Dis-connect the webasco

[jonnyivy]

Hi,..

  Just had the bonnet opened today to have a wee look inside this amazing space,....  was looking ( and listening ) to the remote Webasto heater thingy,... is it supposed to be gurgling away on the rear side of the box  ?? (the engine was sitting idling away beautifully )
It was pretty hot to touch as well although I don't even know if it is doing anything to contribute to the running of the engine ??  I can see the water pipes going into it which were hot too...but there was no heat from its own wee exhaust so obviously not igniting.
When I switch engine off I can hear it purring away for a few seconds before I get out the car.
Is it important to have this thing connected ??...or is it just a drain on the battery ??

Jonny

[X5Sport]

It's function is to speed up the coolant warming on an engine when the air temp is 5°C or less.  It should shut itself down once the coolant is up to the required temperature, but it will run on if not.

The gurgling could just be water cycling through, or there may be a fault in the burner section/fan and it is not firing correctly (as a cold exhaust would tend to point to).  It should not run on if the battery or fuel levels fall below a certain point thus saving you from a dead battery and/or no fuel.

If you are good at DIY then they can be fixed at home with repair kits or sent to a Webasto service specialist.  If you can still get units from BMW then don't ask unless you have a defibrillator with you!

[jonnyivy]

So if I start the car on a cold day this thing should start up and help to heat the water pipes ?...that means the exhaust I see coming from it must get hot.
If I feel it after a few minutes and its not hot do I assure its not firing up ?
Always wondered what this box actually did even on my last X5.
Am I right in thinking if its bust I could just dis-connect it at the top to stop it whirring away doing nothing ??

Jonny

[X5Sport]

Correct.  If it is working correctly you should hear it 'ticking' under the passenger seat and the unit roaring away happily to itself until the coolant temp is up.

It looks like front fuse 59 controls it......fuse on is above the glovebox in case you aren't sure.

[jonnyivy]

Thanks,...I shall look into dis-connecting it tomorrow,....gonna be a hard frost here tonight by looks of things,..which means I will probably have to go start it for my wife in the morning as there are only two glow plugs working,......but thats another story !!

[jonnyivy]

Minus 7 here this morning,.... needless to say that my X5 wouldnt start having just 2 glow plugs working.
Lo and behold when I tried to fire it up a couple of hoours later it burst into life and it looks like my Webasto heater IS working !!
It was burning away good style,..the water pipes coming in and going out were no where near as hot as the unit itself so it was obviosly working.
Dohhh,... the pipe I thought was the Webasto exhaust was infact the air intake and the correct exhaust under the passenger door was nice and hot !
Think I will just leave it as it is and hopefully I will learn how to programme it to come on by itself in the mornings ....