How to Install an Espar D2 Diesel Heater in a T1N Sprinter Van // DIY T1N Sprinter Van Build
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- Опубліковано 12 кві 2020
- Installing an Espar / Eberspacher Airtronic D2 Diesel Heater in our 2004 Dodge Frieghtliner Mercedes Sprinter Van
Check out our website www.goldenadvantures.com/ for the most up to date info on our vanlife van build! We also write blogs about our progress if you like reading more than watching! If you'd like to purchase the products we use in the video check out the links below.
Tools and Supplies for the job:
Espar Heater - amzn.to/2RzB442
Hole Saw Set - amzn.to/2XuHEg1
Drill Bit Set - amzn.to/2z16KsR
Drill - amzn.to/3efNibX
Dynamat - amzn.to/2xqTkpr
Film Equipment
GoPro Max - amzn.to/3rE1nI5
OBEN Tripod - amzn.to/34AxAUo
MacBook Pro - amzn.to/2xsBvpR
In this weeks video we go through the steps we took to install our Espar D2 Diesel heater in our 2004 Dodge Frieghtliner Mercedes Sprinter Van. Before we even purchased the heater we researched all of the cheap Chinese diesel heaters. The bad reviews and faulty exhaust fittings convinced us that a cheap Chinese diesel heater was not a risk we wanted to take. Once our proven and reliable Espar heater came in we used the rubber gasket as a template to mark the holes we needed to drill in the van. We then got our hole saw and drill bits and made the proper holes in the van under the passenger seat. Then we drilled a hole in the back of the seat box for the air duct and diffuser. Next we bolted down the heater and installed the combustion air and exhaust hoses with the muffler. Then we ran the fuel line, installed the fuel pump, and used a Y fitting to tap into our fuel line. Finally we ran the wires to the fuel pump and plugged it in. Stay tuned for the rest of the wiring including the high altitude kit. We'll do a separate video just for the wiring.
Thanks for checking out our video! If you want to know how to wire your Espar D2 Diesel Heater stay tuned and we'll upload it as soon as we get done with our van wiring. If you have any questions or comments drop them below and we'll be sure to get back to you. If you like the video hit the thumbs up because it really does help us out and don’t forget to subscribe as well!
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Very nice write up. You executed everything I had planned out in my head for the install in the same van, and then added some! Great job.
Thanks! I've gotten it all wired up now so I'll have to put that in another video eventually so it'll all be covered.
i appreciate your tip regarding tapping into the existing fuel line for the other heater. THANKS!
We’re glad it was helpful!
This was really helpful. I bought a T1N here in Germany and wanted to install my heater today.
I just wanted to check where other people installed theirs and your position is making perfect sense to me.
Thanks for the great video :)
Glad you enjoyed the video! If you run into any questions along the way let us know!
Just dropped in from Reddit. Great video! Keep up the good work. Always inspiring to watch DIY videos like this.
Glad you liked the video! With enough research anything is a DIY project!
That’s the cleanest t1n I’ve ever saw 😳👍
Thank you for the kind words!
Great video
We’re glad you enjoyed the video!
Great video, definitely helped with my install. I know this video is two years old, but wondering if you had any issues with the fuel pump mounted as you have it. The pump is supposed to be mounted at a 15-35 degree angle with the outlet of the pump pointed UP, not down as you've installed it.
We’re glad you found the video helpful! We never had any issues with the heater and I don’t think the second owner of the van has had any yet either.
How did routing the exhaust into the engine area work out? I thought it was a good idea for keeping the engine warm but was wondering if you had any problems with a max fan or similar sucking in exhaust fumes through the cab ventilation system? Did you have any CO issues? Thx.
It made it to where we never really needed the engine glow plugs to start even down to around 5 deg F. Usually we would Sleep with the fan off but cracked open a little and our CO detector never went off.
I would like to hear it run. How loud is it? Enjoyed the video. I’m thinking about installing one in our 32’ fifth wheel. We currently sleep w/o heat and turn on big buddy in morning. Just want to heat cabin to high 30s or low 40s. We have approximately 200 sg feet . Do you think it would work for us?
At the loudest it’s still quieter than a Maxxair fan. Outside the van it just sounds like a really quiet diesel generator. Our van is roughly half that size and it has no problems keeping it 68 even down to the low 20’s at night. Our entire van is spray foamed though so that probably does help.
