Converting a 1999 Ford E-250 to a camper van

[WVvan]

Light fixture upgrade continued :

Now that I've figured out what leds I'll be placing in the fixture, time to remove the old florescent light's wiring.


It's held in place by pop rivets.


Drill out the center of the rivet.


After a few of these, this is what your drill bit looks like.


With the florescent wiring gone I noticed the extra space within the light fixture. It got me to thinking and I decide to use that extra space to add some more leds.


Since I already had white light I thought I'd add some "Das Boot" lights. These will be like the red lights you see in just about every submarine movie that's not in black and white. They are so the crew can go from inside the sub to the outside without having their night vision ruined. Should work the same way for me when camping.

I'll be using a different type of led than the white ones I used before. Here is what they look like. It's a high powered "star type" led.


Since these leds are high power I'll only be using two of the red ones while I used 114 of the white leds.


One of these red leds will use 350 milliamps while a single white led only needs 20 milliamps. 1 amp = 1000 milliamps Along with extra light the led produces extra heat. So much extra heat that a separate heat sink is required. The data sheet reads that they are not to be run longer than 5 seconds without one.
The star board under the led, beside providing pads for soldering on wires, gives an attachment point for a heat sink.


I'll use silicone to mount the star boards onto the metal of the light fixture. It's more than large enough to act as a heat sink and safely dissipate the excess heat.

There's another consideration with high power leds. The voltage supplied by the van can vary by several volts. On the lower powered white leds it's not a problem. You can run them with just a resistor wired in series to limit the current so they don't burn out. For the high powered leds it's another matter. The led you see in the above picture and another one just like it I managed to burn out while doing this upgrade.

To safely power the red leds I'm using a small circuit board called a "constant current regulated led driver". This will keep a constant current flowing to the leds even if the input voltage changes.

Here's what a couple of the led regulator circuit boards look like.


The regulator board arrives with these metal pins used for plugging them into a light fixture.


Use a soldering iron to remove the pins and replace them with wires.


This regulator board will work with both AC and DC. Since it's being used for DC I could increase it's energy efficiency a small amount by bypassing these four diodes.

For size comparison that's a toothpick below them. I 'm not that good with a soldering iron so it will remain unchanged.

I need a way to secure the regulator board to the light fixture. Use a scrap piece of left over acrylic and cut out three small blocks then glue the two small ones onto the larger one.


The regulator board has small tabs on each side.


Use a hacksaw to cut grooves on each side of the acrylic holder to match those tabs.


Add some silicone then slide the board into place.




Clean off the metal surface of the light fixture along with the back of the led stars with alcohol.


Silicone everything into place then let it set up.


Wire the red leds to a small switch and mount through the side of the fixture opposite from the original power switch.




Test it out.


The red leds draw 0.16 amps. The photoresistor gives a read of 4.8 without the diffuser and 6.8 with it. So the red lights aren't as bright as the white leds or the original florescent light but they are still plenty bright and use a little more than a 1/10 as much power.

Next attach the white leds by putting dabs of silicone onto the back of the plastic trays that hold the led boards.


Put the led boards into the trays and secure them to the fixture.


The led boards would slide back in forth in the trays so secure in place with some more silicone. Let it all set overnight.


Wire it all together. The white leds are wired to the original switch for the florescent light. The two sets of leds light independent of each other.


Install back into the van.


My visibly bored supervisor for this project.


List of parts.
DealExtreme
12V 75-LED White Light Strip - $10.28 Used 1 and 1/2 of these.

300~350mA Constant Current Regulated LED Driver (12~16V Input) - $2.25

Mouser
Z Power LED, P4 Series, Red - 2 x $3.88

The small switch I had on hand. The 2 leds I burned out were from DealExtreme so they were cheaper than the Mouser ones.

I have a question. To hold the light fixture on edge I used a couple of these.


It's a rectangular steel "brick" that has "SUP-R-DIE" written on the side. I found them among my Dad's tools. Dad was a Tool and Die Maker. They're kind of handy. Any one know what they were specifically used for?

[markopolo]

Originally Posted by WVvan

I have a question. To hold the light fixture on edge I used a couple of these.


It's a rectangular steel "brick" that has "SUP-R-DIE" written on the side. I found them among my Dad's tools. Dad was a Tool and Die Maker. They're kind of handy. Any one know what they were specifically used for?

Looks like it could be part of their "Fixturing and Workholding Components". It would be heavy enough to keep things in place while you work on them.



This is probably their website: http://www.suprdie.com/indexNN.htm

[WVvan]

Thanks Marco,
I found the Sup-R-Die web site but couldn't find any pictures or descriptions.
Someone sent me the following:

That is a machinist's box parallel. Used for various setup, maching or measuring operations. Some are precision, some are cast and machined. Vary in size and shape. Here is one site for them:

http://www.auto-met.com/subtool/stcat/st_pg11b.html

You can clamp things to them to keep the parts square to a surface.

[WVvan]

With the recent short warm spell I started on getting the Webasto heater installed. Unfortunately the warm weather didn't last.

