Factory auxiliary coolant heater (electric)

[farndalebarry]

Factory auxiliary coolant heater (electric) - Specifically NOT the various cabin supplementary or parking heaters. I've searched the forums for this and there are many posts about supplementary heaters, mainly around the various forms of cabin/parking/campervan heaters, usually diesel-fired. I'm asking about the electric coolant heater fitted to the engine block which is simply intended to provide faster engine warm-up, and I haven't found any posts yet about this. Mine was specified as a factory option in 2017, as Auxiliary heater (coolant) SM5 . See attached. It was a relatively low cost at £280 compared to £thousands for the higher-end supplementary heaters. My factory heater has worked well for 5 to 6 years but I've realised recently that it has failed. There is NOT a switch, but there might be a temperature sensor and/or a relay with or without a timer or a control module.

Can anyone advise please where this heater is located in the block, and/or where the fuse is located? And if there is a temperature sensor and/or a relay or control module? Otherwise, it looks like I'll have the joy of a main dealer. Either way, once I've done the diagnosis, if it isn't a blown fuse, I suspect the heater element or other items will be VW main dealer parts.

 

[Salty Spuds]

Your auxiliary coolant heater is a diesel powered heater, not electric. It's mounted under the van around the passenger seat area. It automatically kicks in when the ambient temperature falls below 5C. If you look on the drivers door pillar, there will be a sticker with something like "webasto 5KW heater fitted"

PS the search function is your friend.....

Webasto Thermo & Comfort

Hello My Van has a sticker which says 'Webasto Thermo & Comfort' on the door pillar. I understand that this is something to do with pre-heating or rapidly heating the engine cooling circuit in cold weather. But can anyone explain (in simple terms) what / why VW installed this? I don't want to...

www.t6forum.com

 

[oldiebut goodie]

If you have an electric block heater it will be mains powered so you will have been plugging the van in every night then?

 

[Salty Spuds]

If you have an electric block heater it will be mains powered so you will have been plugging the van in every night then?

nah! "9M5" is the webasto aux coolant heater. I have the same one.

 

[farndalebarry]

Thanks to all of you for all your replies. Much appreciated. I was wrong and you are all correct.
I had a crawl around underneath yesterday and found the described diesel heater and its coolant hoses (although there's no door pillar sticker on either side). The little exhaust was the first obvious clue once I understood what I was not looking for instead of an electric block heater. Every day is a learning day and it shows I should not have believed that salesman back in 2017. Never mind, onwards now with some diagnostics (after I've read all the other posts about the Webasto heater).

 

[n10n]

It is perfectly possible to have both though, very common in Nordics.

I’m not sure if the electric one would ever have been a factory option but fitted by dealer before delivery, sure. Defa and Calix are two manufacturers I’m aware of. If you had this it would be mains powered like @oldiebut goodie mentioned and there would be a small EHU socket for it, typically in front grille or bumper.

Edit: And even the electric ones have two variations: water heater that heats the block and radiation heater that heats the oil sump

 

[Green Giant]

I’ve asked about these engine coolant pre heaters on a different thread recently, can someone confirm a T6.1 panel van will have this fitted as standard? I know vw did some cost cutting with the T6.1, there are no stickers and I’ll have to jack the van up to remove the plastic under shields to take a look, is there any way of knowing it’s working when it fires up in the cold weather? (If it has one)
Is there an option to switch it on for 30 minutes to pre warm the coolant before starting the engine? powering it from the leisure battery?
I contacted a Webasto main dealer/installer this week and have been told it’s not possible on a T6.1? Sorry that I’m confused with this

 

[Salty Spuds]

I’ve asked about these engine coolant pre heaters on a different thread recently, can someone confirm a T6.1 panel van will have this fitted as standard? I know vw did some cost cutting with the T6.1, there are no stickers and I’ll have to jack the van up to remove the plastic under shields to take a look, is there any way of knowing it’s working when it fires up in the cold weather? (If it has one)
Is there an option to switch it on for 30 minutes to pre warm the coolant before starting the engine? powering it from the leisure battery?
I contacted a Webasto main dealer/installer this week and have been told it’s not possible on a T6.1? Sorry that I’m confused with thisView attachment 306354

Afaik they were never a standard fitment. It was an option on the T6. If there isn’t a sticker on the driver’s door reveal, no banana.

 

[Green Giant]

That’s my gut feeling, I’ve not seen many posts with people talking about them, ie a problem, I’ve been told by Webasto specialist that they are fitted as standard, I didn’t really believe that, been told that it’s not available for a t6.1?
All I want to do is get someone to plumb a coolant heater into the van so when I turn it over at -35 it starts ok, I’ll call a few other installers I think

 

[Richard T6.1]

I have both heaters on my '24 T6.1. A factory option when I ordered the van. These stickers are at the door:

 

[Green Giant]

Yes, I’ve worked out the Technical guy from Webasto who said my van should have the coolant heater as standard is wrong, not sure i want to deal with them anymore, I’m not technically minded, but surely a coolant heater would be almost the same installation as a hot air heater, like my Eberspacher? Pump to fuel tank, power from leisure battery, power to a switch/contoller and plumb the heater into the coolant loop, I can’t see why anything would need to be coded into the ECU as I’ve been told by Wabasto engineer, I think I’ll try Autoterm to see if they can fit one.

 

[Cog Head]

Is there a way to run the Webasto before starting the engine? To kinda pre-heat the engine / coolant?

 

[Richard T6.1]

Is there a way to run the Webasto before starting the engine? To kinda pre-heat the engine / coolant?

No. The engine/coolant heater operates independently. There is no button or menu option for it.

 

[Cog Head]

Is there any way of manipulating it to do that?

I once started the van to move it forward to load it up while it was below 0C turned it off, loaded it up, then about 20 mins later I started it up again only to find the engine temp gauge almost at full working temp, if I can find the activation circuit and put a sword inline with it, maybe that would work?

 

[Richard T6.1]

Dunno... technically I think it should be possible but I guess it depends how 'independent' the heater really is - i.e. how deep it's integrated in the electronics? If at all.

 

[Salty Spuds]

Is there any way of manipulating it to do that?

I once started the van to move it forward to load it up while it was below 0C turned it off, loaded it up, then about 20 mins later I started it up again only to find the engine temp gauge almost at full working temp, if I can find the activation circuit and put a sword inline with it, maybe that would work?

There’s a whole thread dedicated to just that subject. The search function will reveal all.

 

[mmi]

I can’t see why anything would need to be coded into the ECU as I’ve been told by Wabasto engineer

Well, that's the way VW has implemented auxiliary coolant heater. Coding probably enables engine to request help with heating.