Hello! Thanks for the immensely helpful video. I’m doing the same install with the same kit on the same van. I have a question for you though, when I got to Napa the only fuel line “Y” adapters they had were much too large for the job. Do you know exactly what size “Y” and adapter off of said “Y” to the blue line included in the kit I need?
Best
Torey
Hey Torey, the y fitting I used came out of a kit that's made for pcv hoses and vacuum lines. Those fittings are still oil and gas resistant so they perform the function just fine. Glad you found the video helpful! Also it was pointed out to me that the way I installed the hose to the outlet has to many bends in it so try to minimize that.
Thank you so much!
Do you happen to know what size they were? Hoping to walk into a shop and say “I need one [insert size here] y fitting please!”
@@toreycates8411 they are for 3/16" hose!
@@goldenadvantures2573 Good deal. Cheers!
Hey super helpful video. Any tips on priming the fuel line?
We’re glad you got some value out of the video! I don’t remember having to do anything to get it to prime. I’m pretty sure I just hooked it up and turned the heater on and it started pulling from the tank.
If u didn't have a connection for the coolant heater, can you tap into the main fuel line going up to the engine..
From my research a lot of people advised against doing that. The fuel pump on the engine is very sensitive and from what I read it could cause problems.
Very nice. I am wondering what the auxiliary fuel line going into the main tank looks like, and where it's located exactly?
Do you have a T1N Sprinter with the espar D5 heater from the factory? If so you'll see the espar fuel pump mounted to the driver side of the van right next to where the transmission couples to the drive shaft. You can follow the auxillary line back to the tank from the pump. If you don't have the D5 heater from the factory I believe you have to drop the tank to get to the fitting and it's in the middle of the tank but I'm not 100% sure on that.
@@goldenadvantures2573 Yeah buddy! The engine heater is in there (can tell from the box behind the left headlight near the battery). Glad to know I don't have to drop the tank and whatnot. The espar is nice as heck, but it's well over my budget. Gonna go with the 2k Chinese heater www.ebay.com/i/401853876479?ul_noapp=true
Did you use the black mounting plate that came with it or is the heater bolted directly to the floor?
I’m pretty sure we bolted it straight to the floor with the rubber gasket in between but it’s been a while since we installed it so I can’t remember 100%.
how has this method worked out in the past couple of years? i have heard bad things about using the existing fuel line but stumbling upon videos like yours, makes me want to try it.
We never had any issues when we owned the van and I haven’t heard of the new owners having any issues with it either. The line we tied into was decided to the stock on board espar heater. It was not the fuel line for the engine.
We have a 2006 T1N class B RV. We live in NE KS and frequently get sub-zero temps in the winter. Currently we use the propane furnace to preheat the cabin before we drive it in the winter. We have been looking into installing a diesel air heater like this as would be more convenient since it would use diesel fuel and I wouldn't have to make a special trip to refill the propane. I was considering routing the heater exhaust as you did so if I preheat the cabin, it would also preheat the engine bay to aid cold weather starts. Does the heater exhaust seem to put out sufficient heat to help with that as you had planned?
The coldest we’ve been to was 8 deg f overnight and the engine started with no trouble at all even with a bad glow plug. I’m assuming that it does help but I don’t quite know the extent that it helps.
@@goldenadvantures2573 Thank you. Your video is well-done and informative. Great work!
We’re really glad you got some value out of the video! Definitely let us know if you have any more questions.
Is there a reason you didn't run the fuel line through the wire chase from seat base to seat base, then down under the drivers base?
Yes, the fuel line connector on the heater sticks out of the bottom of the heater. This makes it where you’d have to drill another hole under the passenger seat to bring it back into the van to put it in the chase between the seat bases.
So your factory Espar heater by the headlight works but this write up is for an additional heater to heat the cargo area?
That is correct. It’s the air heater version instead of the water heater version that’s installed in the van from the factory.
Great detail, thanks for this. What kind of head unit is that and how did you you install it?
Glad you enjoyed the video! The head unit is an Alpine ILX-F259 amzn.to/34zrDaa for some reason people say that it wont fit. All I did was buy a single DIN cage amzn.to/3bc3EA7 and bend the tabs to make it snap in to the faceplate that comes with the factory radio. Then I put the radio, cage, and faceplate into the dash as one piece. If you ever want to take it back out you’ll need four of the radio release keys to get it back out. Overall it was a really easy instal. You can see a little bit of the install in the first episode of our van build series.
