New Dacia Duster

[LDB]

Your installation is similar to an Espar heater used by many commercial drivers over here. There's a niche in trucking we call expediting. Basically it's the ambulances of trucking. Expedite companies guarantee a truck available within a set time, usually 90 minutes, and it will be exclusive use of that shipper. Expediters pretty much live in their truck for a few weeks at a time while bouncing anywhere around the U.S. or Canada that needs freight moved immediately. So rather than idle the 12-15L main engine at 1-1.5 gal. of fuel per hour they install an Espar that will give about 16 hours of heat on a gallon of fuel.

 

[4WD]

This is what cleans my Rubicon - oh, and a cup of coffee

 

[Bailes1992]

Carried on with the diesel heater install today. Providing it stays dry tomorrow, hopefully I can get it completed.

Today I focused on the power. My original intention was to install a secondary battery for the heater. However, the heater should only draw 15A for a few seconds on start up and then quickly drop down to 1A once running. I'm confident using the starter battery will be just fine, but if I do have issues then I'll add a battery at a later date. I did actually purchase a small 8Ah deep cycle battery and was hoping to be able to run it straight from the car's electrical system with no charger and a simple voltage sensitive or ignition sourced relay but found it was taking nearly 12A when discharged and it's not going to last long doing that. A suitable battery to battery charger runs around £200. So lets see how we get on running directly from the main battery.

Back earlier in the thread I posted some pictures where I installed the cables & voltage sensitive relay for the towbar. I used a short length of 20mm black flexible conduit to house the cable in the engine bay.

I was hoping to reuse this flexible conduit for the extra cable for the heater but found this...

It seems the conduit has rubbed through the paint which I'm a bit annoyed about. I've put some Lanogaurd on it for now before deciding how I'm going to fix it permanently. At the moment I'm thinking that I'll pop the top hat off the strut mount and give the area a coat or two of the cold zinc spray I used on the drilled holes in the boot as it was a close match to the cars factory colour. I just don't want to do anything that's strikingly obvious.

I decided I needed a new route for both the towbar cables and the new heater cables. I pulled the cables back into the cabin but left a draw cable through the bulkhead and tied on the new cable for the heater...

I pulled the cables back into the engine bay using the draw wire and taped them together into a single loom. This may be difficult to see in this photo but I managed to put the cables on the factory cable tray and entered the bottom of the fuse box with the factory cables. I'm quite annoyed I didn't do this first time round as it's a much neater install...

As I now had two brown cables in the loom, I thought it was wise to label them, not so much for me but if anyone else works on the car in the future...

I then put everything back as it was and coiled up the power cable for the diesel heater for another day.

At this point I seemed to forget to take pictures. I installed the wiring loom that came with the heater, the only cable currently left out is the one in the polystyrene tray in the picture below; this cable needs to drop through a grommet in the floor to the fuel pump for the heater. I installed the grille in the shelf on the side with the duct connected up to it and I fitted the screen for the unit to the carpet in the boot...

I fitted the floor back and this is what it looks like...

I must admit I'm not overly happy with the location of the screen/controller. I may need to rethink this. I would like it up front somewhere but can't find a home for it. That said, other than for initial setup or checking error codes, I shouldn't need to use it as it can be controlled from a key fob. Other than that, I'm rather pleased with how it's gone. I may heatwrap the outlet duct and then cover it in a black acoustic cloth to hide it a little more, but we'll see!

Hopefully tomorrow I can fit the fuel lines, fuel pump, exhaust and intake and I'll have a working heater!

 

[Jetronic]

These are only Ford Focus sized at best. Not a big car at all!

I'd say 1 in every 50 I see on the roads here is four wheel drive. I don't understand why anyone would want a FWD SUV? You're compromising on handling, fuel economy, emissions and comfort for extra height and are totally unable to use it?

I've never needed AWD but I could have used a few cm extra ground clearance a few times.

