Frostheater install

F'n cold

So it's -47 C out at the moment, car hadn't been ran all day. Had it plugged in for 4 hours. Started like a champ with the frostheater although it wasn't anywhere near "warm". The temp gauge was still below being read. But, didn't need the glow plugs .


Frostheater works. Great investment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDhU1apDcOg
TDI with a zeroStart inline heater

flatlanded said:

So it's -47 C out at the moment, car hadn't been ran all day. Had it plugged in for 4 hours. Started like a champ with the frostheater although it wasn't anywhere near "warm". The temp gauge was still below being read. But, didn't need the glow plugs .


Frostheater works. Great investment.

Click to expand...

-47C

No that was with the 15km/h wind chill. My car is sorta out in the open... -50 with the wind chill overnight with an ambient temperature of -39...

Guess I'm staying in tonight.

The MT-90 in the tranny didn't feel like thinning out anytime soon. The tires felt square, gas filled struts must've been more like liquid.
No, I've got to put my winter front on still. Had it at highway speeds and she didn't get anywhere near 90C. Don't have the plastic belly pan either which doesn't help any.
It warms up more at stop lights then in motion at these temps. My oil temp hasn't seen 180 for a long time...

My '95 IDI was awesome. Quick to warm up and would blow hot enough to burn you.

If it is that cold, plug it in all night. 4 hours is not enough, unless the temp is 20F or something. These heaters have a regulation circuit and do not overheat the coolant. When I was at work and the temp was 8F all day, I just left it plugged in. 160F on the temp and dropped a little but then warmed up quite nicely.

flatlanded said:

So it's -47 C out at the moment, car hadn't been ran all day. Had it plugged in for 4 hours. Started like a champ with the frostheater although it wasn't anywhere near "warm". The temp gauge was still below being read. But, didn't need the glow plugs .


Frostheater works. Great investment.

Click to expand...

NB_TDi said:

1kW is fine. No need to waste $$ on power.

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yea i was aiming to pick up a 1000w but CT only had the 1500w and i wasn't in the mood to wait for them to order me a 1000w one. I figure the extra money spent will be of benefit when its nasty cold out and i feel like going out, i can plug it in and it'll get up to temp quicker. Maybe not worth the money, but i just wanted to get the thing in my hands.

SOLDONTDI said:

WOW....Thanks a million. This puts all questions into perspective. I was looking for the cylinder type install and bam....I got it. There is a God and his handle is "TDI Power"

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Thanks. I hope the installation will go very smoothly.

Btw, I do believe the existance of God, the creator of this world.

Man, you people up North need to head south for the winter.

Heck it was 26F here in Houston and I have my front covers on. That - minus stuff you can keep.

JonFord

JonFord said:

Heck it was 26F here in Houston and I have my front covers on. That - minus stuff you can keep.

JonFord

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And you can keep ol of those + triple digit plus high humiditiy days.

put a frost heater on my 2000 beetle last weekend, went ok, no 30 minutes though. more like and hour and 30 minutes. THat is a tight fit on a Beetle but it went up in there. Had to tweak the bracket a little bit and bent the power steering line bracket out of the way. About the best thing I can tell you on the Beetles is drain the coolant and take the lower radiator hose off to gain more room. I flushed the Coolant and refilled with g-12 all in an hour and a 1/2. Works like a charm though. Gonna do my brothers 2001 Beetle this weekend, should be able to do it in an hour.

PS thought about putting together my own kit, but for 120 bux from FrostHeater and everything you need is right there, who would waste the time trying to rig them up

I got an email from Terry that my Frostheater kit for my 2006 Jetta TDI W/ DSG shipped on monday. Should be here in time for a day after xmas install with my brother. Not much mechanical experience really, hope between the two of us we can figure it out. Anyone know if i go to the Dealer if they can give me a little bottle of G12 and how much they would charge me? Also what tools am i absolutely going to need? and last but not least anyone with install pics of the frostheater kit installed on the 2006 Jetta TDI?

THANK YOU looking forward to having it done

-Justin

patter98 said:

I got an email from Terry that my Frostheater kit for my 2006 Jetta TDI W/ DSG shipped on monday. Should be here in time for a day after xmas install with my brother. Not much mechanical experience really, hope between the two of us we can figure it out. Anyone know if i go to the Dealer if they can give me a little bottle of G12 and how much they would charge me? Also what tools am i absolutely going to need? and last but not least anyone with install pics of the frostheater kit installed on the 2006 Jetta TDI?

