Webasto Install Help

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Douglas S

Douglas S

10 Year 15 Year
Joined
Mar 21, 2010
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50
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3,244
Location
SK, Canada
Hello,

I received a Webasto Thermo 90S for my birthday this year and I've now built a mount for it and installed it at the rear of my truck (where the spare tire would typically go; I have a swing out).

I've successfully run all the coolant, fuel, and electrical lines up to the front of the truck, but there is one thing that has me a little puzzled.

I need to connect the webasto to my cooling system, but I'm wary of making my vehicle water pump push coolant all the way to the back of the truck and then to the front again during normal driving. Do people install systems with check valves? Where would the best place to tap into the factory cooling system?

I've seen Crushers install of the TSL17, but my situation is a little different.
 
I have no idea how to install a Webasto in your 81 but have a TSL 17 here in my garage for a boat. Isn't the Thermo 90 a 31000 BTU heater? This seems pretty big, no?
 
sailor said:
I have no idea how to install a Webasto in your 81 but have a TSL 17 here in my garage for a boat. Isn't the Thermo 90 a 31000 BTU heater? This seems pretty big, no?
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Yeah, it's quite large. Hence the install in the rear...it wouldn't fit in the engine bay. I'm not worried about the small increase in fuel consumption, I shouldn't have to run it for as long.


It wouldn't be my first choice, but I'll make it work.
 
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Problem might be that with such excess capacity, the duty cycle will be very short perhaps leading to a higher instance of fouling the combustion chamber etc? We usually like too run them a bit hard on boats but this is a different animal.
 
I'd love to have a webasto or espar, they aren't cheap tho. What is the advantage of coolant heater compared to air heaters? Wouldn't a air heater be more usefull, lets say for a cold night camping? Coolant heater would require tweaking the ventilation control in order to power it without any keys.

Sorry more a thread hijack then a usefull answer to your question
 
eleblanc said:
I'd love to have a webasto or espar, they aren't cheap tho. What is the advantage of coolant heater compared to air heaters? Wouldn't a air heater be more usefull, lets say for a cold night camping? Coolant heater would require tweaking the ventilation control in order to power it without any keys.

Sorry more a thread hijack then a usefull answer to your question
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Coolant heater warms the engine up to operating temp in 10 to 20 minutes. No block heater necessary even in the coldest of temperatures and no need for a plug in.

My heater in particular has the ability to turn on the blower fan once the coolant reaches a certain temperature and is operated with an on/off switch (eventually a timer).
 
Douglas S said:
My heater in particular has the ability to turn on the blower fan once the coolant reaches a certain temperature and is operated with an on/off switch (eventually a timer).
Click to expand...

And how it would turn the truck fan?
 
I'm trying to understand: The unit is too big to go under the hood and you are worried about running coolant lines all the way to the back to where the unit will fit, right? There is added risk to losing engine water jacket coolant if these lines are compromised? Also, if you intend to go under the truck, isn't there a risk of drowning the furnace? Any possibility of swapping this one for one that will go under the hood up high like an Espar D4W? The packaging of the small Espar is more convenient (integral fuel and circulation pump) Also, exhaust routing is critical, would prefer the unit quite a bit higher than the exhaust outlet to reduce possibility of water egress... This is interesting as we do these on boats all the time..
 
sailor said:
I'm trying to understand: The unit is too big to go under the hood and you are worried about running coolant lines all the way to the back to where the unit will fit, right? There is added risk to losing engine water jacket coolant if these lines are compromised? Also, if you intend to go under the truck, isn't there a risk of drowning the furnace? Any possibility of swapping this one for one that will go under the hood up high like an Espar D4W? The packaging of the small Espar is more convenient (integral fuel and circulation pump) Also, exhaust routing is critical, would prefer the unit quite a bit higher than the exhaust outlet to reduce possibility of water egress... This is interesting as we do these on boats all the time..
Click to expand...