I bought the heater used off of ebay. It came with a with the fuel pump, mounting plate, hose clamps, 3 short sections of flexible hoses, one each for the combustion air intake, combustion exhaust and hot air exhaust.


The heater was mounted to this metal plate with the rusted studs and nuts. The studs are metric.


I couldn't find exact replacements for the studs but I did find metric bolts sized M6 - 1.00 x 40 at Lowe's. These are the same thread size so just cut the heads off the bolts. Also bought metric nuts to match.


I'll mount the heater on the side step. I've already removed the plastic step.


I think this is the best place for the heater for two reasons. One is it's easy to reach if it needs servicing. In my interior design there will be a cabinet mounted over the heater so it will be protected. A better reason is that this places the heater's air intake in what would be the coldest point in the van. Since cold air sinks this makes the best sense. Credit for this idea goes to Diyvanner.


Cut away the insulation from the mount point.


To mount the heater I'll need to drill holes through the step. This is the bottom view of the heater. Need 4 holes for the mounting studs, two for the inlet and outlet ports and one for the fuel connection.


Start with the stud holes. I know the studs are 6mm in diameter. Use the Pocket Ref to find the next size larger in a drill bit I'll have on hand. Go down the page to 1/4".


Here's what that part of the step looks like from underneath before I begin.


Wanted to use the mounting plate as a hole guide but it won't fit on the step.


Transfer the hole locations to a board then use the board as a drilling guide.




When drilling the holes, don't do them all at once but drill one and insert the threaded stud before moving on to the next. This will help keep everything in line.


Next are the two holes for the exhaust and inlet ports. Use the caliper to get the OD size. It's 22mm.


Use the small chart that came with my hole saw set. The hole saw for 22mm is 7/8".




Each port is dead center between the two closest stud holes.


Use a punch to make a indent at the center point so the drill bit won't wander when I start the hole.


A little coal mining trivia for you. The punch in the above picture is actually a mining bit. Underground mining machines have moving heads covered with a series of these types of bits. It's these bits which do the actual cutting of the coal off the face of the seam. To withstand the extreme abuse these bits are made of specially hardened metal.
It also makes a great punch that will keep a sharp point forever.


Use the hole saw for the two ports.




Use a couple round files to clean up the edges of the holes.


Set the heater in place and mark the location of the fuel inlet.


Measure the fuel inlet and select a drill bit. Notice how small the opening is at the end of the fuel inlet.


This is the connector for the fuel pump which is to be mounted under the van. It has to fit through the hole for the combustion inlet air port. Not going to happen.


Use the jig saw to enlarge the inlet port hole by joining the it with the fuel inlet hole.


This allows the connector to fit through the enlarged hole.


Fit heater into place.


Screw the studs into place to see if they fit. I could lie and say I got it perfect the first time but in actuality the stud holes needed enlarged slightly with the small round file before everything lined up.


If I'd used a larger drill bit on the stud holes then adjustments might not have been needed. There isn't a lot of distance between the stud holes and the port holes so didn't want to take away any more metal than I had to.


Get the supervisor's approval on heater placement.


Remove the heater and rustproof the holes. Wait for the rustproofing to dry.


continued -

[WVvan]

Webasto heater install continued:

With the rustproofing dry check how the heater's rubber gasket will lay.


Slide the gasket onto the heater. There is a lip on the side of the gasket that goes against the heater. The bottom side is flat.


Install the heater onto the van step and secure with lock washers and nuts.


The wire is for the fuel pump.


Next up is the fuel pump installation.
This was a used heater and came with no manuals but you can download them from the techwebasto.com web site.
I have my fuel pump laying on a manual page that shows the direction of fuel flow. The outlet side of the pump is the same side that has the electrical connection (right side in this picture).

The manual page identifies that plastic piece on the right end as a "damper".

While laying under the van try to find the best place to position the pump.


There is a plastic clip that extends through the van floor. Instead of drilling a new hole for the pump mount I'll remove the clip and use it's hole.


I'll need to fabricate a mount for the fuel pump. I'm using this piece of 3/16" x 1" Flat Bar Steel Alloy (ASTM A36).


It comes from a load of steel stock I bought to practice welding on.


Put a couple of bends in the bar. Clamp it into my vise and use a large wrench to bend it.


This gives me a place to mount the pump.


Add another bend to complete.


Using the plastic clip as a guide to where the bolt hole for the mount should be drilled.




The fuel pump is a "pulse" type. It "clicks" as it pumps. I want to isolate the pump so that the clicking isn't transmitted to the van body. I'm going to do this two different ways.
Use rubber washers between the van body and the pump mount.


Use an old inner tube between the pump and the pump mount.


Here is the first version. Warning: It will be changed.


I wanted to keep the pump close to the heater while using the already-in-place clip hole. This dictated the length of the mount. After a test fit I didn't like the "leverage" of the mount at the pump end so shorted it.


Next version. Use screw clamp to secure the rubber wrapped fuel pump to the mount.


