Webasto unit running for 30 sec???

[toejam23]

Hi all.
Not sure my original post was in the place so ive put it here as well  :-[
New to the forum so be gentile. 
Got a 2006 X5 E53 last week and am loving it, but for 1 thing.
Been reading alot of posts regarding the webasto but cant see anybody else having the same issue.
When i unlock the car no matter what temp it is i can hear the unit fan starting which lasts for about 30 seconds then cuts off. is this normal? 
Also noticed it does it when i open the doors if left unlocked for a while!?

[storminmike]

[quote="toejam23"]
Hi all.
Not sure my original post was in the place so ive put it here as well  :-[
New to the forum so be gentile. 
Got a 2006 X5 E53 last week and am loving it, but for 1 thing.
Been reading alot of posts regarding the webasto but cant see anybody else having the same issue.
When i unlock the car no matter what temp it is i can hear the unit fan starting which lasts for about 30 seconds then cuts off. is this normal? 
Also noticed it does it when i open the doors if left unlocked for a while!?
[/quote]

mine does that...it's yet to be fixed or replaced. Every power request sets it off

unlock....whirrrrr...then stops
lock.......whirrrr...then stops

no idea why it does it though. I've thrown power at it and as I've heard it spins up but no ignition or combustion.....just whirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr....then stops

I can't remember exactly but I think when I hotwired it whirred and continued to whirr until I removed the power. I may be mistaken though.

[toejam23]

Yeah i tried the hot wire way too.
As far as i can remember (it was this morning!!!) it fired up when i disconnected the 6 pin plug for a while, around 30 seconds which was weird. i then put a cable on pin no1 and the positive battery point and it fanned up again but only for a little longer than normal and shut down again ??? just whirring.  >:(

[X5 ALN]

When you apply power to pin one - you MUST leave it conencted for at least 3 minutes to allow the webasto to start up and shut down correctly.

3 failed starts and the Webasto will go into lockout and need reset (by pulling the 6 pin plug or the fuse with the ignition on).

It sounds to me like you have a faulty PCB on the webasto.

Ultimately you need to hook it up to INPA, DIS or ISTA (BMW software) to get the fault code from the heater.

If you get in touch with these people, they may be able to fix it if it is a PCB error (which will not actually say pcb error - mine pointed to the glow plug, but the fault remained after a new plug was fitted).

jp@sercap.fi

Also read ALL of this, a wealth of knowledge, and if you skip a page, you might miss something VERY helpful.

http://xdrivers.co.uk/forum/https://xdr ... ic.php?t=1

[toejam23]

X5ALN you mentioned INPA, DIS or ISTA BMW software to get the codes. What do i need to use these softwares. im not sure what they are, ive only really heard of the BMW Scanner 1.4.0 which i received today and been having a play around with it trying not to mess anything up. Did manage to change a couple of things including getting AUX Heating option back onto the OBC. Not sure this changed anything though. Still dont think its working, i only tried it on directly and its pretty warm outside at the moment.
Is there anyway i can use this scanner to test the Webasto ???

[X5 ALN]

I coded my display to show aux heating and ventilation - I then had a nightmare trying to undo it as it prevented my system from working as it was then looking for factory fitted changeover valves that were not there.  Other people claim to have done this with success.  IMO it is pointless coding it - do you go to the car at the exact same time, and only twice a day.  Doesnt a £35 remote, that you press 20 minutes before you're due to leave, as many times a day as you need to sound much better.

I've no experience with your software so cannot comment.  If you have a cable already, you may be able to find a free download of INPA, which is VERY easy to work, and might work with the cable you have already.  IF not, nothing lost, nothing gained.

I bought my cable with software from this guy IIRC
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-Diagnosti ... 43bba441b5

[toejam23]

Evening all, still having issues with this damn thing, wish I'd never heard of it at the moment.  :blink:
Anyway, the latest is that I got the car hooked up via INPA and tried activating it but after the third time of the combustion air fan trying to fire up it goes into a "Break down interlock" see pic;



After this happens it no longer whirs on doors opening/closing/locking/unlocking, it does nothing unless I pull the fuse or the 6 pin plug on the webasto out and replace it. Then it's back to unlock whirr lock whirr open door whirr  :dead:

After this I checked the error codes and get a combustion air fan error, see pic;



Any ideas to a quick DIY fix for a novice, spending some serious cash for someone else to take 5 minutes to fix or is it fubar'd ?