 

[Bailes1992]

I've never needed AWD but I could have used a few cm extra ground clearance a few times.

But a 'few' times isn't enough reason to put up with worse handling/road holding and increased fuel consumption.

 

[Jetronic]

But a 'few' times isn't enough reason to put up with worse handling/road holding and increased fuel consumption.

No, but newer cars have gotten ever lower. The fwd "SUV" have the same ground clearance as a 1980s sedan....

 

[Bailes1992]

No, but newer cars have gotten ever lower. The fwd "SUV" have the same ground clearance as a 1980s sedan....

But handling and fuel economy has gotten heck of a lot better too.

There's no way my 1998 Peugeot 406 1.9TD would have done the 65-70mpg that my Duster can.

 

[svtrit]

Carried on with the diesel heater install today. Providing it stays dry tomorrow, hopefully I can get it completed.

Today I focused on the power. My original intention was to install a secondary battery for the heater. However, the heater should only draw 15A for a few seconds on start up and then quickly drop down to 1A once running. I'm confident using the starter battery will be just fine, but if I do have issues then I'll add a battery at a later date. I did actually purchase a small 8Ah deep cycle battery and was hoping to be able to run it straight from the car's electrical system with no charger and a simple voltage sensitive or ignition sourced relay but found it was taking nearly 12A when discharged and it's not going to last long doing that. A suitable battery to battery charger runs around £200. So lets see how we get on running directly from the main battery.

Back earlier in the thread I posted some pictures where I installed the cables & voltage sensitive relay for the towbar. I used a short length of 20mm black flexible conduit to house the cable in the engine bay.
View attachment 197834

I was hoping to reuse this flexible conduit for the extra cable for the heater but found this...
View attachment 197839

It seems the conduit has rubbed through the paint which I'm a bit annoyed about. I've put some Lanogaurd on it for now before deciding how I'm going to fix it permanently. At the moment I'm thinking that I'll pop the top hat off the strut mount and give the area a coat or two of the cold zinc spray I used on the drilled holes in the boot as it was a close match to the cars factory colour. I just don't want to do anything that's strikingly obvious.

I decided I needed a new route for both the towbar cables and the new heater cables. I pulled the cables back into the cabin but left a draw cable through the bulkhead and tied on the new cable for the heater...
View attachment 197865

I pulled the cables back into the engine bay using the draw wire and taped them together into a single loom. This may be difficult to see in this photo but I managed to put the cables on the factory cable tray and entered the bottom of the fuse box with the factory cables. I'm quite annoyed I didn't do this first time round as it's a much neater install...
View attachment 197866

As I now had two brown cables in the loom, I thought it was wise to label them, not so much for me but if anyone else works on the car in the future...

View attachment 197867

I then put everything back as it was and coiled up the power cable for the diesel heater for another day.

View attachment 197868

At this point I seemed to forget to take pictures. I installed the wiring loom that came with the heater, the only cable currently left out is the one in the polystyrene tray in the picture below; this cable needs to drop through a grommet in the floor to the fuel pump for the heater. I installed the grille in the shelf on the side with the duct connected up to it and I fitted the screen for the unit to the carpet in the boot...
View attachment 197869

I fitted the floor back and this is what it looks like...

View attachment 197870

View attachment 197871

I must admit I'm not overly happy with the location of the screen/controller. I may need to rethink this. I would like it up front somewhere but can't find a home for it. That said, other than for initial setup or checking error codes, I shouldn't need to use it as it can be controlled from a key fob. Other than that, I'm rather pleased with how it's gone. I may heatwrap the outlet duct and then cover it in a black acoustic cloth to hide it a little more, but we'll see!

Hopefully tomorrow I can fit the fuel lines, fuel pump, exhaust and intake and I'll have a working heater!

I really enjoy watching people like you, who go the extra mile for an install, do your work. It kicks me in the rear to get a bit more professional in anything I do! Thanks for sharing.

