Glowplugs in it.
Unfortunately as ford decided that jamming the EGR wide open when the car was cold was a better... Er I mean cheaper option it didn't get one.

[rwb]

They were an option on 407s. I don't have one.

[GingerMagic]

These have been around one lorries for many many years, used as a way of keeping the cab warm for when sleeping at night.

They were made by a company called Eberspacher, based in Ringwood, and run on diesel but the amount used is absolutely minimal. I think if this was fitted to a car it would be like a greenhouse in a few minutes...

[Bailes1992]

Flat out the Webasto uses about 250ml in 20mins but once it's upto temperature it uses minimal amounts. More like 50ml every 20mins!

[steve_earwig]

Eberspacher

Cheers, I was trying to remember that name earlier. I had one in the cab of my A-series BT box van, it ran on lpg (had a bottle in a box on the side that was plumbed in to it - until it fell out and leaked gas everywhere), all it did was blow warm air into the cab though, no heat to the engine.

I think most the ones fitted as standard are electric.

We had someone on here a while back with one fitted as standard to a 406, can't remember where from but it ran on diesel. Same with my dad's, when it was running it produced clouds of smoke/steam from under the front l/h wheel arch just like that Audi in Welly's vid (wonder if they sold them so equipped in Italy...)

I reckon one that runs on electrickery will be cheaper but it all depends if you can get power to it where you park it.