[toejam23]

So the latest is....both through INPA and BMW Scanner 1.4.0 i get a combustion air fan error



I also took off the PCB cover to reveal the circuit board cos i read somewhere that the white gooey stuff can sop things working. as you can see from the next pic that under the gunk there seems to be burn marks.



So could there really be a combustion air fan problem or does the burn marks mean that things (resistors and wot not) are not working on the circuit board???

Cheers.

[X5Sport]

Be useful to compare against a working circuit board.

That white gunk looks adjacent to the two blue devices which are both electrolytic capacitors and could have blown.  I can't see the values on that picture.  Or there could have been other components there which have blown in which case they can be identified on a working board.

Richard

[jaynana]

blown pcbs is something i've heard of re. webos.

do you still get the 30sec whirring noise? if so the chances are the air fan is working..

i haven't played with INPA.

when my webo was faulty i used webo software to diagnose. which allows each component to be tested independently, even that isn't easy because when the pcb is blown it just gives wrong results! all in here..

[toejam23]

Cheers for the replays chaps.
Jaynana, yes I do get the whirring, so I'm starting to think that the pcb is the problem.
Possibly the tiny burnt out components.
So what are my options? Send the pcb to the guy in Germany who does webasto pcb repairs (think i read about him on here, read so many posts about the webasto)or buy a whole new working unit. Any advice on these?

[X5Sport]

The tiny components are SMT (Surface Mount Tech) which needs specialist tools.  The two caps are something you can change yourself I would think.  Need an in focus image of the sides of the 'cans' as they may have leaked, but we can get the values off them.  The unknown will be if there are up or down stream component failures, and especially to the controller chip at centre left and dead centre of the image.

With SMT you need a magnifying glass to look at the components to check for burning marks.

It may unfortunately mean a new PCB is a good bet here.

Sorry....

Richard

[jaynana]

[quote="toejam23"]
Cheers for the replays chaps.
Jaynana, yes I do get the whirring, so I'm starting to think that the pcb is the problem.
Possibly the tiny burnt out components.
So what are my options? Send the pcb to the guy in Germany who does webasto pcb repairs (think i read about him on here, read so many posts about the webasto)or buy a whole new working unit. Any advice on these?
[/quote]

unfortunately it could also be that it tries the air fan, not within the tresholds, gives up..  :blink:

difficult one really..

i removed the pcb and sent to the german bloke. he said nothing wrong with the pcb, my glow plug was fused so he sold me a glow plug (and returned the pcb). u could do that - send both the pcb and the glow plug. that with postage was about 125 pounds i think..can't remember.

alternative is easier, just buy a whole webo with warranty for about 200 pounds. i did that too, and later sold it off once i got mine sorted.

[toejam23]

Ive been looking more closely at that pic of the pcb, and can see that the link between the small 8 pronged black box and one of the components is burnt, so presumably no connection.
If you look at the top right of that 8 pronged box, three prongs down, its burnt off there all the way to the tiny thingamabob. After i lifted that white gunk, thats where the burn marks, and possably some solder is.



So my thinking is if this is the fault if i can make a connection between these two could that fire up this thing correctly???

I also found this http://www.yeint.ru/suppliers/melexis/p ... 22_004.pdf off another forum (who were having the same issues as us) which i think shows what this box is, K-Bus Transceiver, If you look at the pin diagram, the third one down is either the bus or reset, which ever way round it is. Could this be my issue???

Edit; that is pin 6 = Bus

[X5Sport]

It seems the white gunk may be an anti-vibration foam to stop those capacitors shaking loose.  The missing link could be the issue, but then what caused the 5v Reset line to get that hot - possibly a short to GND - and did it do any damage to the Controller IC?  Reconnecting it might make it go away, but it might not.

Without a thorough circuit test to find what went wrong it's impossible to advise, except get it to an expert who has the fault finding circuit diagram and the right test equipment.

Richard