DBK
LIFE MEMBER
The Webasto diesel heater in our 'van packed up just before Christmas. The error message on the control panel said the combustion fan had failed. Unfortunately, as I've learned from a previous issue you can't trust these messages. A few years ago we had "230V element failed" but subsequently it was discovered the fault was in the relay which controls the 230V going to the heater. This relay is external to the heater and easily replaced and I didn't need to remove the heater - which was a struggle.
But having already had the heater out once I took it out this time in short order and took it down to the Mountbatten Boathouse in Plymouth who are the local Webasto experts.
Their investigations confirmed that this time the error message was correct and the combustion fan had indeed failed. Fast forward a week or so and a few hundred pounds lighter I refitted the heater.
And it didn't work. A red light and "loss of data connection" flashed up on the screen. My own investigations identified a 5A fuse was blowing.
So today it was back to Mountbatten this time with the complete 'van so to speak as Mervyn (Mr Webasto) wanted to see if it was a heater problem or a "van" problem.
Mervyn soon confirmed the heater was working correctly and his diagnostic software revealed the 5A fuse was blowing when the glow plug was turned on.
Mervyn then started tracing the wiring loom and mentioned that he was looking to see if the fuses were in the correct position. The Webasto uses 3 fuses, two 15A ones and a 5A one which powers the controller. He said he had seen fuses swapped around before.
At this point my synapsis had a brief period of action and I remembered I had photographed the fuse box before I removed the fuses before taking the heater out.
Here's the photo I took.
The photo is the right way up, if it looks odd it's because some of the fuses are upside down - but they still work! The top left fuse is 10A and is nothing to do with the heater. Below it are two 15A and below them a 5A fuse. These three are the ones which power the Webasto. As a reminder, the photo was taken before I removed the fuses and in an ideal world I would have referred to this photo when I replaced the heater. But I didn't and trusted my memory and blithly put the 5A fuse above the two 15A ones!
This was why the fuse was blowing, it wasn't rated for a glow plug!
All working now and the bill for an hour's labour was £78 which is reasonable by today's prices. Assuming the Murvi gets through the MOT in a couple of weeks we will be ready for our first trip of the year at the end of March in Somerset then in early April back to France.
But having already had the heater out once I took it out this time in short order and took it down to the Mountbatten Boathouse in Plymouth who are the local Webasto experts.
Their investigations confirmed that this time the error message was correct and the combustion fan had indeed failed. Fast forward a week or so and a few hundred pounds lighter I refitted the heater.
And it didn't work. A red light and "loss of data connection" flashed up on the screen. My own investigations identified a 5A fuse was blowing.
So today it was back to Mountbatten this time with the complete 'van so to speak as Mervyn (Mr Webasto) wanted to see if it was a heater problem or a "van" problem.
Mervyn soon confirmed the heater was working correctly and his diagnostic software revealed the 5A fuse was blowing when the glow plug was turned on.
Mervyn then started tracing the wiring loom and mentioned that he was looking to see if the fuses were in the correct position. The Webasto uses 3 fuses, two 15A ones and a 5A one which powers the controller. He said he had seen fuses swapped around before.
At this point my synapsis had a brief period of action and I remembered I had photographed the fuse box before I removed the fuses before taking the heater out.
Here's the photo I took.
The photo is the right way up, if it looks odd it's because some of the fuses are upside down - but they still work! The top left fuse is 10A and is nothing to do with the heater. Below it are two 15A and below them a 5A fuse. These three are the ones which power the Webasto. As a reminder, the photo was taken before I removed the fuses and in an ideal world I would have referred to this photo when I replaced the heater. But I didn't and trusted my memory and blithly put the 5A fuse above the two 15A ones!
This was why the fuse was blowing, it wasn't rated for a glow plug!
All working now and the bill for an hour's labour was £78 which is reasonable by today's prices. Assuming the Murvi gets through the MOT in a couple of weeks we will be ready for our first trip of the year at the end of March in Somerset then in early April back to France.