Add some silicone to seal the hole in the van step and bolt the pump mount into place.
The rubber washers are between the large washer and the van body on both sides of the hole


The electrical wire to the pump is longer than needed so I've used a cable tie to to curl up the excesses and keep it from dangling down.


continued :

[WVvan]

Webasto heater install continued:

When I ran the flexible electrical conduit under the van I left it's final positioning until after I had a better idea of where the heater would go since they would be sharing the space under the van around the side step.


Now with the heater in place I can finalize the conduit install. First take some measurements. Notice these holes in the frame beam. I'll be using them.




One the other side of this frame beam is the exhaust system. Covering the exhaust system is the exhaust shield. As you can see in this picture the conduit is close to the shield while the fuel line is resting on it. I want to keep both the conduit and fuel line farther away from the shield so I'll need to raise both of them up. Use the measurements to construct a metal support.


Here are some of my practice welds. I've been cutting the long steel stock into short pieces and welding them together. Secure the welded pieces to the vise and use a wrench to stress the joints until they fail. Then check weld penetration on the separated pieces. Getting better but not there yet.


But good enough to make something like this T-brace.


Line up the T-brace with two holes in the frame beam and mark with soapstone where the conduit will cross the top of the brace.


Drill out holes on each side of the conduit path.


Need to transfer the location of the two holes in the frame beam onto the T-brace. I had trouble using the soapstone so cut out a poster board template.


Reach around inside the frame beam and mark through the holes onto the template with a sharp pencil.


Using the template as a guide drill bolt holes onto the T-brace. Bolt the T-brace to the frame beam.


View from the other side of the beam.


Route cable ties through the two holes on the top of the T-brace and around the conduit then secure.


Use more cable ties to secure the conduit farther along to the side of the frame beam.


This will keep it from hanging down. I'm counting on the cable ties being tough enough to hold the conduit in place. I'll check it after some use to see how it's standing up.


I next secured the heater fuel hose to the conduit at the top of the T-brace with cable ties.


Here's the "after" picture looking across the exhaust shield. Both the conduit and fuel line are now suspended above the top of the shield.


continued -

[WVvan]

Webasto heater install continued:

Route the fuel line to the pump and trim off excess.


After having seen how small the fuel inlet was on the Webasto I decided to add a fuel filter.


Add the filter to the pump inlet side. The short pieces of hose and clamps came with the fuel line kit.


Insert the fuel hose into the the other end of the fuel filter.


Take some of the leftover fuel line and use it to connect the outlet side of the pump to the heater inlet.


Here's how the pump looked with all lines attached.




Had to get the supervisors approval before proceeding. By aligning his sight with the bottom edge of the van he used that as a guide to decide if the pump was installed level or not.


It passed.

continued -

[WVvan]

Webasto heater install continued:

With the heater and fuel pump installed and approved it's time to fire it up. The Kwik-E-Mart up the road has a kerosene pump. The plan was to use kerosene to keep down coking inside the heater that can happen with diesel fuel. One slight problem with this plan. The kerosene pump is set up with a very short hose.


They obviously don't want it used to fuel vehicles. I had to get the van as close as possible to the pump before the nozzle would reach the fuel inlet. And while I was using the pump one of the cashiers came outside to see what I was doing.


This was the first time since it was installed in the van that the gas tank had been filled. I hadn't added a separate vent line hoping that if I just filled it slowly enough there wouldn't be fuel blow-back. I'm happy to report that it fills just fine if I keep fuel nozzle on the first notch. As a test I opened up the nozzle all the way. I won't be doing that again.

Get the van back home and wire up the heater to two 6 volt batteries (in series - 12v).


Start it up.


I'd like to say it started right away but not so lucky. The fan starts then you can hear the clicking from the fuel pump. After awhile when it doesn't start properly the heater will shut down and the light on the controller will start flashing. The number of flashes indicate an error code. To clear the code you remove power to the unit. By removing the fuel line on the outlet side of the pump and starting the heater it was obvious no fuel was getting through.


I had some help figuring that out.


I double and triple checked all the fuel line connections and they were tight. I'd bought a used second fuel pump on ebay, just in case. So I hooked up the second pump and got the same results. Next up I taped a clear plastic tube to the fuel line and started a siphon.

If you have to ask why I've attached a clear tube then it means you've never siphoned gas by mouth before.

Once I got kerosene to this side of the van and hooked everything up I found the problem. It's where the plastic fuel line slides into the rubber hose fitting on the inlet side of the fuel filter. I had the screw clamp so tight the fuel line couldn't be pulled from the hose but kerosene would still seep out. When the pump was running air must have been getting in through the fitting preventing the pump from drawing. To get a good seal I had to tighten on the screw clamps right up to the point where it felt that they would fail.


Since I had both fuel pumps out I decided to check them against each other by measuring their output. Both pumps are the same. 45 "clicks" gives you approximately 3cc's of fuel.

1 click =~ 1/15 cc
1 gal =~ 3 785 cc
1 click =~ 1.76e -5 gal
1 gal kerosene = $3.50 (locally)
1 click =~ $0.00006

Use a jackstand to temporarily hold the flexible exhaust hose in place. Start up the heater.


