Aux heater

[2006ransome]

Well I ignored it not working last year but wife is now complaining too much. Although I know mine has the dreaded pcb cooked one fitted I read on another forum that some one fitted the unit just before my style but had slight issues with mounting brackets,exhaust and wiring. Anyone on Here done it? I tried the search engine but trailed through loads of posts but found nothing on my search. Mine is the D5Z-F and am exploring options. Hopefully my wife will mute and it solves the problem :-)
Till next year :-/
Cheers

[johnnyroper]

I have seen a post about someone fitting the same style back on again but remote mounting the control unit away from the heat of the unit in the hope it does not cook the control unit.

[Kristaps Baltais]

I dont think it it possible. D5W-Z models ECU took control of everything, but newer models heater did it self. Long story short - there will not be any control module.
Mine will have a top challange today, it is -30c outside and we are going shopping

[insanitybeard]

You've probably already read the thread that this
reply by Chris was posted in but if you were going to try to fit an earlier model (eg, D5W-Z) heater then you'd need the bracket to suit the older model of heater as well. I expect the mounting points on the chassis will be in the same place though. Not sure if the exhaust is any different, but some modification to the wiring multiplug or a chop and splice of the old style connector may be necessary. I've not done the job so can't speak from experience.

It was Niall who mounted the ECU off of the burner unit as outlined here.

[johnnyroper]

Whichever type is fitted the mounted ecu took control of everything didn't it? Only difference was where it was mounted.

As above I cannot imagine it is too difficult to fit old type heater so long as got bracket aswell.  Splicing in wires is fairly easy the plug on my old type was corroded so I chopped it off and ran wiring straight in to body and soldered in to loom under the internal sill trim.

If you got a heater with bracket,exhaust and inlet pipe I am sure it will fit on no problem,then just a case of connecting the wiring.

[insanitybeard]

I dont think it it possible. D5W-Z models ECU took control of everything, but newer models heater did it self. Long story short - there will not be any control module.
Mine will have a top challange today, it is -30c outside and we are going shopping

Both models of heater (earlier D5W-Z and later D5Z-F) have separate removable ECU's. The W-Z's is bolted on to the end of the unit as can be seen here.

The Z-F has it's ECU under the top cover above the burner chamber and there has been well founded speculation on this forum that the heat that it is exposed to mounted in this position is the primary cause of it's premature failure. The Z-F ECU is shown here.

[johnnyroper]

stupid place to put a control unit where it is going to cook until it's knackered. Far better having early type and changing the odd glow plug than heater unit. My 2002 still has the original fitted and it still works fine. Clearly they were far more reliable?

[insanitybeard]

Apparently so, or at least comparatively easy/ cheap to repair when they did go wrong- they only seem to suffer glow plug and diffuser gauze issues!

[insanitybeard]

Also, as a side note, it is possible to just buy the ECU for the D5Z-F (and probably the D5W-Z as well but they're not prone to causing trouble!), the trouble is they're still damned expensive for what they are, over 50% of the cost of replacing the complete heater!

[johnnyroper]

It doesn't seem cost effective to replace control unit alone when you compare price to the price of heater complete.

[insanitybeard]

Exactly, that's why I ended up buying the whole thing, plus there's a good chance of encountering seized/ corroded fasteners- I sheared several off whilst attempting to strip mine, which would need to be extracted (with great difficulty as some are only about M4 thread) if I was to attempt to resurrect the old unit.....

[johnnyroper]

Steel bolts in to alloy if memory serves correctly? Never a good combination when exposed to heat and cool cycles along with the elements.. would have a nightmare drilling them out!

[insanitybeard]

Yeah, coated steel bolts (not normal bright zinc plate but that dull grey finish that VW seem to use a lot of on their fasteners- almost like a zinc paint, it protects against corrosion better than standard plated fasteners) into alloy casings. Before I fit the new booster to the car (still not done it! ) I intend to ditch the standard fasteners for stainless torx ones, and grease 'em with high temp grease before assembling!

[2006ransome]

So wise old men :-)
If I bit the bullet and buy new where is the best place to go would you say ?
Cheers

[insanitybeard]

Mine came from Germany, Eberspacher being a German manufacturer there are plenty of German ebay sellers flogging 'em. Not quite as cheap now as they were when I got mine due to the Pound weakening against the Euro but still cheaper than going to Ford or VW, or even UK ebay sellers.

What are you wanting to do? Replace like for like with another D5Z-F? If so just type 'D5Z-F' into ebay (don't type Eberspacher in as the German spelling has accents over some of letters and the listings won't come up) and select results for Europe.

EDIT: The seller who I got mine from still has them for sale.

[gregers]

So wise old men :-)
If I bit the bullet and buy new where is the best place to go would you say ?
Cheers

yep defo talking to you 3,mark,chris n paul.

[2006ransome]

Mine came from Germany, Eberspacher being a German manufacturer there are plenty of German ebay sellers flogging 'em. Not quite as cheap now as they were when I got mine due to the Pound weakening against the Euro but still cheaper than going to Ford or VW, or even UK ebay sellers.

What are you wanting to do? Replace like for like with another D5Z-F? If so just type 'D5Z-F' into ebay (don't type Eberspacher in as the German spelling has accents over some of letters and the listings won't come up) and select results for Europe.

EDIT: The seller who I got mine from still has them for sale.

Thanks for the link Paul
Always good to deal with a trusted supplier