ZeroStart coolant heater question

dlb

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 14, 2004
Location
Greely Ont
TDI
'04 Reflex Silver Golf
I have the TDIheater kit - not sure if my hoses will work in your location ? I think the hoses are pre-cut to work with the heater off the battery tray ? Looks good though - I'll give it a try. Thanks.
 

fitzski

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 13, 2004
Location
Ottawa
TDI
Uh... hmm... Well, none...
If you've got the TDIheater kit, I would simplify your life and follow the instructions provided - it's worked for 100s of others! Since I was doing my own install, I didn't mind having to build and manipulate the heater bracket to work with that bolt.

The bundled hoses shouldn't make a difference, as the heater itself still sits in the same location. There isn't too much room in any given direction before it bumps into something.

Enjoy!
 

Jetta_Pilot

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 14, 2005
Location
West Hill, Ont.
TDI
2015 Passat Highline TDI Candy White (SEL Premium) long gone 2002 Jetta TDI
Well now I am curious. My car was originally sold by Barrie VW dealer and the owner lived outside Orillia.
When Craig01b installed my skidplate he asked me if I had an engine heater since he found a cord and plug hanging near the driver side lower grill. Now I wonder what kind of heater it might be? The old gent who owned the car for 4695 km before me was too old to do it himself so it would be dealer installed.
 

fitzski

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 13, 2004
Location
Ottawa
TDI
Uh... hmm... Well, none...
It's easy enough to pop out the lower grill - push down on the two "tabs" that you can see on the top horizontal piece while pulling out. With a flashlight, you can see there is quite a bit of space under that fender. The first thing you'll see are the twin horns. This is also the spot where I belive most people who have done it, install the Espar/Webasto heater, although I don't know if (or why) it has a plug:

 
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ARBY

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 10, 2004
Location
Royal Oak, MI
TDI
2011 Golf Sportwagen - really want a F-150.
LNXGUY said:
I was under the impression that on the ALH TDI's that you had to make a notch in the battery try in order for the bracket to seat properly (hence the reason why I said to give the grounds a good cleaning if the battery was out anyhow) Maybe the PD's use a flat battery tray with no lip? Who knows with VW, things vary from car to car all the time :)
you know, the directions say to cut a notch in the battery tray, but I just mounted the bracket under the tray so i didn't have to cut the notch. The difference in height is just the thickness of the tray, which is negligible.
 

LNXGUY

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 10, 2004
Location
Barrie, Ont, Canada
TDI
'05 Jetta TDI Wagon
Just installed the Zerostart this weekend.. Extremely simple, although I did forget to relieve the pressure in the system before cutting the hoses, lol coolant was everywhere.. Used the stock hoses and only the 90 elbow from Crappy Tire.. Picked up a Zerostart battery blanket at CT today also. snugs in nice and tight in the stock airbox. Along with a Noma timer and a outdoor 3 outlet adapter this is definitely the winter setup. No more cold starts or dead batteries for me...
 

motodaddy

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 21, 2005
Location
Alberta
TDI
2000 jetta TDI
Is there any harm leaving this plugged in for extended periods of time?? Ie: overnite at work at the firehall... is it thermostatically protected or will it be too hard on the coolant lines etc..:confused:
 

kostyas

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2004
Location
Woodbridge, ON, Canada
TDI
Golf 99.5
Don't do it man! Even if no harm to the engine it's not good for your electricity bill or our environment. 3 hours in the morning is more than enough-- well now in ON, maybe 4 or at most 5 on a cold day in AB. I doubt it would make difference plugged in for longer-- if it's so cold it cannot warm up in 5 hours it will never fully will.

Get a timer at CT-- they are 4 bucks or so.
 

TDIMAXIMA

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 5, 2004
Location
MARKHAM, ONTARIO, CANADA
TDI
2004 4motion Passat 5 speed 1.8t
They do have thermostats, which is what makes them so safe. Assuming they don't fail. If it doesn't warm up in 4-5 hours then yes, it never will. I park my car in my garage at night, maybe teh coldest it gets is -5 in the winter and even with 3-4 hours it only starts up with one bar. If you want to leave it plugged in because you don't know when you will be using the car, then just be careful, esepically if you have a 1500watt version, you never know if local areas in the piping can get hotter then others.
 

motodaddy

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 21, 2005
Location
Alberta
TDI
2000 jetta TDI
Well, I left it plugged in overnite at work to see how it did.... the valve cover was hot to the touch in the morning but when I started up the temp gauge had only moved 2 bars up and immediately dropped all the way down back to cold as soon as the car moved, I did have lukewarm heat though and it moved up to 190 faster. Mine is a 1000w and it was -20/-25c (not including windchill:eek: )
My main concern was with engine wear with these brutal cold starts so I'm happy with it, the day before I installed it in similar temps my jetta wouldn't even start... just turned over sluggishly till the battery pooped out and YES I am 100% synthetic.:D
 

LNXGUY

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 10, 2004
Location
Barrie, Ont, Canada
TDI
'05 Jetta TDI Wagon
The top of my hood had all the snow melted off it this morning because of the Zerostart. And my battery box was toasty warm :)


+1 for a 1000W Zerostart and the Zerostart battery blanket.
 

TDIMAXIMA

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 5, 2004
Location
MARKHAM, ONTARIO, CANADA
TDI
2004 4motion Passat 5 speed 1.8t
I would never have noticed myself cause I park in the garage. All I know, this year is much nicer starting up VS. last year without ECU and injector upgrade.
 

kostyas

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2004
Location
Woodbridge, ON, Canada
TDI
Golf 99.5
Mine actually too warm to comfortably touch-- you can touch but cannot hold-- about 55-60*C. Strange you mention the snow melts-- mine doesn't (1500).
 