With the fuel problems worked out it ran just fine. Here's the

Youtube video of the heater running.

continued -

[WVvan]

Webasto heater install continued:

With the heater running and my hand on the van I could feel the clicks from the fuel pump. I need to do a better job of isolating it. I used the backup fuel pump for this.
Here's some pictures of the info on the pump.




I'm going to redo both the pump mounting and the way it's bolted to the van. Use a piece of heater hose as my rubber supplier.


Cut a piece off the hose the same length as the fat part of the pump.


Split the hose down it's length then wrap around the fuel pump. You can see that one piece warps around the pump a little more than half.


Cut and split a second piece of heater hose and wrap around the pump.


Trim off the piece of hose that overlaps. Add a second layer of rubber hose using the same method. Stagger the cuts from the two different layers so they don't line up.


Screw clamp the pump with it's new mounting to the metal bracket.


Be sure you're using good quality screw clamps. A lot of crap ones floating around.


Cut and drill a couple of pieces of hose to isolate the metal bracket from the van body.


Check the the two rubber squares are larger that the washers I'm using and that the bolt fits.




One piece of rubber goes on each side of the van body.


Bolt the new pump mount into place and attach the fuels lines.


This new mounting worked much better in isolating the pump clicking from the van body. I won't claim it's 100% effective but close enough.

continued -

[WVvan]

Webasto heater install continued:

Next up is work on the exhaust. When I bought this heater it can with a section of flexible exhaust hose. In this picture you can see it laying between the black hot air ducting and fuel pump.


The section I have is too short for what I want to do and a new hose is around $30. Pretty steep price for a piece of thin flexible metal hose. For a cheaper alternative I'm going to use 3/4" steel electrical conduit (EMT).

I'll also be using one of these. It's called a Eberspächer/Espar Exhaust Silencer. I call it a muffler.

Normally these mufflers don't come with the curved tubing on each end. This particular muffler came with a Eberspächer Hydronic heater I bought on ebay UK. Got a killer deal on the heater. Unfortunately, according to a email I later received from a Detective Constable from the Serious Crime Team of the Bedfordshire Police (UK)

there's a possibility the heater was stolen from GM Motors in Luton. So I'm assuming the curved bits are needed when installing this muffler into whatever type of vehicles they make at the GM factory in Luton. By the way the Detective Constable wrote that they didn't want the heater back. Just the serial number.

Planned out how I wanted to route the exhaust from the heater and didn't need the curved bits on the muffler so cut them off. The cutting off of both ends is Mistake 1, but I'll come back to that.

Here's the funny bit. I've had the muffler for months waiting for when I got around to this project. So I cut the ends off the muffler then the very next day I get the email from the Bedfordshire Police. Good thing they didn't want it back.

The original idea was to use the flexible hose to connect the heater exhaust to the muffler then use electrical conduit on the other end of the muffler. The flexible exhaust hose and the cut ends of the muffler both have an Outside Diameter (OD) of 22mm = 0.87". The electrical conduit is 3/4" Inside Diameter (ID) but has an OD of around 0.90".

These are all around the same size so nothing can be slipped into anything else and clamped into place. Have to come up with different ways of mating them together.

To mate the exhaust hose and the muffler I'll add an insert to one end of the muffler to create a smaller OD tube that the exhaust hose can be clamped around. To create the insert I cut off a short section of the conduit.


Clamp the conduit section in the vise then use a hacksaw to cut out a small lengthwise section.




Take the conduit section. Squeeze it closed with pliers then insert into the end of the muffler.




Weld the insert into the muffler end. Then clamp the muffler to the workbench and grind off the worst looking bits of the weld.




Test fit the flexible hose onto the muffler with welded insert.



Mistake #2: The insert should have been longer but I won't find that out till later.

Create another insert for the end of the conduit that will go onto the other end of the muffler.


Weld the conduit to the muffler. I probably didn't need the insert for this weld but it was the first time I welded two tubes together. Kinda like training wheels.


Shorten the flexible hose to the length I plan on needing.


Do a test fit of the exhaust system onto the heater.


After fitting it into place I realized that my first plan had some flaws. Originally the exhaust would have a downward slope but mounting it in that position would be a problem.


While I'm lying under the van turning this problem over in my mind Tiger wanders over and tells me he has an idea.


He suggested using one of the 180 degrees curved tube ends but cut it into a 90 degree curve. Excellent idea!


This will allow the exhaust to run parallel to the underside of the van and be mounted to the bottom of the "C" pillar.


continued -

[WVvan]

Webasto heater install continued:

So I weld back onto the muffler a piece that I had previously cut off. That was my mistake #1 from the previous post. I should have seen that ahead of time.


With the flexible hose fitted onto a new insert on the end of the curved tube section.....


....check the positioning of the outlet end of the conduit.


I'm going to use the other 180 degree curved section of curved tubing on the outlet end of the exhaust conduit.




Shorten the end of the conduit. Cut the 180 in half so I have two 90 degrees. Rotate one section 90 degrees in relation to the other piece and weld together. Then weld onto the end of the conduit.




Pretty up the welds with the angle grinder.


