Eberspacher D2 Wiring advice

Relay

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Hi everyone. I'm just in the process of self-building, and have purchased a Eberspacher Airtronic D2 diesel heater kit. The seller informs me it worked, and they had removed it from their van. It has the exhaust, fuel pump, controller/timer, etc. The loom is marked "Ford BT 185 Loom" and the heater is marked "Ford V1C15 9J294 AA" as well as the standard Airtronic D2 Eberspacher label. The heater has a 16 pin plug, connected to a 16 pin plug on the loom. Wires run to the pump, and the connector fits. Three other connectors are on the loom, a rectangular 6 pin plug (with 6 wires in it), a rectangular 8 pin plug (with 4 wires in it), and a round 6 pin plug (with 2 wires) which I think is a diagnostics plug. None of these connectors fit the controller/timer plug which is a 4 pin offset rectangular plug (with 4 wires), and is labelled "V1C15 18549 AB".

My question is can I butcher/adapt this loom to make it work off of a standard fused supply, or alternatively can I replace the whole loom and use a standard loom instead? Any advice from a knowledgeable individual would be greatly appreciated, or even advice as to who to ask. If required I can send pinouts of all the plugs, and pictures, but I thought it pointless unless someone has an idea of where to start. Thanks in advance, even if you only read this far.
 
Thanks Dave. I'll let you know, and post any solution I find, just in case anyone else needs anything in future.
 
I will assume the link that Dr Dave has posted leads to the same site as this one Eberspacher D2 plenty of help and info on there, although I'm sure some of those supplied to BT either had shut off timers or had different controllers fitted if the former you should be able to get over the problem if the latter not sure if anything can be done without changing the controller. might be worth checking this section first http://www.letonkinoisvarnish.uk/Buying_Advice_1.html scroll down the page a bit for the non standard heater section
 
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Be very careful identifying models.
We are noticing an increasing number of non standard Eberspacher heaters removed from modern vehicles on offer, they have modified ECUs and many will not work without the vehicle. (see below)
We know of a number of buyers who have purchased a D1L model instead of the D1LCC they actually wanted. Photos on ebay are sometimes taken to partially conceal the external ECU and relays, often by placing them among the controller and cables so they are not very obvious.
That bargain price may not be such a good bargain after all.
See Eberspacher D2
 
if I would have a choice, I would never use a Eberspacher diesel heater as the main heating system for a motorhome. They are noisy, temperametal, not cheap to run and drain the battery if used for too long.
And you will have to deal with the echaust fumes.

just my own opinion of course.
 
Teutone said:
if I would have a choice, I would never use a Eberspacher diesel heater as the main heating system for a motorhome. They are noisy, temperametal, not cheap to run and drain the battery if used for too long.
And you will have to deal with the echaust fumes.

just my own opinion of course.
Click to expand...

Any forced air heater will make some noise, but the Eberspachers are reasonably quiet inside if they are fitted correctly (and that includes the fuel pump); most of the noise is outside the vehicle.
I've been using one (factory fitted in 1998) for over 2 years and can't agree they're temperamental. Like most things, they do benefit from being serviced.
They are cheap to run, and convenient as they use the vehicle's main fuel tank. The D2, for example, typically uses about one eighth of a litre per hour; the D4 uses about twice that amount.
They do use quite a few amps for the first few minutes, during which time you can have the engine running, but then the current draw drops considerably as the air warms up and the heater needs to produce less heat.
The manual gives advice about the exhaust, which is easily directed out of the way by means of the flexible exhaust pipe, which can be extended if necessary.
 
Well I don't agree! I fitted one as a second source of heating to reduce gas use, if you fit the inlet and exhaust silencer then the noise they make is inaudible inside the motorhome, but some noise outside,
If you route the exhaust pipe away from any drop vents then you shouldn't have any smell,
I find it very economical to run, with a 100 litre fuel tank onboard after a week of use not continually I may add I couldn't see any difference to the fuel content gauge,
My solar panel kept my main battery topped up with no obvious drop in voltage over a week in Scotland with outside temperatures not going above 10C. ( normal Scottish summer) rain and a lot of cloud cover,
I fitted the eperbacher between the floors on my A class so obviously it will be difference on other installations but I am very happy with its operation so far,it gives me instant heat on demand when needed,
 
The story so far...

Based on the website pointers from Dr Dave, Full Timer, and Steve121 I've produced a chart of connectors, pins, wire colours. I've traced the wires to see which are duplicated. The good news is the 16 pin connector has standard pinouts, and the controller seems to have standard coloured wires too. Based on this info I'll be making up some cross-connectors to temporary wire in the controller, and fused connections to the battery. The plan is to have it ready to test this weekend. So, I'll let you know what I find, and then feedback to the forum and the letonkinoisvarnish.uk website to say if it works or not :D

As for the diesel heater or not, I appreciate the input. However, I've read loads of stuff on various forums, and for me I think the pros outway the cons. But, it's not the first time I've heard that they're too noisy, against they're the most efficient form of heating.