 

[Bailes1992]

So heater finished and working well!

First job was to get the sender unit out and install the drop pipe...

This is the drop pipe...

The heater comes with this two piece cleanable fuel filter which a lot of people say leaks over time. So I decided to fit in the fuel tank. That way if it did leak, no mess!

I drilled the nipple off the bottom of the filter...

I drilled a hole in the best place on the top of the fuel sender unit. Now I don't know if this is normal or not, I can't say I've removed too many sender units. But the fuel sender unit is spring loaded so it's pushed onto the bottom of the tank. I took some measurements and bent the pipe to avoid the sender itself when it is compressed and installed the filter on the bottom. When installed the bottom of the filter sits 1"/25mm above the bottom of the tank.

I then refitted the sender unit and attached the new fuel pipe to the drop pipe...

I then stopped taking pictures again. This is the finished article...

I totally forgot to buy a fuse holder, so made one out of some spade terminals and heat shrink as a temporary measure...

I was warned that they smoke like hell for the first minutes due to oils from manufacturing and excess fuel from the priming cycle...

Really impressed with the heat output. I'll try get some data or videos about how quick the car warms up on cold mornings coming up over the next couple of weeks.

I'm quite surprised how loud the exhaust is when running. It did come with a silencer but was quite disappointed with the quality of the exhaust so going to replace with some stainless steel alternatives that are around.

 

[Audiman]

But handling and fuel economy has gotten heck of a lot better too.

There's no way my 1998 Peugeot 406 1.9TD would have done the 65-70mpg that my Duster can.

If I could find a rust free diesel 406 saloon then I would happily have it for cruising up and down the country in. But then I’m happy to trade MPG for no DPF or Adblue.

 

[Jetronic]

how much fuel will this use? I'm estimating around 1 litre for 4 hours?

Might be interesting for me aswell, but petrol cars so would need a little fuel tank. But that means I could run red diesel/kerosene mix

 

[Bailes1992]

If I could find a rust free diesel 406 saloon then I would happily have it for cruising up and down the country in. But then I’m happy to trade MPG for no DPF or Adblue.

I had two in my very early driving career. One was my very first car which was a '98 Estate in poverty spec trim with the XUD9TE engine and a family pack which added two seats in the boot facing out the back. What was even more interesting was that it was optioned with a sunroof, A/C and remote central locking which would have made it more expensive than just going up to an 'LX' where these features were standard. This was a superb first car! I was a student at the time and I used to run it on cooking oil from the chip shop my Uncle worked at mixed with misfuel from a few local garages.

The second was a 2002 Saloon in Rapier trim with the DW10 engine in 90hp flavour. I ended up adding the intercooler off a 110 to the second one and getting it remapped to ~145bhp. The second one was actually a lot of car for 19 year old me at the time, used to hit the governor in 5th gear at 135mph.

how much fuel will this use? I'm estimating around 1 litre for 4 hours?

Might be interesting for me aswell, but petrol cars so would need a little fuel tank. But that means I could run red diesel/kerosene mix

It has a 0.022ml injection pump which means for every pulse it sends 0.022ml of fuel to the burner.

It has 6 power options settings.

On setting 1 the pump is pulsing at 1hz. So (0.022 x 60) x 60 = 79.2ml every hour.

On setting 6 the pump is pulsing at 3hz. So 3x the above = 237.6ml per hour.

I believe these things can be run on petrol. You can enter a mode on the controllers where you can configure the air to fuel ratio as it would be totally out running it on petrol. But I believe it can be done.

 

[Bailes1992]

First proper use of the Chinese diesel heater this morning. I stayed away for the night due to work commitments and when I woke this morning it was -6°c (~20°f) and the car was well iced up.

I went out, popped my suitcase in the boot and turned the heater on maximum then went back in for breakfast. Wen I came back out just shy of 20 minutes later the car was 18°c (~64°f) inside and looked like this...