Here's the completed exhaust system.


I'm laying under the van doing some test fittings when I look at all the snow piling up on my coat and realize a blizzard has rolled in. Call it a night.


Different day. Back under the van figuring out how best to attach the exhaust.


In this picture you can see a structure above and to the right of my gloved hand. This structure lines up with the vertical support that runs along the inside right edge of the side door. I have no idea what the official name is but I know the "A pillar" is what the vertical edge of the windshield is attached and the "B Pillar" is the vertical support just behind the front seats where the seat belt assembly is attached. So I'm going to call this the bottom of the "C Pillar".


I'll fabricate a simple bracket that attaches to the side of the C pillar and holds the exhaust system in place. The pillar is 4" wide. Cut a piece of 1" wide flat stock the same length.


I'll use screw clamps to hold the conduit part of the exhaust system against this bracket. Screw clamps work best when used on round objects. You can see the amount of overhang on each side of the conduit with the 1" wide flat stock. If I didn't reduce this overhang then the screw clamps would deform as they were tightened.


Reduce the width of the 4" long piece of stock that will run along the edge of the exhaust conduit. Cut off another short piece of 1" wide stock.


Weld the two pieces together then drill a hole for a 1/4" bolt.




Drill a hole into the right side of the C pillar. In this photo you can see some of the rust repairs I was working on this past fall until the weather got too cold. You can tell I'm not finished since it's not silver colored yet. I ground off all the rust and rustproofed it then reinforced the area with fiberglass matting. The only advantage to the rust damage is that I can now reach into the bottom of the C pillar to insert a bolt through the hole and hold the head with a wrench when needed.


Bolt the new bracket into place then use a couple screw clamps to hold the exhaust system on the bracket.


Hook up to the heater exhaust.




How it looks from the outside.


If you look at the bottom of the previous picture you get a good look at the padding I've been using when working under the van. You can see it in other pictures too. It started out as a package of interlocking foam floor pads for use on in the van. I changed my mind about using them on the van floor so they ended up in my garage pile of van flotsam and jetsam waiting to be taken back to the store. One day while lying on the cement under the van in the cold weather it suddenly hit me I could use the pads to lay on. I could kick myself for not having thought of this before. They are perfect for this. The padding is easier on the back and it keeps me off the cold and damp and doesn't absorb moisture like cardboard or old rugs (two things I've used before). There's a term for not being able to think of a new use for an object. Functional fixedness.

continued -

[WVvan]

Webasto heater install continued:

With the new exhaust system in place fire up the heater. I found three problems right off the bat. Problems 1 and 2 are leaks in the exhaust system. In these photos you can see smoke leaking out of the new muffler.




It's leaking from from around where the tube enters the muffler and also from where there the two halves of the muffler body join. I'd wondered if there was a problem with just his one muffler but another owner has wrote that they had the same problem.

I also have smoke leaking from where the flexible tube joins the curved end of the muffler tube. This leak is Mistake #2 I wrote about two posts ago. I'm thinking that if I'd made the insert the flexible hose fits over longer then it might not leak.

More problematic than both of these is that I can't get the heater to run correctly. Here is the symptom.
1.) Fan starts.
2.) Clicking from the fuel pump starts.
3.) White smoke begins flowing from the exhaust end (and the leaks).
4.) It's at this stage that the fan should kick into high gear and the Webasto start producing heat. Doesn't happen. It just keeps producing smoke and never kicks into high gear.
5.) After a certain amount of time the pump stops clicking. I'm assuming this is because the flame detector hasn't detected flame.
6.) The fan continues to run purging the last of the smoke from the exhaust.
7.) Heater shuts down and flashes error code
8.) To restart the heater need to first completely remove power (not just turn off).

With some experimenting I found a way to get the heater to start. First disconnect the fuel line from the bottom of the heater and start the heating sequence. Have a container to catch the fuel when the pump starts clicking. Wait until step 4, see above, then reconnect the fuel line and the heater will kick into high and start producing heat.
Works every time but this is no solution. I've bought this heater used so there is a possibility that it could have a coking problem. Some people have written that running the heater with kerosene will help de-coke it. Since I'm already using kerosene. fire up the heater then let it run for a couple hours.
No improvement.
I've been itching to see what the heater looks like inside so I'm going to go ahead and disassemble it and see if cleaning it will help.

Warning: I've never done this before so I might not be doing it correctly. This would probably void your warranty. I'm not responsible if you break your heater. Legalese blah blah blah.

Remove the heater from the van.


To hold the heater while working on it I've taken the mounting plate that came with the heater and attached it to a couple blocks of wood.




Remove the Electrical Connection Cover.
Slide the blade of a screwdriver under the edge of the Electrical Connection Cover cover and pry up.


This exposes the top of the Control Unit. The wires run into the X6 Connector. Unplug the X6 connector from the Control Unit. There is no connector lock so it should just slide off.

Notice the X6 connector is keyed with two ridges along one side and one ridge on the opposite side so it can only be inserted one way.


Lay the Electrical Connection Cover with connector off to the side.


