Aux heater - back from the dead

[seatalehandro]

The weirdes thing happen to me yesterday evening.
I have owned my Alhambra (2003, 1.9tdi, 85kW) for 2,5 years now, and ever since I got it the aux heater never worked (the only thing that a friend checked on it was the glow plug which he said was fine).
Yesterday evening, I was leaving my driveway to check out a potential fishing spot when I felt some weird smell inside the car.
I did not pay attention to it and drove to the lake. Now, once I stopped, I got out and noticed heavy smoke coming from under the car.
I took a look and it was coming out the aux heater exhaust.

Now, the second time it switched on later the same day when the car was parked and I just wanted to see if it would work. I could hear some noise from the aux heater, it switched on twice.

The thing is though, one of the metal pipes is covered with diesel, which forms a drip at the end of the aux heater exhaust, hence the smell inside the car.

I am just wondering if it is safe to operate it until I get it to a workshop or if I should disconnect it?
It is not a huge leak but the smell getting inside the car is kind of annoying to be honest.

As for the fuse box, it says the combined air con/heating fuse is No.12, but I cannot seem to locate it (dunno if the fuse box chart is the original one).

I remember having read somewhere that if you press the ECON button on the climate control unit, the car disables the use of the aux heater, is that corrrect?

Basically, safety and the smell are the issue.

[seatalehandro]

"Now, the second time it switched on later the same day when the car was parked and I just wanted to see if it would work. I could hear some noise from the aux heater, it switched on twice."

Forgot to add here - not only did I hear noise, but it also let out smoke for less than 10 min, having switched on/off 2 times.

[johnnyroper]

I would disable it if thereââ,¬â,,¢s a leak on to the exhaust and itââ,¬â,,¢s producing smoke. While running that smoke is entering the cabin and you are breathing in carbon monoxide.

Canââ,¬â,,¢t remember what fuse it is to disable it but have a look in reference library and I am sure you will find the info there

[seatalehandro]

Thanks for the reply!
Will try to find the correct fuse, once again.

[Chrispb]

Fuse 12

[SirDavidAlhambra]

Iââ,¬â,,¢d love to get my aux heater working but it sounds like one of those features that never works. Sort of like climate control on a Saab. In theory itââ,¬â,,¢s there but in practice forget it. He he

[seatalehandro]

Iââ,¬â,,¢d love to get my aux heater working but it sounds like one of those features that never works. Sort of like climate control on a Saab. In theory itââ,¬â,,¢s there but in practice forget it. He he

Thanks!
I found the same.

Posted by: SirDavidAlhambra
Ã,« on: October 07, 2019, 08:56:21 PM Ã,»
Insert Quote

Iââ,¬â,,¢d love to get my aux heater working but it sounds like one of those features that never works. Sort of like climate control on a Saab. In theory itââ,¬â,,¢s there but in practice forget it. He he

Well, it just came to me as a surprise, because it started working all of a sudden after being dead for 2,5 years, lol.
Since I cannot access it on my own, I will remove the fuse for now and have my workshop see if maybe the fix to making it work finally is simple...winters can get quite cold here.


I just remembered one thing though, most likely a coincidence...
Some hours before I started the car and teh heater switched on for the first time, I used a vacuum cleaner to remove small leaves from those drainages on each side of windscreen wipers...
I know that the aux heater has a temperature sensore somewhere below the windscreen, right?? Doubt these things are connected though... 

[seatalehandro]

First quote was meant for ''Fuse 12''

[SirDavidAlhambra]

A friend of mine said his aux heater was broken until one day he went over a deep pothole and then it started working again.

Iââ,¬â,,¢d love to get mine working but canââ,¬â,,¢t help but think it one of those features that basically never works. I donââ,¬â,,¢t even really know how to check if itââ,¬â,,¢s working, the diagnostic software looks really technical and limited. Also some people seem to be saying it fills their cabin with carbon monoxide which isnââ,¬â,,¢t appealing. But the idea of having a nice powerful heater to get the car warm in the mornings is very appealing!

[brianh]

There are plenty of threads on here about it, the first thing to do is to read the heater for codes and see whats logged, some faults can cause it to lock out, which need the fault fixing that caused the lockout, and then the codes resetting to get it working again. It also only works under certain temperature levels.

[johnnyroper]

Once mine was fixed with a glow plug and 2nd hand combustion fan motor mine worked a treat right up until I sold the car. I did however do away with the temp switch and wire a switch in to dash so I could control it and run during summer months aswell.