Fuel-driven heater (webasto) on a 97' 855

Py · Post by Py » 19 Oct 2009, 09:25

Hello all,

I have an opportunity to acquire a second hand Volvo-branded fuel-driven heater from a 98' petrol V70 (currently still in that car). My car is a 97' petrol 855 (2.5 NA 10v). Would that kit fit my car? Is it difficult to mount?

Looking around (read: ebay), I found there is a workshop manual for these heaters (091-B series), but quite pricey. Does someone have that around in pdf or scanned format?

Any interesting comment regarding the fitting/usage/reliability of those units on our cars would also be interesting... It's winter weather again and I hate when I find my car covered in ice in the morning. And I hate it even more when I have to crank the freezing-cold engine a few minutes later, nearly hearing its lifespan shorten each time.

Py

FCPEURO · Post by **FCPEURO** » 19 Oct 2009, 10:12

I never heard of a car heater that ran off of gasoline. Would this run in addition to the standard car heater? I need to do a search on this.

Post by **renns** » 19 Oct 2009, 10:33

I'd never heard of it either, but here's a bit more info:

http://vccs.volvocars.se/accessories/ca ... 213980.htm

and

http://vccs.volvocars.se/accessories/ca ... 249396.htm

It looks like it's used to pre-heat the engine coolant, not just the cabin. Interesting - I hadn't heard of a fuel heater since the air-cooled VW days!

Py · Post by Py » 19 Oct 2009, 10:47

Renns, you are right. The purpose of the device is to burn gasoline (or diesel), to heat the engine coolant. This way, the engine is already warm when you crank it. Also, the cabin fan can be activated, this way the cabin is also heated, and you find your car free of ice, and comfortably warm, even in the coldest mornings. Its not meant to be used as the engine is running.

It is available as an official accessory from Volvo, and is found on page 713 of the accessories catalog pdf:
http://vccs.volvocars.se/accessories/cat/pdf/X70.pdf

There is also a range of aftermarket solutions available, the best known being Webasto (http://www.webasto.com/home/en/homepage.html). This particular one is building most of the OEM products as well (and as such possibly the Volvo ones too). It is so well known around here that most people simply use the name Webasto to refer to this kind of device. Hence its inclusion in the title of this topic.

Post by **BEJinFbk** » 19 Oct 2009, 14:47

I think that'll you'll find that the bolt-on OEM block heater will be
MUCH easier to install and should only set you back about 20 bucks...
I would also recommend a few well placed silicone heaters attached
to the oil pan and transmision. This combo works just fine at -50.

Sure, you'll have to live with a plug dangling from the front of your
car, but only in the winter!

Another option would be a remote starter, but without the 120 volt
heaters I mentioned above, you're still beating up the car on
a cold start. Remote autostarts ARE pretty dang convenient, though.
(AND they work for AC in warmer climates as well...

)

Py · Post by Py » 19 Oct 2009, 15:21

BEJinFbk,

If you understand you properly, you advise it would be a wiser idea to fit an electrical heater to the car, than a fuel-driven one?

Eg, the 850 equivalent of this device: http://vccs.volvocars.se/accessories/ca ... 214040.htm

Did I understand you properly?

Regarding the silicone heaters you suggest for the transmission and oil pan (good idea indeed), do you have a source or brand advice? I do not really see what those devices are yet.

Thanks,
Py

Post by **BEJinFbk** » 19 Oct 2009, 15:37

Yup - That's the one. It's a little different than a freeze plug heater
or one of the circulating tank heaters, in that it externally bolts to the
back of the block. It just uses the block as a big honkin' heat sink.
But it's 400 watts (IIRC) of rompin', stompin' block heater.

The pads that I went with give me 100 watts on the oil pan and 75
on the trans. Check with your local parts store for those. It's just a
thin orange silicone pad with a cord attached. If you can't find'em,
post back and I'll see what else I can get on them.

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 19 Oct 2009, 16:11

This combo works just fine at -50.

BEJinFBK would know for sure. Fairbanks was the only place I ever went to with a Sears store with pay parking meters. The upside to the pay parking meters was that they turned on the outlet at the base of the meter to plug the car into to keep the block heater going once you dropped in your quarters.

...Lee

Post by **BEJinFbk** » 19 Oct 2009, 18:00

Ozark Lee wrote:
This combo works just fine at -50.
BEJinFBK would know for sure. Fairbanks was the only place I ever went to a Sears store with pay parking meters. The upside to the pay parking meters was that they turned on the outlet at the base of the meter to plug the car into to keep the block heater going once you dropped in your quarters.

...Lee

Geez - That musta been DECADES ago, back when Sears was just a catalog store "outpost".
Remember Airport and Cushman? They've got a big shiny, full service store these days.
I haven't seen a coin-op outlet in ages...Thank Goodness!

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 19 Oct 2009, 19:39

Geez - That musta been DECADES ago

I think it was around 1980 or 1981, the memories fade. I made a bi-annual trip to AK from either Kansas City or Honolulu at the time between 1978 and 1981 peddling hardware from Deadhorse to Ketchikan.

My worst memory of Fairbanks was the stupid rental car I got from an outfit called "Ugly Duckling". They rented a bunch of used wrecks with a cartoon character plastered on the doors of a yellow duck with a bubble out of its mouth that said, "Cheap" . I blew up one of their Renault "LeCar's" playing rally in the mountains just South of Anchorage and the clutch finally completely quite on some crappy Chevy that I rented in FBK out around Eielson AFB.

That was after I paid a radiator shop to patch the radiator back together on the thing. I signed a rental agreement that absolutely said I wouldn't take it on the pipeline road - I of course did and ripped the bottom of the radiator out where the block heater was hooked up in the process.

The guy at the radiator shop really didn't want to tack it back together because he said it would never last. After I explained that it was a rental and I only needed for it to get back to the lot he agreed to tack it up for $20.00 (cash) so long as I never revealed that he did the repair.

Some of my fondest memories are the trips I have made to Alaska, real country and real Americans, even if they are having doubts about the wisdom of that plan. At the time I was there the big bumper sticker was "Happiness is Being a Territory Again", I doubt that things have changed much.

...Lee