Remove the Heater Air Inlet and Outlet Covers.
There is a trick to getting the cover off.


Lift up on either side of the cover just enough so the small lip clears the edge.


Then slide to the side.


It will release.


Do the same for the Outlet Cover.


Remove the Upper Housing Shell.
There are four tabs (two per side) that secure the Upper Housing Shell to the Lower Housing Shell.


Squeeze above the tabs on the Upper Shell while pushing on the tabs with the screwdriver.


It will pop right off.


continued -

[WVvan]

Webasto heater installation continued:

How the heater appears with the Upper Shell removed.


To remove the Lower Shell look on each side of the heater about the mid point and you will see this small round catch. Pull the side of the Lower Shell away from the catch till it pops out. Do this on both sides then lift the heater from within the Lower Shell.


You'll have to lift the Heater Air Intake from the Lower Shell at the same time.


Put the shell off to the side and place the heater back on the mounting platform. Before preceding I want to point out a few things.


Wrapped around the Heat Exchanger is the Insulation or more appropriately in this case, what's left of it.


The Webasto repair manual name for it is "Insulation" so I'm assuming it's original purpose was to insulate the Heat Exchanger from the plastic of the outer shell. All that's left of mine is a thin metal band and some felt-like material scraps.


On the top of the Control Unit there is a small round electrical component wired into the X9 Connector. This is a 10K ohm thermistor. A thermistor is a type of electrical resistor whose resistance changes with temperature. It's what the heater uses as it's air temperature sensor. If you were to wire up an external temperature sensor, this is where you'd connect it.


Also on top of the Control Unit is the CO2 Adjustment. From the manual: "The CO2 contents of the exhaust is adjusted with the potentiometer on the control circuit board.The air heater is preset by the manufacturer with respect to the combustion and heating air fan fitted. After adjustment by the manufacturer the potentiometer is in center position."
When a heater is changed for high altitude operation this is where the adjustment is made.


Remove the Control Unit next. There are a series of five connectors along one side. From left to right these are the X1 to X5 Connections.


On the Control Unit just above where the connectors are attach is a segmented colored strip. Each color corresponds to the color of the connector wire plugged in below it. Unplug the five connectors.


Remove the two screws on the top of the Control Unit that hold it place.


Lift it off.


A quick word about one of my little helpers. I take a plastic ice cube tray that was no longer used since it had started leaking. Write sequential numbers above each "cube". As I take something apart I place the screws in the tray in the order that I remove them. Helps greatly with reassembly.


Next remove the Combustion Air Fan assembly. Look to the side where the two pairs of wires are underneath this clip. One pair is yellow and the other pair isn't.


Slip the wires out from under the clip.


Next there are five screws to remove but you want to be careful you don't remove the wrong five. In the following picture there are three screw visible. Remove the ones on the right and left but not the one in the middle.


Here's the view on the lower front side. I've already removed the upper right screw and am about to remove the lower screw. Don't remove the screw in the middle.


I was careful in the order that I removed the screws in case one was different but they are all the same.


Very Carefully separate the Combustion Air Fan from the Heat Exchanger. There is a gasket separating the two parts that might be reused if handled carefully.


The heater oval base and Heat Exchanger are cast as a single piece. Since the fuel pump wiring is part of the Combustion Air Fan the wires must be pulled up through the base to completely separate the Combustion Air Fan from the Heat Exchanger.


Set the Combustion Air Fan off to the side.


You can see the gasket stayed attached to the Heat Exchanger.


Very gently pull the gasket away from the Heat Exchanger. No tools needed. Be careful not to bend it.


This one is in good enough shape to use again.


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[WVvan]

Webasto heater install continued:

Inside the Heat Exchanger is the Burner Insert.


Four screws hold the Burner Insert in place. The first two screws I'm removing also secure the Spoiler.




The Spoiler protects the wires for the Flame Sensor and the Glow Plug. Notice how the yellow wires for the Glow Plug are wrapped around the Spoiler. Also notice the brown wires going behind the metal fuel tube. These will both be mentioned again.


Set the Spoiler off to the side.


The two sets of wires pass through the side of the Heat Exchanger inside Cable Grommets.


Push the Cable Grommets through the side of the Heat Exchanger using my finger. No tools needed.


After pushing the Cable Grommet through pull the wire in after it. The X connector at the end of the wire will fit through the Cable Grommet hole.


Remove the last two screws securing the Burner Insert.




After removing all the screws the Burner Insert is still held in place by the fuel tube that passes through this Grommet.


Outside view.


Very Gently pull up on the Grommet with a pair on needle nose pliers. Pay attention to the Burner Insert while doing this.


The Burner Insert should raise along with the Grommet.


Look at the top left corner of this picture. You can see the the inlet end to the fuel tube where the fuel line would normally be attached. The Burner Insert can't be raised any higher since that fuel tube's movement is restricted by the oval base plate.


Looking a the edge of the Burner Insert and you can see it's stuck to the Combustion Tube.


Use a screwdriver to gently pry them apart.


Once the Burner Insert is separated from the Combustion Tube let the Combustion Tube fall back into the Heat Exchanger. The Burner Insert can now be tipped up and out.




