Irishrover · Jan 30, 2014

:behindsofa:
Hi folks....just a quickie.
2002, TD4,5door, ES
I noticed the other day, sat in the motor with the engine ticking over whilst waiting for Er Indoors, that when I turned the heater temperature control up from the normal "12 o'clock" position-the backlight on the clock display dimmed slightly and the idle speed dropped slightly for a second or two before settling back to normal. When the temp. control knob was returned to the 12o'clock position the clock illumination got slightly brighter and the engine speed did another little twitch.
The aircon was switched off, blower fan set at no. 2 and the air distribution set at feet and screen (The setting before Demist). The car does not have a FBH fitted. No problems with the battery, the aircon works fine.
To me, it appears like either a heavy electrical load being put on the alternator for some unknown reason.
Perhaps someone could check if their Hippo acts the same-or- shed some light on a possible cause/explanation

thequeenscheese · Jan 30, 2014

Mine is early 2000 and cable fedto control the heater, maybe yrsis electrically controlled and is normal/something on the way out? Other than that no idea..

td4van · Jan 30, 2014

It's your PTC heater - it's an electric heater fitted instead of the FBH to add extra heat before the engine has warmed up

thequeenscheese · Jan 30, 2014

td4van said:
It's your PTC heater - it's an electric heater fitted instead of the FBH to add extra heat before the engine has warmed up

Wish id got one of those, or if i have it dont work brrr lol

Skinny Mike · Jan 30, 2014

Yup
Same model except 3 doors. Mine does exactly the same. Quality engineering eh!
Mike

edwardcraney2012 · Jan 30, 2014

Mine does the same too, even with fan off if you turn the heat up it bothers it just like you say and dims the headlights for a a second.

Irishrover · Jan 30, 2014

:behindsofa:

Thanks for the input guys :clap2::smokin::tea:
From what you have posted it looks like it's a "Normal" thing.
I have had the motor just over a year it's probably been like that since I had it and I have not noticed it the past !!

Epicuser · Jan 31, 2014

td4van said:
It's your PTC heater - it's an electric heater fitted instead of the FBH to add extra heat before the engine has warmed up

So if you have the PTC heater, you don't need the FBH?

I thought the PTC heater worked when the engine was warm but turned off and gave you heat in the cabin for a while. That is what my old e39 BMW 530d did. I'm sure that's what I read in my 2005 manual.

DefUnct · Jan 31, 2014

I may be wrong - but as far as i know, from what you describe, your air con was on in that situation - if you have the air distribution set to demist or the feet and screen setting, then i think air con is automatically turned on (but the air con button wont light up)

Maybe its something to do with that?

Irishrover · Jan 31, 2014

DefUnct said:
I may be wrong - but as far as i know, from what you describe, your air con was on in that situation - if you have the air distribution set to demist or the feet and screen setting, then i think air con is automatically turned on (but the air con button wont light up)

Maybe its something to do with that?

:behindsofa:

Never thought of that !!! I was under the impression that the aircon only came on when the distribution was set at demist only.

I will have a look later (It's blowin a gale and pi**ing rain here at the moment) when we go out. I'll try the distribution in all positions and post the results.
If it does turn out to be the aircon kicking in, I'm not overly concerned as all the electric functions and the engine etc. are working fine. I rarely turn the heater temp. knob from the mid position. The last time it was moved was last summer when I had the aircon running a lot.

longdog · Jan 31, 2014

As said in post #3, it's your PTC heater, it can draw up to 75 amps.
See Rave Disc 1/Description and Operation/Heating and Ventilation.

teddywood1 · Jan 31, 2014

get your bonnet open and get some one to change the setting of the airflow while you look at the 2 fans on the rad if they both come on then the air con has kicked in

hd3 · Jan 31, 2014

the ptc heater ups the idle revs to about 850 ..
the extra idle rpm sometime kick in some seconds after the ptc is switched on ..
( lamps will resume normal brightness )

switching on the aircon doesn't increase the idle revs
but will increase the idle litres-per-hour fuel consumption
( by about the same amount as when the idle revs increase with the ptc heater )

source: scangauge rpm/LPH readout

the ptc heater can be disabled by removing the in-cab relay ..
although in winter temps the coolant heater on it's own don't keep yer toes toasty
( especially if the ac is being used as well

i'm aiming to install a seperate ptc switch for the spring/autumn months

Irishrover · Feb 1, 2014

:behindsofa:

Hi again Guys...thanks for all the input, appreciated

I must admit that I had never come across PTC heaters and there is no mention I can find in the version of Rave that I had. I have now got the later version of Rave which covers the later Hippo models up to the "New" version.
Having read about the system I now understand more about it and I am happy that all is well with my Hippo.
Obviously the FBH is well covered amongst Hippo owners, probably more so than the PTC but I hope this topic has enlightened other owners of facelift on Hippo's.
Cheers
:beer2::clap2::clap2::tea:

Irishrover

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thequeenscheese

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td4van

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thequeenscheese

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Skinny Mike

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edwardcraney2012

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Irishrover

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Epicuser

Ex Freelander Owner

DefUnct

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Irishrover

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longdog

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teddywood1

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hd3

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Irishrover

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