Defender heating not sufficient.

My defender 110 station waggon isn't putting much heat out from the heater is this a common problem and if so what can be done? I used to have a 1959 series 2a which was much warmer with a good heater!

Obviously, since it is getting chilly now I'd like this dealing with before I go snowboarding for the season..

Common problems. Seal between the heater box and the bulkhead rotting away so heat escapes.
The flap inside of the box not operating correctly or cable out of adjustment.
If slow to heat up could be engine thermostat fail.

drex said:

My defender 110 station waggon isn't putting much heat out from the heater is this a common problem and if so what can be done? I used to have a 1959 series 2a which was much warmer with a good heater!

Obviously, since it is getting chilly now I'd like this dealing with before I go snowboarding for the season..

Click to expand...

Remove heater box, drill out the pop rivets, if the matrix is OK, replace the foam packing around the matrix, pop rivet the box back together again.

All the above & fit a cover to allow the engine to warm up faster,don’t cover the intercooler side though.

drex said:

My defender 110 station waggon isn't putting much heat out from the heater is this a common problem and if so what can be done? I used to have a 1959 series 2a which was much warmer with a good heater!

Obviously, since it is getting chilly now I'd like this dealing with before I go snowboarding for the season..

Click to expand...

What engine?
If 200 you are going to have a cold winter
If 300 you are going to have a cold winter
If td5 you are going to have a cold winter
If newer than the above I have no idea but can guess!

lynall said:

What engine?
If 200 you are going to have a cold winter
If 300 you are going to have a cold winter
If td5 you are going to have a cold winter
If newer than the above I have no idea but can guess!

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My puma has cold climate pack - a heater like a volcano and botty warmers. And air con for the summer .

Wimblowdriver said:

My puma has cold climate pack - a heater like a volcano and botty warmers. And air con for the summer .

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We have similar in our 96 vintage, but its done slightly differently.
We hang the winter coats and longjohns near the door for the winter.
We have windows and front vents for the summer.
We take care of ourselves and the heater/fan just keeps the screen clear.

Thats not true actually the little 2.0mpi warms up pretty quick (electric fan) and the heater actually chucks out a good bit of heat.
So for the problem I would look as suggested bad sealing or thermostat opening to early/stuck open, so heat is getting out before it gets to the human.

J

I've just installed a 2nd heater unit in mine, under the centre cuddy. Completely hidden, except for the air vent.

Arctic heaters work a treat!!!

lynall said:

What engine?
If 200 you are going to have a cold winter
If 300 you are going to have a cold winter
If td5 you are going to have a cold winter
If newer than the above I have no idea but can guess!

Click to expand...

If V8 you are going to have a hot winter

cappers said:

If V8 you are going to have a hot winter

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If you have a house and you pay the bills you cannot afford to run a v8 defender

Out of interest how many miles do you have to do in a v8 to get any heat from the heater?
In the 200/300 it is anywhere between 3 and 5 miles depending on outside temp.

lynall said:

What engine?
If 200 you are going to have a cold winter
If 300 you are going to have a cold winter
If td5 you are going to have a cold winter
If newer than the above I have no idea but can guess!

Click to expand...

My 300 ain't bad really. I just dress according.

My V8 in the garage yesterday, startup & idling, had the gauge up to temp in < 10 minutes. And that's just idling, no load, although prob not quite thermostat open. Generaly speaking, for all modernish defenders, the engine warms up just fine, this issue is just the crap heater and lots of gaps letting the hot out & cold in. I reckon this will help....

My 200 starts warming up after a mile or so, steep hill leaving home may help with this. Original core and seals renewed a few years ago. When temp gets around to averaging single figures will blank off half the rad.

If you're not doing any heavy towing, I'd take the viscous fan off.

GRATCH said:

If you're not doing any heavy towing, I'd take the viscous fan off.

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When I took mine off I was surprised how pleasant it was tbh

@tottot and @Turboman have given you the answer.
It's a medium task, takes a bit longer than you'd think but well worth doing.

