# Flash 03 - heater problem



## PlasticTaff

Hi all you experienced motorhomers !

I've just bought a 2008 Flash 03 (58 plate) about 3 weeks ago and took it away for the first time last weekend. As it was a bit cold, I decided to put the heater on.....but no heat came out !!! I tried to start it multiple times over the weekend and even when returning home to no avail  The annoying thing is, it was working when we left the dealer as they showed us how to work it but after 3 weeks on the drive, no joy.

I have checked the leisure battery level - this is over 2/3 and we also tried on EHU. The fuse in the main bank next to the circuit breaker is OK. There is nothing blocking the air intake behind the passenger seat. When you turn it on, the fan starts then shortly after you can hear the diesel drip start. After a few minutes, the diesel drip stops and then the fan stops. The exhaust is a little bit smoky and also never heats up.

Has anyone else experienced this problem or has some knowledge ? The dealer can't offer any advice other than taking it back for them to look at, but I thought I would ask here as well. 

There also seems to be an intermittent fault on the remote locking. Kinda takes the shine off motorhome ownership already 

Thanks in advance - PlasticTaff


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## trevorf

Big disadvantage of diesel heaters is they use a lot of battery power on start up. You mention your leisure battery reads 2/3rds ? This is probably not enough.


Trevor


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## TR5

You don't say what make the heater is, other than it is diesel.

The diesel is ignited by a glow-plug, and this takes a lot of power for a short period. It may be that the battery is not fully charged, and/or the wiring is too small causing high voltage drop.

Assuming you had the thermostat turned up:-
Try starting the engine first, assuming it also charges your leisure battery, then try the heater. If it now starts then one or both of the above apply.

If this makes no difference then the fault possibly lies elsewhere, and a professional needs to check this. It may require a new glow-plug, or other parts.


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## mark406

I'm currently suffering the same type of problem with my Eberspacher D2 Airtronic unit. It's been working fine since I picked the van up nearly 3 weeks ago, now cold air only.

I found this site to be very useful in faultfinding,

http://www.espar.com/html/service/download/technical.html

If yours is the same make, have a look, it might help you decide what the problem is.

With the help of those fault finding downloads, I've narrowed my fault down to the Fuel metering Pump not receiving a pulsed voltage from the control unit, so according to the info, a new control unit will be required! That's why I'm up at Brownhills Newark as it's going into a specialist repairer tomorrow under warranty to get fixed....hopefully.

I hope you get yours sorted as easily. Good luck.

PS don't forget that these heaters have two air paths. One for the 'heated air' which you said is clear and secondly for the combustion air. Make sure that the inlet and exhaust (under the van) are both clear of obstruction or blockage because if the unit can't clear the used combustion gases, it will sense overheat and cut out. Just a thought. :wink:

Mark.


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## Chausson

Hi
Almost certain to be your battery, I had the same issue with mine. If you have the manual it will tell you of the fault codes, if like mine you have a little light in the turn control knob, look at it when you turn it on and count the amount of times the light flashes it should be a constant light.

Ron


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## bowlty

hi i hired a flash and the heating went off ,got back and was told the pipe under mh had come off ,he push it back on and it worked 
hope this may be of some help


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## PlasticTaff

Thanks to everyone who has replied so quickly !!!

To start with, it's an Eberspacher Airtronic D2

After everyones suggestions ...
1. I can confirm that all pipes are connected underneath (as far as I can see)
3. I only appear to have a mini-controller and I don't believe I can diagnose the fault wth fault codes. When I do turn it on, the mini controller light never flashes or goes out, just a constant light
4. I've tried starting the heater with the engine running but still no hot air

So I've come to the conclusion it will have to go back to the dealer for them to look at. I'm just a bit suprised that something that is only 18months old and has probably not been used much, should work one day, not be used for 3 weeks and then no longer work. Perhaps things aren't just made as well as they used to be ! :wink: 

Thanks - PlasticTaff


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## Jezport

Have you retried a couple of times straight after it wouldnt start? Sometimes when they have stood a few weeks they take a couple of times to get going


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## TR5

Can you determine where the air intake is. If it is inside the van, have you placed anything against it, reducing the air flow.
If it is external, have you checked to see if it has picked up anything reducing the air flow - leaves, a bag, etc.

It will not fire up if the airflow is insufficient.

If the fan runs initially, then power is getting to the unit. As stated before, the most common problem is not enough voltage for the glow-plug to operate. It needs in excess of 10.5v to operate, and a low battery coupled with only just large enough wiring to the unit will mean a voltage drop enough for the glow-plug to not glow!

Have you a means of accurately checking the voltage from the battery, is the mains charger working, are the connections tight?

If you have a seperate battery charger you could try this on your leisure battery for a few hours, then try the heater.

Do you have a multimeter to check the battery voltage?

I would guesstimate that 9 out of 10 failures are due to poor voltage to the glow-plug.


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## mark406

You have the same type as me PlasticTaff, and the same symptoms.

I don't know what a 'mini controller' is but is it like this?

http://www.eberspacher.com/downloads/technical-documents/SFX95.pdf

If so, it tells you on there about getting to those fault codes to display.

My fault was cured yesterday at Brownhills. They had to take my van 'to a specialist' as they don't have the expertise on site to deal with Eberspacher units. I had a new control unit fitted (sits inside the blower case) and all is running good now.

If you're technically minded and don't mind getting underneath, have a look at the connector to the fuel metering pump and make sure it's on ok, clean etc.
Also test resistance of the pump motor itself. Should be about 10 ohms. (Disconnect the connector and test at the pump terminals) If the pump won't run the unit will perform a shut down when it senses no combustion.

Good luck with it.

Mark


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## sidaily

Prob a useless post given that you have been already trying, so sorry, but even if the heating is working, it can take 15 minutes until anything like vaguely warm air starts to come out.... then it becomes quite efficient after that !


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## sidaily

Prob a useless post given that you have been already trying, so sorry, but even if the heating is working, it can take 15 minutes until anything like vaguely warm air starts to come out.... then it becomes quite efficient after that !


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## PlasticTaff

I finally found the time to get the 03 booked into the dealer for repair. They called in the local expert who said the issue was a loose earth lead. It must not have been seated correctly and then fallen off. Information 2nd hand from the dealer was that the earth connection pin is very small and does cause problems. So I'll be off to pick it up at the weekend and try out the heater!! Thanks to everyone for their help/suggestions


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