Webasto heater?

[TMutziger]

I have seen "webasto heater" pop up in a few posts here and there. I have never heard of this before. Can't seem to find any info on them. Can someone explain exactly what they are, where I can find one and maybe some prices. Thanks

 

[JRutledge]

I have run one for several years. It is a small auxillary heater that runs diesel fuel and your batteries. It heats and circulates your engine coolant and operates the blower motor. This preheats the engine and cab. Here is a link to their site;
Hope this helps.

 

[Shadrach]

I have sold Espar diesel fired engine preheaters for years and have seen great success and many happy customers. They have a kit made specifically for your truck and it comes with a 24 hour timer. You can even get a remote start fob for them. They are fully serviceable where as the small Wabastos are not. Enhance your quality of life - Welcome to Espar Shadrach

 

[mwilson]

The Espars are great little units. We sell them as part of the Thermo King Tri-Pac units for the Class 8 trucks. Due to the new anti-idle regs for trucks, these stand alone heating and cooling units are big business now.

Very effecient and reliable little buggers.



Be aware that there are two types of Espar heaters**



Airtronic * Hot air heat for cab interior *



Hydronic * Hot water heat for engine coolant * Can be run along with engine to maintain coolant temperature in cold weather. A lot of buses use them all winter to keep block warm at night and to keep coolant temps up during operation in the daytime.



Here is link to the automotive page. After the page loads go to the right side of the page under "more information" and there is a place to download the Dodge brochure. Tried to attach it here but file is too big.



Espar - Automotive

 

[TMutziger]

Very interesting. Sounds like something I may need. Thanks for the info.

 

[TMutziger]

Called a local Peterbuilt dealer that sells Espar. They quoted me at $1350 for the one for my pickup. Is that about right? Sound like a great product and I would love to have one, just not sure about spending that much money just to have my truck warm in the morning. Might have to stick with plugging it in at night and waiting a bit longer for it to warm up on its own for now.

 

[mwilson]

I can get them through a Thermo King Program, would sell for about $1200. 00 plus ground freight. Not trying to sell on here, just giving you an idea of what a fair price should be. Peterbilt dealer is not sticking you, I just have a better Espar program in place.



Did the Peterbilt Dealer give you a generic Hydronic D5 price or did he price the Dodge specific kit??? Part numbers for the 2003-2006 Dodge kit are as follows

Espar Part # 25. 2822. 19. 05. 32

T/K Part # 84-1517



The thing that I really like about these is that ability for them to run along with the engine. On a cold, cold day, it would keep the mighty Cummins at 180 degrees even running along easy. The Espar knows to calm down and cut it's fuel back as the engine approaches 180 and then will come on strong if the temperature starts to drop back. Also comes stock with a 24 hour timer and can be upgraded to a 7 day timer if desired.



Here is the link to the install manual...



It appears that Espar has done an excellent job making a specific kit for the Dodges. Everything that you should need seems to be in that kit.



http://www.espar.com/tech_manuals/Pick-Up truck kits/Dodge Ram/Cummins Ram Kit OEM.pdf

 

[WDaniels]

I have the Wabesto blue flame heater in my truck. It heats the coolant and circulates it through the block and heater and turns on the heater to the lowest setting to thaw the windows and heat the cab, which when its 60 below, is a good thing. No matter which one you go with, they both are great products.

WD

 

[Shadrach]

One of my co-workers has one on his 03 Dodge. I would hear it running every day when I left work. I asked him if he used more fuel than before and he said no because he doesn't idle the truck anymore. Makes sense since it is a much smaller unit than our engine. He also has less wear and tear on the mighty Cummins. It's great if you go skiing in the mountains or work where you can't plug in such as a mall or a rig site. If you keep your truck for more than a few years and live in a cold area it is well worth it. It's especially great when it is down near -40 Shadrach

 

[mwilson]

Just to help you guys understand how efficient the little buggers are, let me share this with you***



We have a homemade test stand in the shop to run the Airtronic units for troubleshooting and repair. We have a 16oz Coke bottle (No Pepsi products:-laf) for a fuel tank. Ran the unit full bore for 1 1/2 hours and fuel consumption was about 8oz of diesel fuel!!!!! Or in other words from the bottom of the label to empty.

That should be about 20 hours per gallon at max heat.



That is truly sipping fuel!!Oo.

 

[TMutziger]

That is amazing. I can't believe they can use that little fuel and still be effective. Probably would pay for itself rather quickly in fuel savings if you never have to leave your truck idling to warm up. Mine never warms up anyway. It can run for an hour and the temp. guage will maybe move a tiny bit from the coldest reading. Even if I have been working it and it is fully heated up, as soon as you stop and let it idle, it will cool way down and the heater doesn't put out any heat. That is where it would really be nice to have supplemental heat.

 

[JRutledge]

If you would like your truck to warm up when idling look into an exhaust brake. At -60F
I use the webasto to preheat the engine and cab. Then when I start it I turn my jake brake on and it stays on until the engine temp is up to about 170. At that point it turns off until the temp falls to about 150, at that point it comes back on again. The jake is more than just a brake for me.
Judd Rutledge
Tok, Alaska

 

[TMutziger]

I used to drive an '02 7. 3 powerstroke. I had a factory installed warm up vavle mounted to the turbo, similar to an exhaust brake just not used for braking. When it was cold, the butterfly valve would close and restrict the exhaust, keeping heat in the engine. It worked great. That truck would put out heat after running for about ten minutes and stayed warm even when left idling. Great idea. I wish my Cummins had something similar. Can't afford an exhaust brake right now or I'd have one.