Delica Canada | Mitsubishi Van Club

I've got the webasto tsl 17 on my l400, and another one here that I will be installing on another forum members l300 as soon as I can get it in the shop. I've installed numerous webastos over the years, and to do it properly on these vans, takes me two full days, and this does not include making the protective aluminum box I mount them in. The espar is definitely cheaper, has more serviceable parts, and parts available world wide, but in my experience, the espar is cheaper for a reason, they seem to require more servicing due to failed parts over time. I have one webasto, on one of my heavy trucks, that was purchased in 1987, and the only thing I have changed on it other than fuel filters was the ignition plug once. In my opinion, the webasto is worth the couple hundred extra bucks in the long run.

Jason

There are two reasons why I went with Espar over Webasto. First - as you said - parts are available world wide and second, only Espar offers a high-elevation kit. Webasto Diesel heater apparently don't work very well if you stay a longer period of time in some high mountains (crucial for our planed roadtrip). In the end they are all made in Germany We will see how reliable Espar is.

How do you usually do the fuel pick up? T-fitting or a fuel pick-up in the stock tank?

I put an independent fuel pick-up in the stock tank, and make it shorter so that the heater cannot run you out of fuel if left on accidentially. My webasto's will not run below 1/8 of a tank. I also don't like taping into the vehicle fuel line because the vehicle can sometimes pull the fuel away from the heater, causing it not to fire up on the first try, and worse still can sometimes pull air into the vehicle system. Also, for the best results from the heater, it should draw the coolant from the engine block drain, and then feed into the heater hose, passing through the heater core and then into the engine. This way, you heat the whole engine fast, and by applying power to your heater fan, you can warm the interior without running the engine. If you simply put it inline in a heater hose, it will still work, but you will heat the head fast, and the rest of the block takes longer, as heat doesn't travel down very fast. I am probably going to reroute mine (as I am installing a veg kit) so that it warms the veg system, and the engine. This way I should be able to switch over to veg immediately upon start up, and the webasto using .4l/hr of fuel should be more efficient than running the engine to heat up the system. We'll see how it works.Sorry if we are taking away from the original post.

Jason

fexlboi wrote:It was way cheaper for us to order it from Germany as Espar (Eberspächer) is from there. Look on ebay.de

Thanks - I have taken a look and they seem MUCH cheaper there. Depending on the cost of shipping, I will consider that source (although I will need to both enlist the assistance of a German friend and find installation instructions in English).

mountainmack wrote:

fexlboi wrote:It was way cheaper for us to order it from Germany as Espar (Eberspächer) is from there. Look on ebay.de

Thanks - I have taken a look and they seem MUCH cheaper there. Depending on the cost of shipping, I will consider that source (although I will need to both enlist the assistance of a German friend and find installation instructions in English).

English manuals: http://www.espar.com/html/service/downl ... nical.html
Make sure your friend send it to you as a gift :)

Thanks to all for the excellent feedback on diesel-fueled block heaters! Off to do more research . . .