So thanks for all the input, from everyone!
 
Re the noise most noise is caused by converters having to compromise with the position of the heater and exhaust check the installation instructions and use the correct length of exhaust pipe many years ago I bought an extra Silencer and half a metre of stainless exhaust pipe since then this has been added to 6 vans I have just removed as we swapped vans this cuts the noise down considerably.

You may note that most heaters in lorries do not suffer from the noise problem and this is what the heaters are designed for perhaps they are installed better ??

Alf



Relay said:
Based on the website pointers from Dr Dave, Full Timer, and Steve121 I've produced a chart of connectors, pins, wire colours. I've traced the wires to see which are duplicated. The good news is the 16 pin connector has standard pinouts, and the controller seems to have standard coloured wires too. Based on this info I'll be making up some cross-connectors to temporary wire in the controller, and fused connections to the battery. The plan is to have it ready to test this weekend. So, I'll let you know what I find, and then feedback to the forum and the letonkinoisvarnish.uk website to say if it works or not :D

As for the diesel heater or not, I appreciate the input. However, I've read loads of stuff on various forums, and for me I think the pros outway the cons. But, it's not the first time I've heard that they're too noisy, against they're the most efficient form of heating.

So thanks for all the input, from everyone!
Click to expand...
 
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The ex BT heaters only run for an hour. Its an easy fix to get round this. From memory, connect the purple and yellow wires, although its late and I need to double check this!!

Ill look when Im back in workshop tomorrow.
 
The answer to my question

Once again, thanks to everyone who has contributed to this thread. My answer is akin to standing on the shoulders of giants ;-)

The quick answer is you can butcher (actually you don't need to really damage it if you'd prefer not) to make it all work. Below is a table of all connectors on the BT 185 Loom the heater came with, but the process was this:

  1. Test the pump
    • Battery -ve to one terminal
    • Red (fused 5A) to the other - the pump clicks
  2. Test the controller
    • Connect Brown to battery -ve
    • Connect Red to battery +ve (fused 5A)
    • Connect Grey/Red to -ve
    • Voltage tester on -ve and yellow
    • Switch on controller and set it, then press instant heat (bottom right button on mine), you should see 12v
  3. Test the heater
    • Battery -ve to heater thick brown (6 pin rectangular plug - pin 4)
    • Battery +ve (fused 20A) to heater thick red (6 pin rectangular plug - pin 6)
    • Supply 12v to yellow wire (6 pin round plug pin 2) shorted to fused +ve. Hold this one for 10 seconds and the fan on the heater should begin to spin up. It will not operate correctly until the pump is connected. Disconnect this wire, and leave the heater connected to complete it's cycle before removing brown or red connections!
    Note If the pump is connected it will take up to 90 seconds for the pump to begin clicking. Also if there is air in the pipe, it can take several repeated startups to prime the fuel pipe fully, prior to the heater running correctly.

Loom Pinouts​

Controller
4 pin plug
PinColourForTo
1Thin Red12v+ (5A Fused)6 pin rect - pin 6
2Grey/RedTemp set6 pin rect pin 2
3YellowController on6 pin round pin 2
4Thin Brown12v-6 pin rect - pin 4
Loom
2 Pin Plug to Pump
PinColourForTo
1Brown12v- (d)Pump
2Green/red (16/5)12v+ pulsedPump
6 Pin Rectangular Plug
PinColourForTo
1Blue/white******** (16/8)Diags dataNot used
2Grey/red (16/7)Target input temp4 pin – pin 2
3Brown12v- pump (d)Bridge to pin 4
4Thick Brown (16/10)Earth/12V-Battery –ve
5Red12v+ to controller (d)Not used
6Thick Red (16/1)12V+ (Fused 20A)Battery +ve via 20A
6 Pin Round Plug
PinColourForTo
1Black/red (16/16)Vehicle fan controlNot used
2Yellow (16/4)Controller 12v+ switch4 pin – pin 3
3-  
4-  
5-  
6-  
8 Pin Plug
PinColourForTo
1Thin Red12v+ to controller (d)Not used
2-  
3-  
4Grey (16/12)External temp sensorNot used
5Thin brownController 12v-Not used
6Blue/whiteDiags dataNot used
7-  
8-  

I hope that helps someone :):dance:
 
Custom installation

Here's what my ex-MoD D5LC controller looks like (built by Marshall SV of Cambridge)

_DSC1913.jpg
 
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