Mysterious Engine heater button thingy?

[Dr Fingers]

Puzzled by this..

Ruby has one of these, to RH side of steering wheel on the dash, and I see from some posts on here that some vans have these if they were 'winterised' versions: however, said vans apparently should have a second battery (main, not a LB) as I understand it: mine has only one, and no sign of a tray etc for a second battery.

The button does appear to do something: turn it on and a distinct click can be heard from somewhere at the back.

Can anyone shed further light?

Thanks

Derek

[chipvan]

out of interest do you have a pic?

[Rhod]

The noise you hear is probably the valve in the exhaust closing. If I understand the theory correctly, then closing the valve restricts the exhaust flow & makes the engine work harder - thus causing it to warm up more quickly. The problem is that the valve has a tendency to stick shut, thereby restricting the exhaust on a permanent basis Mine never worked (ie was stuck open) but even with temperatures down to -20 Celcius I've not had any problems with starting or warming up the engine. General consensus seems to be that they are not necessary in the UK. It's probably not a bad idea to disconnect the valve or the switch to avoid the valve ever becoming stuck shut.

The twin batteries were fitted to boost the cranking power in low temperatures. Mine was converted to a single 90AH battery & has never struggled. I guess that it's possible that the battery tray was removed on yours for some reason?

[steveyd]

Hi,

My Bongo is a winterised version but only came with one battery - turns out somebody had pinched all the goodies off my Bongo and the second battery tray and ladder had gone (Mine was an import too..).

If you take off the cover over the radiator you should see the connections etc for the second battery under it - they should be taped up to prevent any short circuits. At least thats what I found.

I've been told not to touch that engine switch thing in case it jams the exhaust valve, and in any case Noodle will be getting a s/steel exhaust and I'll be taking the vavlve out of the system.

cheers,

Steve

[Dr Fingers]

Thanks for this. Seems a few bits are missing from mine as well..no cover over the rad, for a start..


Derek

[2manymadmonkeys]

When I press mine nothing seems to happen if it was stuck on would that affect the mpg?

[Doone]

When I press mine nothing seems to happen if it was stuck on would that affect the mpg?

If its stuck it can affect fuel consumption. When ours was stuck, we were getting about 18mpg. Read the posts ON THIS LINK. They identify the valve on the schematic and what can be done to try to fix it if it jams.

[2manymadmonkeys]

That's what I'm getting at the mo 18mpg around town a couple of long journeys will look at link thanks

[2manymadmonkeys]

Just been out for a play it does seem to be working now will have to check brakes binding etc