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[WVvan]

Webasto heater install continued:

The view into the other end of the Burner Insert. Inside on the right hand side you can see the "coking" build up. At the "9 o'clock" position is the Flame Sensor. Directly below it is a hole in the mesh screen. Through the hole the bottom end of the Glow Plug is visible.


Looking into the Combustion Tube inside the Heat Exchanger.


Lift out the Combustion Tube.






The inside of the Heat Exchanger


The tip of the screwdriver is pointing at a piece of what's left of the gasket that fits between the Heat Exchanger and the Combustion Tube.


Use a razor to remove the old gasket.


Dump out the gasket remains.


All the different heater parts.


Next up remove the Glow Plug and clean it. Remove it's hold down screw.


Glow Plug wouldn't come out. It was rusted firmly in place.


The repair manual reads that the Glow Plug is not to be twisted and must be handled with "the utmost care". The manual suggests using "creep oil" to loosen but I tried Liquid Wrench instead.


Let it soak for a couple days without any success. Tried everything I could think of to try and finesse the Glow Plug out and it just wouldn't come free. Never having messed with one before I didn't know how much force I could safely apply. It's a least $60 to replace if I wasn't careful.


Had an idea. I fabricated a cable so I could hook the Glow Plug directly to the 12 volt batteries.


Hooked it up to the batteries until it glowed red. Took but a few seconds.


Waited till it cooled down then the Glow Plug popped right out.


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[WVvan]

Webasto heater install continued:

It's hard to see in this photo but the Glow Plug has carbon buildup crusted over it's entire length.


Used a utility blade to carefully scrap it clean.


Wanted to clean out the inside of the Burner Insert where the Glow Plug is positioned.


I'll be using a old can of Carb and Choke Cleaner. I say old can since none of my vehicles have carburetors anymore so this can was just sitting around getting rusty.


Some of the debris I flushed out.


Use a single edged razor to clean the remains of the gasket from the Combustion Tube.


Use the carb cleaner and a small wire brush to clean out the inside of the Heat Exchanger. As the name implies this where the heat from the combustion is transferred to the inside of the vehicle. It's also where soot will collect. Soot buildup on the heat exchanger will reduce heat transfer efficiency. A clean heat exchanger will require less fuel to get the same amount of heat.


Nasty looking.


Use sandpaper to remove the last bits of the gasket that I didn't get with the razor.


Clean up the edge of the Heat Exchanger.


Much better.


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[WVvan]

Webasto heater install continued:

I'd mentioned before about how a previous owner of the heater had cut off the part of the label that indicated the manufacture date.


Now that I have everything apart I have a better of it's age. This figure on the top of the Heat Exchanger appears to indicate it was cast in the 5th month of 1996.


On the Housing Shell is a similar figure for the 4th month of 1997.


In the center of the Burner Insert is another for the 9th month of 2000.


I'm guessing that the heater was manufactured in 1997 and serviced in 2000 or 2001.

Before getting to reassembly I want to write about the gaskets.
To repair the heater I ordered Gasket Repair Kit 82302a from a local truck supply business which is my closest Webasto parts seller. With shipping it came to $37 and contained three items.


First item is the rubber pad that goes beneath the heater. The repair manual calls it a "seal" but parts manual has it as a "gasket". You can see the new one next to the old one. The old one is still fine.


Next item is the gasket that fits between the Heat Exchanger and the Combustion Air Fan. If you remember I was real careful when separating the two parts so I could reuse the gasket. You can see the new one next to the old one. I'll be reusing the old one.


So out of the three gaskets I bought this is the only one actually needed to repair the heater. It wouldn't be as bad if I could just order the single gasket but I've only ever found them for sale as a set of three. $37 for the one gasket I need is pretty steep.


I don't know diddly about gaskets but bet I can find a better deal. Did some reading and settled on Mr. Gasket 5961 Ultra Seal Exhaust Gasket Material. Currently $17.44 for a 24" x 6" sheet at Amazon.


The new gasket material contains a steel core so making accurate cuts will be a challenge.


It took some experimenting but here's the method I settled on for making new gaskets.

Trace out the gasket. Then using aviation snips cut out a square with the traced out gasket in the center.


Take my Dremel-like rotary tool and put it in the bench vise. It's not a actual Dremel but I'm going to call it that. Tighten the vise just enough to hold the Dremel upright but not damage it.


Here's the bit I'm using. When I bought the Dremel it came with an assortment of different bits but they aren't all labeled. I'll just call it a cutting bit.


Using the Dremel like a router, cut along the inside line of the gasket tracing.


Cut while rotating the gasket material in the clockwise direction. I didn't have a deck, like with a regular router, to hold the material as I cut it so took my time.


It's at this point that Bob, who had been supervising the job, started giving me lip. She began telling me I was just making a ragged mess. She wanted me to hand it over because she could do better job with her claws than I was doing with all my tools.


I told her to hold her horses and let me get on with it. Took some fine sandpaper and dressed up the inside edges.


