# Eberspacher diesel heater



## leggings (Oct 14, 2008)

Have an Autocruise MH with an Eberspacher heater fitted which works fine and keeps the van nice and cosy in the most severe weather however it keeps losing coolant. Now I'm a bit of a DIYer and can solve most problems but this one has me beat because it loses coolant when not in use and it doesn't lose it when under pressure and in use that's really got me flummoxed ...do you know the answer?


----------



## Yeti (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi there leggins
If I were you I would have a good look around for leaks when the system is cold.
It a well known known fact in the marine engineering world that leaks in a coo;ing system will take up with heat and open up again when cold, in fact most of us rely on it !!
To make life easier to find the leak put some dye in the coolant (food colouring would do)
Hope this helps a little

Yeti


----------



## cabby (May 14, 2005)

You say it is a heater but looses coolant, does this mean that it heats your water as well or have I got the wrong end of the stick...again. :wink: :wink: 
I was under the impression that it works like a gas fire , burn the fuel and blow hot air.like a lot of other things. :lol: :lol: 

cabby


----------



## DABurleigh (May 9, 2005)

A fully integrated Eberspacher system extends the vehicle's cooling system (that contains antifreeze) to a heater matrix in the rear, and a calorifier by means of a coil inside (just how central heating works to heat the water at home).

Mine lost coolant slowly due to a poorly fitted jubilee clip next to the heater itself. Though it tended to leak a little more when warm. Either check the joints manually or park it somewhere where you will see the leak. If you have an MOT coming up shortly that's a good opportunity to inspect underneath.

Dave


----------



## framptoncottrell (Jan 6, 2006)

I had a couple of minor leaks with the Eberspacher on the Murvi.

A chat with Rex Kneebone revealed that sometimes the Eberspacher fitters - Murvi gets them in to do the work - have been known to cut a corner where different sizes of pipes should be connected with adapters. Tightening the jubilee clips could make things worse. Mine were correctly fitted, but one of the small jubilee clips at the side of the heater needed tightening, as did the large jubilee clip taking the hot water to the heat exchanger at the back of the van. The first clip tightened very easily and cured the leak. The big clip was a pig to tighten and I ended up using a very delicate touch on a socket wrench. That seems to have worked fine, but I have bought some spare jubilee clips just in case.

Like some of the above, the leaks only appeared when the van was cold. When warmed up it was impossible to find where the leak(s) were occuring, which was very frustrating. I could see the staining on the drive but no evidence of leaks until the very cold weather made things that much worse.

Dr (musical, not medical) Roy


----------



## trek (May 1, 2005)

I hope you have a suitable mixture of water & antifreeze in your system?

This should actually help you to find the leak especially if it is the blue mixture. 

You may only have the leak when everything is cold i.e. like the last couple of weeks, as soon as you apply heat, the fittings could expand and seal properly, try wrapping white kitchen paper towl around the fittings for a couple of days then check to see if they are stained blue, as an example I have a very slight weep on one of the bleeder values when it is very cold, (which I will get changed under warranty when I get around to it)


----------



## leggings (Oct 14, 2008)

Well thanks to you all for the help I will take your advice and tighten the pipe clips I expected leaks to become worse when the system was under pressure but now I'm enlightened as to expansion. My coolant is coloured and I see the it on the ground but the location differs as to how the van is parked. It's a good idea to wrap a bit of stuff around the pipes at different places. I'll let you know how I get on.


----------



## leggings (Oct 14, 2008)

Yes Cabby the Eberspacher Hydronic heats the water as well as blowing hot air although they do an airtronic which heats air only. I like the system since I get oodles of hot water when the engine is running and being fitted outside the van frees up space there's also an engine preheat facility which is useful in cold weather and of course fuel is easy to come by. On the downside it is a bit noisier than gas which can annoy other campers but we do a lot of wild camping mainly in the highlands of Scotland.


----------



## GPB (Mar 9, 2009)

I found this site while researching similar problems on a 2006 Murvi Morello. To add to the picture:-

So far I have found 3 separate leaks on my vehicle:- 
Both inlet and outlet connection on the Eberspacher Hydronic unit - plus one of the T junctions in the plumbing in the base of the wardrobe unit (easily visible) with the side panel removed.

They all seem to be resolved by simply tightening the jubilee clips.
(Makes you wonder about the initial plumbing/work -done by Eberspacher agents, not Murvi)

Like the previous correspondent, the problem(s) seem to have happened or have been accelerated by the recent spell of cold weather; but in this instance leaks became more evident when hot.

A good idea to keep a close eye on coolant levels - and a careful look round with a good torch if anything changes.
NB check the level with the engine cold and standing in the same position each time.

Also - The Espar Canada web site has useful documentation.


----------



## leggings (Oct 14, 2008)

GPB said:


> I found this site while researching similar problems on a 2006 Murvi Morello. To add to the picture:-
> 
> So far I have found 3 separate leaks on my vehicle:-
> Both inlet and outlet connection on the Eberspacher Hydronic unit - plus one of the T junctions in the plumbing in the base of the wardrobe unit (easily visible) with the side panel removed.
> ...


----------



## leggings (Oct 14, 2008)

Thanks for that GPB. I couldn't identify exactly where my leak was coming from as it was deep within the engine so I added a bit of radweld which has cured it to date. Not the best solution I admit but it worked.


----------



## GPB (Mar 9, 2009)

*Update on Eberspacher leaks (Murvi 2006)*

Found the coolant level had suddenly dropped again. (Lots of very cold weather in December 2010?)
Too cold to crawl under the van immediately, so checked the internal plumbing connections first - all seem OK.

In rather better weather,inspected the connections under the bonnet.
Of the 8 (!) Jubilee type clips on the connection T's + solenoid valve, some of the higher up ones showed signs of coolant loss. Possibly long ago and not currently 'active'. For peace of mind, and aided with a skinny ratchet spanner (7 mm) I've tightened 4 clips - all that I can reach so far.

But a quick inspection underneath the vehicle, shows what looks suspiciously like coolant droplets hanging on the bottom of the Eberspacher unit, close to the water in/out connections.
Again!
And we've done plenty of long trips since the last 'episode'.

I've parked an old bowl underneath, to try and confirm what's going on.

Anybody else with similar experience....?


----------



## GPB (Mar 9, 2009)

*More on Murvi/Eberspacher leak*

Leak is currently 'cured' following further tightening of the jubilee clip on the Eberspacher feed to the rear calorifier/heater.

Some further investigation indicates that the coolant pipe stubs on the unit which were originally 18mm, changed on later models to 20mm. Ours was just before the changeover, and will be 18mm.

Two types of hose are used on ours - that coming from the engine has preformed bends and is almost certainly an Eberspacher original 18mm type. The outlet hose, to the rear, is Eberspacher 20mm reinforced hose (text visible on the outer). This 'mismatch' may be significant - although the pipe stubs have a retaining outer 'shoulder' (like a single 'barb' on a hose connector) which increases the stub diameter by some 2.5mm, this is probably only intended to ensure a clipped pipe cannot 'blow off' , rather than ensure a seal.

A 'fix' I have seen elsewhere is to move the clip to over this shoulder - but an additional clip - or better still a proper 18 -20mm adapter would be preferable.

NB - the coolant pipe stubs are on the pump housing - the casing and pipe stubs are plastic - so don't get heavy handed with them.

While investigating the above, I also looked at the long engine warm up period evident in cold/winter time conditions(engine only). It may be of interest that if the vehicle heater plus Eberspacher extension circuit is temporarily shut off, time to normal engine running temperature is approximately halved.


----------

