Hi

I have an 04 plate, Galaxy Zetec 1.9 TDI Diesel.

Can someone tell me what is happening here.

It started yesterday. Start up and there is hissing, steam and smell of Diesel.

2 weeks ago, the MK2 would not get hot, to 90 degrees.....only goes to 70 degrees....even after motorway spin.

This pipe is under rear-passenger-side door

Is this linked to Thermostat ?


I notice a slight improvement, once car is a little warm.

It is very worrying.....

Hi there

It's your Eberspächer diesel heater trying to work, it helps to get the coolant up to normal operating temperature quicker when the outside temperature is low. It should start automatically when engine has started from cold when outside temperature is below 10deg c.

The heater can be quite troublesome if the car does a lot of short journeys which cause the heater to shut down before reaching normal temperature, it also requires a working auxiliary water pump (run on pump) to circulate the coolant through the heater.

If you leave the car running for 30 mins does the smoke clear? if it doesn't you will need to at least fit a new glow plug to the heater.

If your not bothered with the heater running just remove fuse number 12 from the fuse box in the car but you will suffer with slow warm up when the weather is cold.

There is a lot of info about the heater and water pump in the knowledge base.

Some people have also fitted a switch into the car so avoiding unnecessary heater starts when doing a short journey.

Switched car on.....idle for 30 mins...... And drove for another 30 mins.....heaters off

The smoke and hissing has stopped ....car warms to 80 degrees, but when heater goes, it goes to 60 degrees

Looks like Glow plug, so will sort later this year, after summer

Thanks for your help