Fur & Fam Thanks!
Looking to do the same on my unit do you remember where you do the tee to tap in the the existence line ?
I’m pretty sure it was right near the fuel pump that came installed from the factory for the block heater.
Have you had any problems with that 1/8th “ piece of material that’s on the bottom of floor , where you drilled the holes for air in ands outs?
No the gasket has kept everything sealed up like it should. Have you heard of any particular problems with it?
Not at all! Just making sure it’s not melting with use. Can’t really tell what type of material it’s made of. Got all my holes drilled , first one was about 1/4 @ into the piller that’s under there 🤦🏻♂️ Had to move towards the outside a bit. Will likely have to use some high temp silicone to patch up my goof.
@@gannon311 are you talking about the sounds deadening material? I believe it's just a rubber gum type of material. I haven't run the heater for extended periods of time yet but what little bit I have run it we haven't had any issues. Ah that's unfortunate! It'll probably end up being under the gasket so it shouldn't be too much of an issue!
Can I ask why you didn’t cut the hole in line with the heat outlet ? Why is it like a snake before it exits out of the back of the seat ?
I put it in that location for two reasons. The first being that the hose connection sticks into the area under the seat a good ways to give you enough to clamp the hose on and I was worried about it interfering with the heater. The second reason is that there is a perfect flat spot on the seat base for the hose connection to be installed where I did it.
Hi great videos all around. We're currently building out a t1n and working on the diesel heater now. How do you know if your van has an auxiliary heater? Ours has a fuel pump similar looking to the one on the fuel line that you tapped into but I'm not sure what it's for.
Glad you’re enjoying the videos! The diesel heater that comes already installed on the T1Ns are located directly behind the drivers side headlight. It’ll be a black box that is around 6”x6”x12”. You’ll be able to see the exhaust hose running off of it to that gets mounted inside the front driver fender. Hope this helps!
@@goldenadvantures2573 That is helpful. It looks like I have one but oddly theres no switch anywhere in my cab... the usual bacon frying switch between the ac and the rest button just isn't there. Either way, hopefully I can tap into that fuel line. Thanks for your help!
You’re welcome! Ours doesn’t have the bacon button either. The engine ecm automatically starts the heater when the engine is below 40 degrees and you turn the key to the position right before start. That way it’ll heat it up and make it easier to start in cold weather. It’ll also give you heat in the cab while you’re waiting to crank it.
Does the heater have to be laying Flat or can it be going the same direction as the subfloor? Which is not 90° parallel with the ground
I’m not sure I quite understand what you’re asking. Do you mean rotate the heater clockwise 90 degrees to run side to side in the van?
I was concerned with the same orientation issue since I'm installing in T1N but in a Winnebago View and the compartment under the seat is sloped, not parallel to the ground. According to the install manual you can have 30 degrees angle. I'm confident I can achieve that when I start my install of the D2. Rotating the unit 90 degrees is also allowed.
Ah now I understand the initial question. I agree with you and we have not had any issues with the angle that ours is mounted on. It’s kept us very warm down to 8 deg f outside temp so far.
Are you aware there is an Espar heater already installed in the vehicle under the passenger headlight? It’s called the heater booster and supposedly it can be modified to turn on when the engine is off.
Yes our van has that unit. It's designed to heat coolant up. I didn't want to use that one too heat the entire van because tapping into the wiring harness connected to the ECU becomes tricky and I would have had to do more wiring to allow my house battery to charge the engine battery. I did consider it though! I actually tapped into the fuel line for it when I installed the new one.
Fur & Fam yes. It does look very tricky. There’s diagrams out there but no step by step method. If I give it a try, I’ll try to document if it works......
What's that head unit? Looks nice!
It's an Alpine ilx259. There's a link to it in episode one if you want to get the exact one!
What size y fitting did you use?
I can’t remember the exact size. I bought that’s park that has every size imaginable and held them all up to see which one fit the best.
The only thing I see wrong with this install is placing the exhaust in the engine bay under the engine, I would think the gases would re circulate back into your van through the intake .otherwise great video tks
I agree with this. Because of it we never ran the van at the same time as the heater. The heat in the van was plenty warm to not need the extra heater running at the same time.
@@goldenadvantures2573 even if u don't run the van ,I would think the gases could still migrate back into your living space ,
We had a carbon monoxide detector and never had an issue with it when we did it.