Club 80-90 Forums

hi gang ,,,,, i have a air cooled vw camper 81 . how do i get the warm air through to window so im not mist blind on winter nights ???? cant seem to get warm air .... ? its not electric ... help please bad weather just about to start in wales .....

the heaters in your van usually get there heat from heat exchangers, which are tubes that go over the out side of your exhaust manifolds air is blown through them either by a mechanical fan fitted to the engine or a electrical fan in the engine bay, from there the warm air gets blown to the front of the van through tubes up on to the windscreen.
unfortunetley these heat exchangers tend to rust and so do the exhausts so first i'd suggest you have a look and see if you've actually got any as someone down the line of owner hip may have removed them or fitted aftermarket exhausts.
2nd i'd check that you've still got the pipes connected and the fan works. unfortunetley lots of Aircooled boxer engines tend to leak oil out of there rocker covers which tends to drip down onto the exhaust manifolds which inturn tends to blow smoke and oil fumes into your cab so alot of people disconect there heaters. so good luck and may the force be with you.

CHEERS OL VW BUDDY WILL HAVE A LOOK WHEN THE DAY WARMS UP ON THIS MOUNTAIN IN WALES , ITS FREEEEEEEEEZING MAN . THANKS AGAIN .

Do what i have done as my rocker cover was leaking a little oil onto heat exchangers so i disconected them so i got myself a ceramic heater that plugs into cigarette lighter and works a treat on these cold days

COOL >>> WILL TAKE A LOOK SUN . HOW WOULD I RECONECT EM . WHAT DO THE LOOK LIKE ??/ CHEERS DAVE ..

Dave G wrote:Do what i have done as my rocker cover was leaking a little oil onto heat exchangers so i disconected them so i got myself a ceramic heater that plugs into cigarette lighter and works a treat on these cold days

Hi mate, were did you buy your ceramic heater?

If you do get the heating ducts connected up don't expect too much from them. The cables on mine were seized, and on closer inspection one of the flap valves had completely rotted. I replaced the rotted valve & section of ducting with some high temperature silicone ducting and zip-locked the other flap valve open for the winter. As there's only the alternator fan to "blow" the air all the way to the front of the van I fitted another one in the ducting behind the radiator grill. I used a 3" bilge blower and ran the switch for it up to the dash. Now after the engine has been running for 5-10 minutes there's enough "warm" air to keep the screen de-misted but most of the heating seems to come out the floor vents in the kitchen? I think I'll keep the bobble hat & gloves on stand-by for when it gets properly cold.

Thats what the fan on the alternator is for....if the system is working properly it very good at keeping the bus heated. Why not just fix the original heating system?..

Thats what the fan on the alternator is for

I'll have to have a go at sealing up the joints in the pipework from the alternator fan down to the heat exchangers. Before I fitted the bilge blower there wasn't really any detectable air flow out of the windscreen vents.

also worth checking your getting a good airflow through the pipework once you connect the exchangers back up - I just found out on mine that the warm air pipe was collapsing inside where it joins onto the 2into1 solid pipe from the heat exchangers

to be honest if i was running an air cooled van in winter i`d invest in an ebber or webasto. they are a lot of money but it will be the best money you`ve ever spent on your van and you`ll be able to use it all year round. duct the heater outlet in to the vans origonal heating system and your sorted.

tip though. DONT buy one without seeing it running. ebbers are v.v. expensive to repair if the ecu is u/s.

BOXY wrote:

Thats what the fan on the alternator is for

I'll have to have a go at sealing up the joints in the pipework from the alternator fan down to the heat exchangers. Before I fitted the bilge blower there wasn't really any detectable air flow out of the windscreen vents.

You can get aluminium tape and 60mm (i think) ducting that works a treat in sealing joints and replacing missing bits of ducting from fleabay and it's not expensive.
When mine is ticking over there is a gentle airflow onto the screen that gets stronger when you rev the engine. You then use the airflow restrictor (bottom slider) to control the temp...slower the airflow the hotter it is. Hope this helps.

Andy, Julie, & Bobdog wrote: You can get aluminium tape and 60mm (i think) ducting that works a treat in sealing joints and replacing missing bits of ducting from fleabay and it's not expensive.
When mine is ticking over there is a gentle airflow onto the screen that gets stronger when you rev the engine. You then use the airflow restrictor (bottom slider) to control the temp...slower the airflow the hotter it is. Hope this helps.

ooh lardy darr looksy at me with my new improved 'warmer than a CT 2.0L Aircooled' now fitted

(you know I'm only jealous bud! hehehe)

dugcati wrote:

Andy, Julie, & Bobdog wrote: You can get aluminium tape and 60mm (i think) ducting that works a treat in sealing joints and replacing missing bits of ducting from fleabay and it's not expensive.
When mine is ticking over there is a gentle airflow onto the screen that gets stronger when you rev the engine. You then use the airflow restrictor (bottom slider) to control the temp...slower the airflow the hotter it is. Hope this helps.

ooh lardy darr looksy at me with my new improved 'warmer than a CT 2.0L Aircooled' now fitted

(you know I'm only jealous bud! hehehe)

In the words of the song.....

It's getting hot in here, I'm gonna take my clothes off...

cheers, im getting slight heat out now ,,, is the slider better to left or right . ive no marks left on heater plate ?? thanks again . ps ive stuffed some rags in the inside floor vents tooo .