Webasto Gasoline Heater

[jaudette3]

Greetings....

My '72 S Targa has the optional Webasto gas heater installed in the smugglers box. It's currently disconnected but it looks to be in good shape. I drive the car at times here in the winter in Central Oregon and it can get cold. Is it worth hooking the heater up? It sounds kind of scary.

Thanks,
JA

[72targa]

Could you post a pic for our reference? Thanks!

[jaudette3]

Here you go...

[19-911-65]

Hi JA,

Check out this post....
http://www.early911sregistry.org/for...ead.php?t=8727

Good Luck!!

Glenn

[304065]

Thank you for posting those, those are some of the best pictures I have seen of the later Webasto setup, with the transistorized firing box, the silver box at the upper left of the photos. The earlier cars had this box mounted on the firewall up by the fuel pump.

[Chuff]

Thought I would add a couple of pics just for comedy value.
One pic is of a 'highly modified version' of a heater being installed - Basically we cobbled together 2 different versions to come up with one working part.

Second pic is of a test rig for the finished product - looks untidy, but was a big help in getting the thing to work.

Andrew

[304065]

Chuff, that's great!

Can you provide a more detailed explanation of how you went about this? I have been thinking of doing the same thing, but am curious as to what problems you discovered along the way, and how they were resolved.

Good stuff.

[Chuff]

I forget the exact details, but I seem to remember that we had to modify the outlet from the fan unit. The control unit with the thermostats was cut away from the older outlet, and a working unit from another outlet (with wrong number of nozzles) was then welded in.
The wiring is all new, basically a modified version from the original wiring diagram.

[jaudette3]

I was out in the garage yesterday futzing around with my Targa. I had the ignition switch on listening to the radio and decided to see if the switch for the Webasto heater would do anything. I turned it on and immediately a fan started up and a light went on on the left side of the heater controls. It may work!

There's two feet of snow on the ground right now, so I'm stuck in the garage (at least until the roads are plowed), so I can't take it out and test it while I'm driving. Should I worry about trying it? I'd hate to blow up the car or die of CO poisoning this close to Christmas.

Cheers,
John

[304065]

John, I would not run that heater until you had made a thorough check of the entire system, which would entail removing it from the car to check it out. You have a great opportunity, however, to document for the early 911 community how a working heater is set up.

Anyway, potential hazards, as you correctly cite, include CO poisioning from exhaust leaks, fire hazard from debris, wires in the wrong place or fuel leaks, etc.

While I am not one of the people who says NEVER run it, I won't run mine until I've had the opportunity to make sure every part is free of defects, that the wiring conforms to the diagram and that the exhaust and intake systems are correctly set up. A checkout on a test rig out of the car, as Chuff did, above, would be a good idea also.

The factory manual has a good 20-page supplement describing the operation of the heater with exploded (no pun intended) diagrams, wiring schematic, etc.

Good luck!