Use the aviation snips to trim along the outside traced line.




To make the holes in the gasket first drill a little larger hole in a scrap wood piece. Draw on the crosshairs.


The crosshairs help line up the drawn circle over the hole. Drill through the gasket material.


After drilling look closely to see if any of the metal core is sticking out through the hole.


A little work with a round file will clean it up.


Finished product.


Once I got the hang of it I found I could crank them out fairly quickly. I could probably get 6 gaskets out of this one sheet of material which brings their price down to $3 each.


Before any one asks, I have reassembled and the heater and ran it several hours using the new do-it-yourself gasket. It runs just fine.

There is a difference in the thickness of the DIY gasket when compared to the original. This will necessitate an minor adjustment during the reassembly of the heater but I'll cover that in the next posting.


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[WVvan]

Webasto heater install continued:

Start some reassembly. Glow Plug into the Burner Insert.
Notice that the Glow Plug is slightly oval.


Place the Glow Plug so the wide part of the oval is parallel to the face of the Burner Insert. The wire contacts should face towards the open end of the burner tube.


install the Glow Plug's hold down screw. Don't over tighten it.


How it looks after cleaning.


Slide the Glow Plug wires into the groove on the face of the Burner Insert.


Treat the Rubber Grommets with Armour-All.


Place one of my DIY gaskets into the Heat Exchanger.


Put the Combustion Tube into the Heat Exchanger.


Only fits one way.


Maneuver the Burner Insert into the Heat Exchanger. Mind the metal fuel tube.


As the Burner Insert is lowered into the Heat Exchanger the fuel tube grommet must be slid into place. I've used Armour-All on the grommet so it slides easier.


Be sure it's completely seated.


The two sets of wires are next. The grommets will be fitted into these holes.


Be sure to run the Flame Sensor wire between the face of the Burner Insert and fuel tube.
I've highlighted this step since I got it wrong the first time. Didn't realize my mistake until the heater was completely assembled and I looked back at the photos.


Here is the only change I had to make because of the DIY gasket. The yellow wires were originally wrapped around the Spoiler one time. The DIY gasket raised the Burner Insert just enough so the wires made contact with the spinning face of the Combustion Air Fan. This was easily fixed by running the wires under the spoiler and not around it.


Clean off the edge of the Combustion Air Fan where the gasket rests. First with a razor.


Then fine sandpaper.


The fan blades of the Combustion Air Fan need cleaned.


To clean it I used brush,


paper towels,


and finally Q-tips to get in the corners.


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[WVvan]

Webasto heater install continued:

Reuse the gasket that fits between the Combustion Air Fan and the Heat Exchanger.


Screw the two together.


Put it back on the work mount.


Run the two sets of wires under the side clip.


Take the Lower Housing Shell and clean it.




Clean the Heater Air Intake.


There's a small lip in the Lower Housing Shell that the Heater Air Intake fits into.


As the heater is lowered into the Lower Housing Shell the Heater Air Intake has to be fit both onto the front of the Combustion Air Fan and behind the small lip in the shell.




There is a small round catch like this on each side of the heater.


It needs to pop into the corresponding hole on the Lower Housing Shell.


Next up is the Control Unit.
Look down between the heater and Lower Housing Shell. You can see the Arrestor Groove.


The bottom edge of the Control Unit fits into that groove.


Be sure it's properly seated before screwing into place.


Next are the X1 through X5 connectors.


Remember that the color of the sticker matches the color of the wire.


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[WVvan]

Webasto heater install continued:

Before I put the heater into the Lower Heater Shell in the last posting I should have mentioned again about the Insulation strip. As you can see from this picture the Insulation had deteriorated badly before I removed it.

Since the heater ran fine with it in this shape I figured it could run without it. Didn't replace it.

Clean the Upper Housing Shell then snap onto the Lower Housing Shell.


Plug the X6 Connector into place. The connector is keyed so it only goes in one way.


Snap the Electrical Connection Cover into place.


Slide the Heater Air Inlet and Outlet Covers into place.


Install the seal gasket onto the bottom of the heater.


That completes the heater rebuild. Here's some odds and ends.
I used the new seal gasket but will keep the other two new gaskets as patterns.


To solve the problem of the exhaust leakage at the muffler I welded along the leaking seams.


Used High Temp RTV (Room Temperature Vulcanization) Silicone to seal between the muffler tube and the flexible hose


Here's a tool used in this rebuild that I haven't shown before. It's a heated floor mat I recently discovered at Northern Tool. If you're standing on cold concrete for long periods this thing is heaven sent. Wish I'd found it years ago.


This is the plug for the dosing (fuel) pump. Push down on the wire at the top to release the plug.


Installed the heater back onto the van. Added the flexible inlet air hose.


I routed the inlet end of the hose to behind the fuel pump. The inlet is facing towards the front of the van. This would normally be a bad idea since it would direct road debris towards the inlet of the heater but the final part of this install should safeguard it. In this picture you can also see the plastic fuel filter. I don't normally take the van off-road but I do take it off pavement. To prevent any damage from flying stones I'll be building a shield for the fuel pump.


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