Defender Heater

Ray Hyland

Expedition Leader
In my 200tdi 110 the original heater siezed up (it was never turned on when it lived in the tropics) and was replaced with one from a ford laser (euro-spec econo-box) that works even LESS well than the original.

Since I have 4 inches of snow at my house today and the boys and I were scraping ice off the inside of the wind-screen as we were driving to the dojo tonight, I thought maybe I should look at a heater upgrade...

I would love an eberspacher or a webasto but they are crazy expensive, so I am wondering if anyone has had any luck swapping in a heater from some common north american truck or car? Something that actually works?

Or some other solution?

All thoughts (even the funny but impractical ones) are welcome.

Cheers

Ray
 

Stock Tyres

Observer
Just get a eberspacher.


But if you want to turn your defender into something that looks cobbled together, look at princess auto they will have something that could work.
 

overlander

Expedition Leader
In my 200tdi 110 the original heater siezed up (it was never turned on when it lived in the tropics) and was replaced with one from a ford laser (euro-spec econo-box) that works even LESS well than the original.

Since I have 4 inches of snow at my house today and the boys and I were scraping ice off the inside of the wind-screen as we were driving to the dojo tonight, I thought maybe I should look at a heater upgrade...

I would love an eberspacher or a webasto but they are crazy expensive, so I am wondering if anyone has had any luck swapping in a heater from some common north american truck or car? Something that actually works?

Or some other solution?

All thoughts (even the funny but impractical ones) are welcome.

Cheers

Ray

Eberspacher or webasto is the way to go hands down. What would be your max budget? i bought a used webasto for a fraction of the price from a repeatable source. probably only have maybe 500-600 into it I would say. It's only getting down to the mid 30's right now in NC, but parking outside every night and the webasto coming on automatically at 6:30AM every morning, I am personally uncomfortably warm about 1 mile down the road, and have to vent cold air into the cabin by the time I get my daughter to her school. If you're up north, you need one of these, period.
 

David Harris

Expedition Leader
Eberspacher or webasto is the way to go hands down. What would be your max budget? i bought a used webasto for a fraction of the price from a repeatable source. probably only have maybe 500-600 into it I would say. It's only getting down to the mid 30's right now in NC, but parking outside every night and the webasto coming on automatically at 6:30AM every morning, I am personally uncomfortably warm about 1 mile down the road, and have to vent cold air into the cabin by the time I get my daughter to her school. If you're up north, you need one of these, period.

Those are nice, but isn't his question about cheaper alternatives? The Flex-a-lite is only 200.00 from Amazon, versus 500-600.00 for the others. The company has a good reputation and it's worth a try in my opinion. Any reason why it wouldn't be just as good as the traditional Webasto?

David
 

Ray Hyland

Expedition Leader
Actually for a decent Espar or Webasto I would be happy to pay $500-600.

I have been seeing them in the $1500-1800 range.

Can you point me in the direction of where you found yours?

Thanks

Ray
 

David Harris

Expedition Leader
Actually for a decent Espar or Webasto I would be happy to pay $500-600.

I have been seeing them in the $1500-1800 range.

Can you point me in the direction of where you found yours?

Thanks

Ray


1500 to 1800 for a heater? I guess that's why I'm driving Discos . . . :ylsmoke:
 

Maryland 110

Adventurer
1500 to 1800 for a heater? I guess that's why I'm driving Discos . . . :ylsmoke:


With that comment you do understand that these are aftermarket auxillary diesel fired timer controled heaters being discussed ?

Stock replacement LR Defender heaters are in the $500 range for the entire unit. I buy them frequently for right to left hand drive conversions.
 

Ray Hyland

Expedition Leader
Maybe a DefenderVENT would improve your "heating experience"? If I got an older Defender it would be one of the first improvements made, since I live up here in the cold and damp.

Those are cool but that's not really my issue. Getting it warm, keeping it warm, those are the challenges. The 200tdi runs pretty cold, even with a rad muff. on days like today when it is minus 20 at my house, I will reach my destination by the time the truck warms up.

I think my best bet is to keep my eyes open for a good used Espar or Webasto.
 

overlander

Expedition Leader
Here's my thread on my webasto thermotop Z install: http://www.d-90.com/forum/showthread.php?t=22261&highlight=grail. You can repeatedly find the factory installed Webasto's from European Freelanders available on ebay for purchase used for a few hundred dollars. All the rest of the parts needed are also easily sourced.

I haven't finished the thread, but mine is fully operational and used daily now. I'll finish the thread in the next month at some point.
 

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