Take off the vent on the NS wing and unscrew the plastic tubing that goes towards the heater.
It starts out vent shaped and ends up a 5" tube.
There is a foam seal here that is often disintegrated.
Remove the two hoses that go from the back of the head to the heater and look a hose between the two connections on the engine - this means you can still use you landy whilst you sort the heater.
You may need to bleed the coolant as you will have lost some taking off the hoses.

Unclip the two control cables (one on the top and one on the side near the bulkhead) - mark the cables and do not lose the steel clips ....
Undo the electrical connection.
There is a seal between the heater and the bulkhead, this will also be disintegrated.
There are 4 bolts holding the heater to the bulkhead, with these undone the heater 'will' pull out - I can't describe how you do it but it 'will' pull out.

Here's a usefull pic .... https://www.lrparts.net/lrc2379-sea...-hand-drive-up-to-2006-includes-fittings.html

Once it's out (as @Turboman says) you drill out the rivets, take the box apart, and look nat how the air circulates around the heater matrix or is diverted away from it (hot/cold flap).
You will see if you matrix is leaking or damaged straight away.
New ones are available - there are two types, check tyhe shape of yours and the in/out pipes (straight or bent) - you will probably just need to repack the matrix so that the air flows through it nor around it.

Clean it up
Put it back together with some sealant and 3 million rivets (not that many really).
Clean up the bulkhead and the hole into the cabin ducting.

Refitting really needs two people and is a sonofa bitch, the bulkhead seal seems to be to big - but it isn't - it'll never fit in - but it does.
Taking the wing off seemed like a good idea when I was doing mine, I was seroiusly considering it - but suddenly - pop - it was in.
Refitting the cables and the hoses is straight forward - again you need to bleed the coolant into the heater - I poured water into the heater hoses until if flowed out and then connected to the engine

Mine went from pi55-poor to not bad at all, bordering on OK, in real terms it is much better, chalk and cheese
It takes a mile or two to warm up and after 10 mins or so the screen clears nicely.

Including getting the seals, painting it all up, refitting etc it took a couple of days spread over a week.

lynall said:

If you have a house and you pay the bills you cannot afford to run a v8 defender

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Retired and paid off the mortgage, thank goodness. Not doing much mileage since the retiring and the pandemic so not too expensive.

lynall said:

Out of interest how many miles do you have to do in a v8 to get any heat from the heater?
In the 200/300 it is anywhere between 3 and 5 miles depending on outside temp.

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A mile or two will bring her up to temp, idling 10-15min.

My heater needs looking at though, flaps need adjusting and the box refoaming; core is relatively new ~2017.

cappers said:

Retired and paid off the mortgage, thank goodness. Not doing much mileage since the retiring and the pandemic so not too expensive.



A mile or two will bring her up to temp, idling 10-15min.

My heater needs looking at though, flaps need adjusting and the box refoaming; core is relatively new ~2017.

Click to expand...

I work exactly 5 miles from home, and all my land rovers do not have a fully open stat until I get to work, the 200 was so predictable I could tell you to the lamp post when the temp gauge would rise then drop as the stat opened, in the winter the 200 and the d3 will not be at full operating temp when I get to work.
No viscous fan on the 200/new stat/recent heater seals.

Once drove to work at my previous job which was 12 miles away, and at journeys end thought wow this heater is actually working properly that new stat is the nuts, then on the way home I twigged the new stat was jammed shut!

lynall said:

I work exactly 5 miles from home, and all my land rovers do not have a fully open stat until I get to work, the 200 was so predictable I could tell you to the lamp post when the temp gauge would rise then drop as the stat opened, in the winter the 200 and the d3 will not be at full operating temp when I get to work.
No viscous fan on the 200/new stat/recent heater seals.

Once drove to work at my previous job which was 12 miles away, and at journeys end thought wow this heater is actually working properly that new stat is the nuts, then on the way home I twigged the new stat was jammed shut!

Click to expand...

Try a 2.5TD. Plenty of spare heat with those!