Diesel Cabin heater, Dynamat / anything to make it warm!

Earl · Mar 20, 2016

Hi all,

Having had the defender a month or 2, and being a little bored of scraping ice off the inside of the window and wrapping up like an eskimo i would like to take some steps to ensure i don't have to freeze again next winter.
There are 3 prongs to my plan.
Prong one - retrofit heated seats and front window
Prong two - Fit some sort of diesel / cabin / van / boat heater
Prong three - Dynamat the interior

Prong one is fine - Just do it

Prong two i need some help with. Has anyone done this? Where do you put it? Can it go in the engine bay and connect to existing ducting (the ideal solution)? Can anyone recommend anything?

Prong 3 - Dynamat - there must be a cheaper alternative - i have done some research that indicates there are a few - but all american sites so no Kmart here! Can someone point me in the right direction.

Thanks

Discokids · Mar 20, 2016

1. Just do it.
2. Erberspacher.
3. Camping mats @ £4 each.

bankz5152 · Mar 20, 2016

Camping mats arent anywhere near the same.

Ive used Fatmat, cheaper and does the job well. Followed by 3mm - 10mm closed cell foam, followed by rubber matting.

Heated seats + all that makes for toasty warm!

Discokids · Mar 20, 2016

Yes, good point, depends how cheap he wants to go I suppose.

mikescuba · Mar 20, 2016

A Erberspacher type diesel heat works well. I have one in my Sprinter van. I think you will find it has to be installed inside the Defender. I looked into fitting one in my Defender and I was told they can be installed under the seat. When I looked it would have cost about a grand. That was a few months back. There was an outfit in South London around Raynes Park that did them.
The one I have in the Sprinter can be set to come on at certain times so the vehicle is nice and warm when you set off.

lightning · Mar 20, 2016

When l had my first car in 1982 you could buy a paraffin lamp that you lit and put under the sump.
The flame actually touched the sump and was supposed to "heat the oil overnight so the engine warmed up faster"
I imagine this device is no longer available.....and not recommended for vehicles with a plastic sump!

TheQ · Mar 20, 2016

Line the cab and body with flashing tape, does the job of the expensive tin foil bitumen commercial stuff and no, once fitted it doesn't smell, but much cheaper. Then put camping mat on it . cuts noise and keeps heat in.
If you've got a van body I clad the body in wood cladding on top of the flashing tape/ camping mat.. Also partition the body from the cab. Mine is fixed behind the driver and removable behind the cubby box and passenger. Keeps heat in the cab and noise out.

Earl · Mar 20, 2016

thanks all - it will be a money pit anyway - so not willing to spend a grand on a heater - so another option needed. Its not a van body - CSW.

Thanks for the tips re the matting - i think camping mats would be a bit cheap! I was thinking more B&Q house based products that will keep it warmer, and a bit less tinny also.

Heated seats will help a lot im sure - but something warm on the hands would be nice!

Litch · Mar 20, 2016

We have hardly had much of a winter this year so if you are finding it cold then I suspect that your cooling system / heater needs setting up correctly.
My 300TDi soft-top is my daily driver yet even in the coldest of winters (I have had this one for 16-years so have gone through a couple of extremely cold ones) I find that it is toasty inside despite having NO sound-deadening / insulation whatsoever, original viscous fan still fitted and no rad-muff.

Is the engine getting up to temp?
Is the heater set-up to deliver the heat generated by the engine?
Do you need to heat the whole vehicle? If not consider a fume curtain to effectively turn it into a truck-cab whole driving solo.

This is an old chestnut, plenty of information out there and you might just find that you have to spend no money to keep warm.

Earl · Mar 20, 2016

thanks - i like the idea of spending no money to keep warm. There is warmish air coming from the engine. Engine sits just below half way all the time - so seems to be warming up. I did read that having one of those grill covers keeps the engine bay warmer in winter.

How does one 'set up' a heating system - excuse the ignorance

SpaceDawg · Mar 21, 2016

Would be really nice to have somone who knows what they are doing put up a "How to make you heater work" sticky somewhere, I have got mine working better but its not as good as Flats who's is excellent.

Litch · Mar 21, 2016

There have been plenty of threads about making the heater work properly but as you say, a definitive guide would probably help. To be perfectly honest, if you look at the inside of the heater-box and what the levers & flaps do it becomes self explanatory and you can quickly make sure that when levers move, the cables & flaps move with them.

"There is warmish air coming from the engine. Engine sits just below half way all the time - so seems to be warming up. I did read that having one of those grill covers keeps the engine bay warmer in winter."
When fully warmed up the air coming out of the heater vents should be (give or take a few degrees) the same as the engine coolant temperature so if your cooling system is up to scratch it should be running at around 85-90 degrees and the air through the vents somewhere in this region (allowing for temperature losses through the ducting).
A correctly working cooling system will allow the engine to reach this temperature in the coldest of UK weather even with the viscous fan fitted and no rad muff as long as the thermostat is working correctly (coolant doesn't even flow through the rad until the engine is up to temperature and the thermostat has opened) so blanking the rad would only be masking the problem, not curing it.

Make a cuppa and do a search on heaters, thermostats, cooling system etc. Plenty to read and should give you some ideas. Just don't get caught in the trap of believing that "they all do that" or "Defenders have rubbish heaters" as it just isn't true.

vilguy · Mar 21, 2016

ive got an eberspacher that im installing in my csw. Ive put it in the back behind the 2nd row seats, with the ducting vented underneath the seats so it keeps the kids warm. They can be picked up cheap on ebay. Mine was £50 bought as a "none runner" but it was just a loose wire on the control module. Works brilliantly and has all the timer wotnots.

greyhair · Mar 21, 2016

vilguy said:
ive got an eberspacher that im installing in my csw. Ive put it in the back behind the 2nd row seats, with the ducting vented underneath the seats so it keeps the kids warm. They can be picked up cheap on ebay. Mine was £50 bought as a "none runner" but it was just a loose wire on the control module. Works brilliantly and has all the timer wotnots.

You lucky sod,

Saint.V8 · Mar 21, 2016

I just put up with it......simple, cheap and efficient!!

vilguy · Mar 21, 2016

greyhair said:
You lucky sod,

They come up quite often on there with "not working"

Theres not exactly alot to them.

Earl · Mar 22, 2016

Some good ideas here. The previous owner up rated the radiator so it runs a bit cooler anyway. However I wouldn't mind something extra if we can't get that working.

zeaphod · Mar 22, 2016

If your engine is getting up to the proper operating temperature, the pipes to the heater should be so hot you can't keep your hand on them for long. If this is the case, then your heater matrix isn't converting the hot water into hot air. This can be due to the water valve not opening fully, or more likely, the matrix being gunged up with old crap. You can try flushing it out, or replacing it if necessary. Also make sure any hot air is actually being blown into the cabin - there are foam seals that perish, which will allow your precious hot air to escape into the engine bay. I found a bit of foam sealant around where the pipes enter the heater box helped quite a bit. You could also have an issue with the volume of air from the heater fan - they do get a bit tired. Replacement, or fitting a bilge blower will make a big difference.

Earl · Mar 22, 2016

Thank you so much zeaphod! Those are great tips, i will do a little trouble shooting now that that i can open the bonet!

SpaceDawg · Mar 23, 2016

Well with all this advice is seems my issue is not having an 88c thermostat in the car.

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