I'm so elated with this heater! For £80 and 4 hours of my life it's made such a difference in the mornings.

I also use it when I'm doing short in and out type journeys to shops or pick up takeaway food etc. Just leave it on low to stop the car cooling down.

 

[Pablo]

First proper use of the Chinese diesel heater this morning. I stayed away for the night due to work commitments and when I woke this morning it was -6°c (~20°f) and the car was well iced up.
View attachment 199106
View attachment 199107
I went out, popped my suitcase in the boot and turned the heater on maximum then went back in for breakfast. Wen I came back out just shy of 20 minutes later the car was 18°c (~64°f) inside and looked like this...


View attachment 199108


I'm so elated with this heater! For £80 and 4 hours of my life it's made such a difference in the mornings.

I also use it when I'm doing short in and out type journeys to shops or pick up takeaway food etc. Just leave it on low to stop the car cooling down.

You blokes around-over are having the same wever (pronounced with the Brit accent that turns TH into V) as us hahahahah seriously cold.

I actually never have really seen those heater modern equivalents........so can you smell fuel burning when approaching the car?


I'm going to say WELL DONE.

 

[Bailes1992]

Highly exciting oil change time (or maybe not)!

I'm aiming for 5,000miles or 6 month OCI's. I overshot the last OCI last time by 1,200miles and I wanted to get this OCI in at 25,000miles. Between the rubbish wet weather we are having here coupled with an impromptu work trip to Scotland last week resulting in me putting 1,100miles on my car in 4 days this OCI happened at 26,046miles. An OCI of 4,840miles, still very conservative none the less considering the manufacturer calls for 15,000miles or 2 year OCI's.

Oil drained...

Must admit, was a bit disappointed with how the cheap Febi filter looked considering the low mileage on it. Don't think I'll purchase another. Might be wrong, but not totally convinced it would have lasted for a full 15,000miles OCI without tearing. It just didn't look as solid as the Bosch filters I've been using. All the pleats were a bit 'wobbly' looking.

New Bosch filter installed...

New washer for the sump plug...

And installed the very last of my Fuchs Titan GT1 Flex 3 5w40. Not sure If I'm going to stock back up on this stuff or maybe Mobil1 0w40 ESP X3 which is double the cost? Need to have a think about it considering they have almost identical approvals.

And usual clean & dress of the engine bay which was quite salty, especially after last weeks trip up North.

Next service is going to be a big one and will include all filters, transmission and driveline fluids and I really need to strip and service my brakes because they're starting to squeal a bit.

 

[Audiman]

If you go with the Mobil extend the service interval to 10,000 miles, also I personally like Mann filters I’ve never had any issues with them. They are a good OE manufacturer.

 

[Bailes1992]

If you go with the Mobil extend the service interval to 10,000 miles, also I personally like Mann filters I’ve never had any issues with them. They are a good OE manufacturer.

I was thinking more along the lines of 7,500miles so that it's halving the factory interval. Double the cost is a lot of money for no real world gain... but I do like M1 products!

Usually use Mann filters generally but when I went to buy the first filter for this the Bosch was a fair bit cheaper which is why I carried on using it. Actually, it still is...

 

[Audiman]

I was thinking more along the lines of 7,500miles so that it's halving the factory interval. Double the cost is a lot of money for no real world gain... but I do like M1 products!

Usually use Mann filters generally but when I went to buy the first filter for this the Bosch was a fair bit cheaper which is why I carried on using it. Actually, it still is...
View attachment 203357

I don’t use Euro car parts, I order from AUTODOC using the app.

 

[Bailes1992]

I don’t use Euro car parts, I order from AUTODOC using the app.

View attachment 203360

Used them quite a bit in the past. Only thing that irritates me is it takes 7-14 days for anything to arrive. But their selection is far greater than ECP.

 

[Audiman]

Yes you definitely have to be organised and get the order in well in advance of any work.