I've already run the lines to the back and mounted the unit. I'm trying to tie it into the factory cooling system without forcing the vehicle water pump to push coolant all the way to the back of the truck and to the front again during normal driving. I think I've figured this out now. I'll report back later in the week on whether it worked or not.

I think I'll probably try to find a smaller unit in the spring, but I want to make this work for now.
 
Well you have me hooked now. One of my main customer is the dealer for webasto, i called them this morning and he is willing to sell me a thermo top with complete install kit for cheap. I think i cannot pass this out.
 
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I've got a Webasto Thermotop heater in Ford van that the PO installed. It came with both a timer and a remote so you can turn it on at a specific time or from your house. It is wired into the heater blower so that once the coolant is up to temperature the heater blower kicks on to warm the interior.

It works very well to preheat the engine and interior. For extended uses, such as camping, it's not so good. Between the heater blower and the electric coolant pump in the Webasto, it will discharge your battery very quickly. Since there is no thermostat so you have to manually turn it back on. Also, IIRC, Webasto does not recommend using it for extended periods.
 
astr said:
Between the heater blower and the electric coolant pump in the Webasto, it will discharge your battery very quickly. Since there is no thermostat so you have to manually turn it back on. Also, IIRC, Webasto does not recommend using it for extended periods.
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What do you mean by " no thermostat"? Do you mean that the webasto will continually heat coolant? There as to be a T-stat on the webasto to stop it or reduce it some how when coolant reach the temperature?

Or maybe you are talking about the in cab ventilation system? If so, on a Landcruiser 100 the climate control is automatic, therefore it will shutdown or go to low, when preset temperature is reached in the cabine.
 
eleblanc said:
Well you have me hooked now. One of my main customer is the dealer for webasto, i called them this morning and he is willing to sell me a thermo top with complete install kit for cheap. think i cannot pass this out.
Click to expand...
I haven't seen a used one for anything less than $500-600. And I've been looking for one for a long time.
 
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Eric, if you have a contact for Webasto locally, find out if they can get/order parts. I have a Webasto DBW2010 here that is BNIB but it needs a few bits and pieces to get it going.

Edit: Astr, I think it depends on the unit. My DBW 2010 is designed for continuous use. Many people use these for hot water and heating in sailboats. The amp draw is an issue, yes, but I will gladly run my little 600 watt Honda all night if it means I can have 45K BTUs of heat in my truck for camping... :)

Merci

JL
 
eleblanc said:
What do you mean by " no thermostat"? Do you mean that the webasto will continually heat coolant? There as to be a T-stat on the webasto to stop it or reduce it some how when coolant reach the temperature?

Or maybe you are talking about the in cab ventilation system? If so, on a Landcruiser 100 the climate control is automatic, therefore it will shutdown or go to low, when preset temperature is reached in the cabine.
Click to expand...

They run for a specific amount of time and then shut off. There is no thermostat to kick it back on when the temperature drops.

The integration of the webasto and vehicle ventilation system is minimal. Once the webasto determines that the coolant is warm, it can turn on a relay to activate the truck blower. There are no provisions for the truck heating system to communicate to the webasto. It may not even work with a more sophisticated system like in your 100.

Webasto has many different models for different applications. The only one that I'm familiar with is the Thermotop that I have. I believe it was originally designed to preheat engines in big diesel rigs. The ability to turn on the cab blower was a nice after thought.

Also, the biggest current draw is the heater blower. After all, they normally only run when the engine is running so low current draw was never a design goal.
 
astr said:
They run for a specific amount of time and then shut off. There is no thermostat to kick it back on when the temperature drops.
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That isn't always the case. Mine maintains a preset temperature.
 
Yeah, they supply a variety of control systems from a pre-heat start cycle to a bunk heater control with a thermostat. It's pretty easy to switch things up depending on what you are looking for. The run-time heaters don't have a temp input so they limit the run time, and the thermostatic ones will run like a home furnace. I am sure you could run both the interior temp. panel and the remote.
 
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