LNXGUY

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 10, 2004
Location
Barrie, Ont, Canada
TDI
'05 Jetta TDI Wagon
Could also be the heat from the battery blanket escaping :) I wish I installed this setup when I first got the car.
 

rah7777777

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 25, 2005
Location
texas
TDI
2011 Jetta SportWagen TDI
just a note, for anyone with a front mount intercooler!!!
the kits from tdiheater do not install, as per instructions!
as one of the pipes for the intercooler go from under the battey tray up.
i purchased the kit, and had to rig it up a bit, if i could go back, i would have just bought a zerostart by itself, as the kit was useless for me. but cant win them all.
 

brujo

Well-known member
Joined
May 1, 2003
Location
Oakville, Canada EH!
TDI
Jetta, 2000, Silver
rah7777777 said:
i would have just bought a zerostart by itself, as the kit was useless for me. but cant win them all.
Just curious how cold does it get in Texas that require Zerostart??:rolleyes:
 

ofhs93

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 4, 2004
Location
Scranton, PA
TDI
Jetta GL, 99.5, Silver
Well if he is in North Western TX then it CAN get pretty darn cold there at times. It's actually pretty close to the same as south eastern Colorado and Kansas...and they can get damm cold in the winter...at least for what us Yanks are used to....-15 to -20 Celcius is not unheard of in those places....and the wind can be brutal.
 

rah7777777

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 25, 2005
Location
texas
TDI
2011 Jetta SportWagen TDI
brujo said:
Just curious how cold does it get in Texas that require Zerostart??:rolleyes:
it doesnt get real cold here in dallas, i just hate that it takes freaking forever to warm up inside, as i leave for work at about 5:30 am every morning, and its cold, oh and did i mention I HATE ANY COLD weather! i would be comletely happy with 80 degrees year round and the sun a shining!! to me if its below 65 degrees its too cold!
 

LNXGUY

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 10, 2004
Location
Barrie, Ont, Canada
TDI
'05 Jetta TDI Wagon
rah7777777 said:
it doesnt get real cold here in dallas, i just hate that it takes freaking forever to warm up inside, as i leave for work at about 5:30 am every morning, and its cold, oh and did i mention I HATE ANY COLD weather! i would be comletely happy with 80 degrees year round and the sun a shining!! to me if its below 65 degrees its too cold!

I am assuming you'd hate our -30 degree winters here :)
 

rah7777777

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 25, 2005
Location
texas
TDI
2011 Jetta SportWagen TDI
-30, i would MOVE AS SOON AS I COULD!! that is way too cold for me!!!!
 

2001Jetta

New member
Joined
Aug 27, 2006
Somewhat new to this but I need a heater for my 2001 Jetta 1.9T. Need help in what I need and where to get it!
 

dlb

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 14, 2004
Location
Greely Ont
TDI
'04 Reflex Silver Golf
coolant heater is at tdiheater.com. Or buy the Zerostart heater and hoses seperate. Do a search - they have all the part #'s from CT.
 

casta_baga

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 26, 2004
Location
Edmonton - AB
TDI
golf 2001 - golf wagon 2010
LNXGUY said:
I am simply giving advice to the Canadian potentials buyers that the same setup can be had for alot less $$$ and purchased locally :)
i agree with you 100%... i just bought a book from USA, I pay for the book 24 dollars and 19 dollars for the border taxes, completely stupid but i understand the government of alberta is probably trying to get people buying thing here instead of from the american globalization...
I thought and i did some research into buying zerostart from the states with all the complete kit but i figure that i would need at least 2 or 3 times more money unfortunately....
heres a example of what i spent in with my installation at canadian tire
zerostart 1000 wats 65 dollars
hose join 2 dollars
hose coolant 2 dollars
3 beers X 3 = 9 dollars
78 dollars i spent to have a zerostart installed on my gold TDI,
of-course
1st..
i would prefer to spend money in canada than in usa
2nd..
i would prefer to spend less 3 times of the money to have the same job done
 

dubdrew

Veteran Member
Joined
May 4, 2003
Location
Montreal
TDI
2003 Jetta TDI
Is anyone who has one of these heaters installed willing to meet up with me for a quick peek? i am in toronto, (north york area)i just want to see how and where it was installed and what hoses need to be tapped?

i keep reading that u need to buy 2 L shapped hoses, but from what i understand you just need to plug it to the lower oil cooler then plug it back?

i just want to see it in my own eyes, then i will know if i am confident enough to make my own kit from cdn tire. :) Thanks! and let me know, before it gets REALLY cold!
 

kingkos

Veteran Member
Joined
May 18, 2005
Location
"The Hammer", Ontario
TDI
2003 Jetta wagon TDI
dubdrew said:
but from what i understand you just need to plug it to the lower oil cooler then plug it back?
Thats how i hooked mine up. No L-shaped hoses or anything like that. I'll show you mine if you are willing to come all the way to Hamilton to see it. wow....that sounds alot dirtier than i meant it to. If you wanna wait till next week, i'll be in Mississauga.

STeve
 

dubdrew

Veteran Member
Joined
May 4, 2003
Location
Montreal
TDI
2003 Jetta TDI
kingkos said:
Thats how i hooked mine up. No L-shaped hoses or anything like that. I'll show you mine if you are willing to come all the way to Hamilton to see it. wow....that sounds alot dirtier than i meant it to. If you wanna wait till next week, i'll be in Mississauga.

STeve
LOL

well are u talking like the weekend coming up, or the weekend of the 16th?
it is getting cold now, and i was thinking i should do this asap!

last year my car was in underground overnight, so no real problems, this year i gotta park outside, and i really think i need this!
 
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