Factory fitted Webasto in my T5 isn’t doing its job….

Am “camping” out down in Italy. The nights are cold.

If I’ve run the engine for a while/been for a drive the heater will work. If I’ve been sat for a while or the heater has been on previously then it doesn’t kick in, or if it does then it’ll only run for 20 minutes and then I get the slight smell of diesel entering the cabin. Doesn’t matter if I use the remote or hit the button.

Heater is the Webasto fitted by VW in the Caravelle.

Any easy fix for this or is it a trip to VW/Webasto specialist?

In the meantime I’ll look for a sleeping bag liner tomorrow in town….

My ebersacher wouldn’t ignite properly when I bought my van and locked out after 20 mins, a service of the combustion chamber mesh sorted it. Required a specific tool to get the ‘glow plug’ out. Not sure of Webasto specifics but can’t be too dissimilar.

Yup.. Kinda what I thought. It fails to ignite each time. I don’t know why but after a run it seems to manage it, but not if trying to ignite after it has already been on.

Don’t know if it’s an easy fix.

Have also alles on Transporter forum.

cheers

From the slight amount of reading I’ve done on them the ones fitted on Eurovans tend to either get fried or develop glow plug issues. Mine may or may not work, I’ll only find out once the outside temperature sensor is fixed and everything stops thinking it’s 73degC outside.

I am wondering if yours is perhaps tied to temperature of the system. I know mine, as fitted, is only a circuit heater for cold starts. But then why would it work if the engine has been running? Hmm. I’d be taking a look at it tbh.

Do you get a flashing light on the control unit? This can flash in a sequence that shows what the fault is. Search for fault codes and find out which model is fitted.

Control unit? You mean the display unit thingy console thing in front of the rear view mirror?

No, nothing there.

It shouldn’t be dependant on outside temperature..

Pretty sure that it is just for heating the cabin… Warm air comes in, being blown at the windscreen.

Van came with a leisure battery under the driver seat for the heater/air con.

The display unit also let’s me choose whether to heat or cool (via air con) the van when using the remote.

Is your leisure battery holding a decent charge? Could be the heater is draining it, hence it not starting second time around but ok if you’ve been for a drive and got some charge. You do need a decent battery to run them.

Seconded, check the battery is in good condition. I assume its similar to an Eberspacher, startup takes a lot of amps to run the glowplug and fan.

Measure the battery voltage whilst it is trying to start (glowplug operating), the voltage should not be dropping too much, below 12.4v and you may have your issue.

I had this on our motorhome a couple of winters ago. The heater would run for a short time, then cut out, with the light flashing on the control unit. It was under warranty at the time, so I took it into a local dealer, who checked it through with no fault found. Next time out, and the same thing happened.

I then spotted that the leisure battery was goosed, as checking voltage levels after only parking up for 30 mins or so, was showing it <12v. Replaced the battery and its been fine since.

Maybe worth double-checking that your battery is working ok?

I had this on a hire camper in very cold conditions. I assume it was the battery voltage dropping as starting the engine would allow the heater to run properly

As everyone has said, its probably the battery. My Eberspacher pulls about 8A at cold start, I would imagine the Webasto is similar.

Can’t help with heater but IM(limited)E if you have plenty of storage a duvet (or blankets) over the top will be more effective than a liner insider a bag. Also in terms of feeling cold moisture/damp is worse than temperature. On a boat some of those plastic trays with silica gel in them made a big difference to sleeping bags etc feeling dry when you get in them which starts the night off better.

Hmmm…. You’re right, it could be the battery. Despite the solar panel there hasn’t been much sun on the van in the last few days; parked behind a massive wall of rock.

@poly. Have got a moisture absorbing bag full of silica. Stupidly didn’t bring the massive -10°C sleeping bag thinking it would be too much.

Space is a little limited. Silk or cotton liner?

Silk is lighter and warmer than cotton, sadly more expensive though.

If you’re near Cortina d’Ampezzo, the co-op there has a great outdoor shop.

It also absorbs less moisture and dries quicker – relevant to this discussion.

Yup, the solar panels on our van work great (in the summer). Up in the north of Scotland they do nothing at all during the winter.