THANK YOU looking forward to having it done

-Justin

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Please?

I paid $25 for a jug of G12 from the dealer.

Free G12 from the dealer? Not likely. If it works buy a lottery ticket!

Clamps to seal off the hoses. The rest are common hand tools.

how big is the dealer jug?
here is 1.5ltr. for$16, should be more then enough.
http://www.tdiparts.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=25&products_id=427

jayb79 said:

how big is the dealer jug?
here is 1.5ltr. for$16, should be more then enough.
http://www.tdiparts.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=25&products_id=427

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1 gallon. Remember this is dealer prices.

Hey guys,

So i got my Frostheater from Terry in only 4days so i was really happy about that and i installed it with my brother in oh about 3 hours the other day. My problem i am having is that i live in an apartment and the outside plug seems to be on a timer for when the light is on or something so...my plug in timer doesnt work due to the fact it cant keep time because of the intermitent power outages, it seems to be on all night no problem. I know the frostheater says that its recommended to be plugged in all night if its close to 0* but what if it will only be 20-30? I am thinking it will be easier to just plug it in when i get home and leave it plugged in till morning, since its really not my energy haha. But i am wondering if its ok for it to be plugged in that much when its not super cold. Any side effects to the engine or the heater itself...anything inside at all?

Thank you,
Justin

No problem they have a built in thermostat. What model number did you get?

So i went to the dealer to get some G12 for my 2006 Jetta TDI after my Frostheater install brought my coolant down below the low level. They handed me a 1 Gallong jug of Genuine VW/Audi G-012-A8F-A4. They said this is straight G12 and is capatable with my TDI. It is pink in color but a quick google search shows up calling it purple?....I am just checking that i did the right thing and mixed this with 50/50 Distilled and filled my coolant tank back up. It looks to be the exact same color and i would of never questioned it until i searched the product code to see if i got a good deal or not from the dealer (22.95..i thought wow thats a LOW price for a gallon of anything from a dealer haha let alone lifetime supply of G12 ;-)....) I am just checking into why in the world this product id shows up as Purple or Purple/Pink G12..

Thanks,
Justin

Purple is the WRONG color, andf the G12 PINK is the right stuff.

JASONP said:

Purple is the WRONG color, andf the G12 PINK is the right stuff.

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Purple is the wrong color for G12. Its the right color for G12+ (which is probably what the car came with).

And then there is G12++ and I have no idea what color that is. All the G12's play nice together though, so no real worries.

jayb79 said:

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Nice chart.
I have a Phillips/Temro unit (which I am sure came in a Zero-Start package) model #3305003. 1500watt/12.5 amp. Any idea or specs on the on/off temp or regulator or not on this?? It doesn't seem to get very warm when its outside. Right now I put it indoors and plugged it in and its hissing and getting the hoses pretty warm. Maybe outside below 0F the cold dissapates the heat real fast. My coolant usually never shows above 30F (per Scan Gauge) w/heater plugged in.
Perhaps if it shuts off/regulates at 80F by the time the coolant rises up to the sensor it already cools to 30/40F??

Edit: Well after being plugged in for an aprox hour the SG coolant temp read 86F and a few seconds after it started it read 107. So I assume the coolant up at the sensor had cooled a bit as it traveled up from the heater and when the waterpump started circulating the coolant was pushed up from the heater and was warmer. Heater is cycling on/off on it's own, you can tell by the hiss.
Upper rad hose is quite warm. Should it be if t-stat is OK??

BigAndy said:

I get lost trying to convert from imperial to metric. I know that -40c = -40f and that 0c = 32f. I like a visuals to help. -20c this am -- that's a brisk -4f.

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as a random aside, Google is great for conversions as well... you can google:

"convert -20F to C" or
"convert 535 miles to km" or
"convert 25psi to bar"

and it will do the math for you.

Guys, words of advice, happened to me this week. After putting on a new alternator, yeah that was fun, cause my battery was not charging, had 12.5 volts running or not running, I pulled my battery box and the frst heater was touching the positive post to the starter. Check this out when you install it.