Does Freelander have aux heater??

I only ask because the other night it was quite chilly and I drove home from work and parked the Freelander on the drive. I could hear a noise which I can only describe as similar to that which comes out a central heating boiler flue if you were stood outside?!? It only ran for 10 or 20 secs and then stopped?

I know some of the 'luxury 4x4' models have an auxiliary heater or parking heater and wondered if the Freelander has one too and if not cam anyone tell me what it might be?

Cheers

Si

Fitted to some TD4'S was an optional extra a webco heater , and it works very well, but if you park in say a garage ,it can fill it with fumes, you can also get an electrical [mains operated] timer kit, so for extreem cold you can time for warming up before you drive away

Ming - thanks for that, that's exactly what I had heard of before. Is there any way of actually confirming it has one?? Also does it work independently on it's own I.e switches on and off on some sort of thermostat?? And what's the idea behind it, as on this occasion it was on when I switched the engine off, although I suppose it could of been on whilst driving but I wouldn't of noticed it until I parked and got out.

Si

look under ns wheel arch - i think thats where the exhaust erm exhausts .

Sit said:

Ming - thanks for that, that's exactly what I had heard of before. Is there any way of actually confirming it has one?? Also does it work independently on it's own I.e switches on and off on some sort of thermostat?? And what's the idea behind it, as on this occasion it was on when I switched the engine off, although I suppose it could of been on whilst driving but I wouldn't of noticed it until I parked and got out.

Si

Click to expand...

its quite clever. . . .its a small burner [using fuel from tank] it heats up if say ambient temperature is below a set point think its about 5 deg c but not sure ,anyhows it heats up the engine water [coolant] on start up before the engine can, so decreasing heat up time,so nice warm engine and cab

That is very clever!! I will check under the n/s wheelarch for an exhaust then. Be quite nice if it does have it, were they fitted to many or would it have been quite an expensive option by Land Rover?

Si

Its confirmed i have a small exhaust outlet in front of the wheel in the n/s wheel arch - guess that was pretty jammy really as the previous owner didn't know it was fitted!!

Is it a serviceable item or does it require any routine maintenance? I can't find anything that relates to it in my handbook.

Si

No not really seem to be bomb proof go into search on lz but bear in mind it will be peeps who are having trouble . . . . .

As Ming says, it is a Webasto diesel burning heater behind the nearside bumper.

It has it's own fuel pump and is activated when the ignition is turned on and the ambient temperature is below 5deg C.

The TD4 is a cooler running BMW engine that takes longer to warm up, this heater is directly connected into the cooling circuit so that it brings the water up to temp a lot quicker

It'll produce some smoke on cold days - which can be alarming, and even drop little sparks ! The noise is the unit winding down afer you turn the engine off.

There are 2 accessories for it -
- one is a timer device that will turn it on at a time you set - prior to getting in and driving off on a cold morning
- the other is a remote control you can blip from yer warm kitchen on a frosty day to start it up in advance

I looked into getting the remote control add-on but, it was a whopping £1,100
so, I keep my coat buttoned up longer

Cheers Mark - very informative. Seems like a great idea really especially if you consider the weather we had earlier in the year!!

So if the remote cost £1100 then how much was the original heater to have fitted in the first place?!?

Where did you research or find the cost for the accessories out of interest?

Si

No idea what it cost originally as an option.
But I am sure glad whoever first bought mine ne had it.
I had it in mind that it was fitted to most if not al TD4s, but I could be wrong.

The remote switching price was from ringing around LR dealers about 4 years ago.

I even searched the internet on Webasto heaters but could find no satisfactory answers.
Considered a manual switch but never really chased it down further

they were fitted on all td4 sport up until july 2005 then it was a option for £400

There was a member on another forum who carried out a conversion on his FBH with a kit bought from Maplins. I think he paid about £40 and he can switch on the heater from inside the house with the remote control before he goes out.
Very handy on frosty mornings.

you can easily make your own remote feature for this using some parts from R.S. like timer modules etc..

its easily to turn the heater on manually just by shorting a cable.

That's what I thought - but which cable ?

theres a positive cable on the heater itself, it just needs +12v applied to it and it satrts all the heating process and when you take away the 12 volts it starts the shutdown / cooling process automaticly.

im going to stick a switch in the dash so i can turn it on manually if needed.