Remote start or Frost Heater.

block heater or remote starter?

  • Remote Start

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Frost heater

    Votes: 4 66.7%
  • Oem (curretnly installed) block heater

    Votes: 2 33.3%

  • Total voters
    6

akafred

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 13, 2011
Location
ontario
TDI
2014 jetta TDI
Wife has 2014 manual trans Tdi and wants a remote starter, was wondering if a frost heater heater would be a better option as the car is a diesel.

it currently has a factory installed block heater but i have read that i will not really warm up the car, it only provides enough heat to ease starting.
 

Cmore

Member
Joined
Sep 24, 2017
Location
Michigan
TDI
2005 Jetta. Gone, suicide Deer. 2011 Jetta.
I will be very interested in others recommendations. My wife drives 2011 manual tdi. 35 miles on way. Car is in the garage, not heated. She also has concerns that car interior does not get warm until 20 miles in. Rural driving 60mph. She is grateful for the heated seats 😆. Northern Michigan
 

akafred

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 13, 2011
Location
ontario
TDI
2014 jetta TDI
my wife wants some heat and the windows to defrost, the car is parked outside.
 

DivineChaos

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 27, 2019
Location
Minnesota
TDI
mk6 jetta sportwagen tdi
Yeah that about right. 20miles. These cars cool down when idling. Run it in a lower gear. When it's -20 I have to run in 5th when I'm doing 60
 

pedroYUL

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2011
Location
MI, USA
TDI
2015 Passat CVCA; 2015 GSW CRUA; 2012 wagon CJAA; 2004 wagon BEW
Not sure if in your mk6, but in mk5 jetta (not all of them) and in both my 2015 GSW and Passat, there is an electric aux heater.

In mk5 the heater would communicate with VCDS with its own control module. In the mk7 GSW it's called PTC heater and I could only find it when I looked at the HVAC coding. Still investigating where in VCDS for the 2015 Passat.

This electric heater is installed right next to the heater core, I read some mk6 wagons have them. If you undo the side trim by the accelerator pedal (one T20 screw) the heater core will be right there behind it towards the lower center dash, and in front of the heater core, there will be thick wires going to it, like in this post:

Make sure if you do have the PTC heater, that is working correctly, and read up on how it comes on: max heat, 4+ speed, and foot+defrost.

Others have said remote starters are useless, as TDIs can idle forever and never create enough heat for the cabin.
 
Last edited:

MrCypherr

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 3, 2012
Location
Ontario
TDI
Mk6 Wagon
I got the stock heater and it usually gets to around 60C after plugged in for around 3 1/2 hours. I have heat instantly and I let it idle for a couple minutes then start driving. Temp gauge goes up pretty quick as soon as I start driving.
 

TurboABA

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 24, 2010
Location
Kitchener, ON
TDI
RIP-2010 Jetta 6spd 2014 Touareg Execline
All MK6 TDIs in Canada came with the AUX heater from what I know.... not sure if the States did too.
There's an SSP which documents what pre-requisites need to be met in order for them to kick in.... I can't recall off the top of my head now, but it's like heat control on 80% or more, defrost on, battery voltage and ambient temp at a certain lever.......
If you have the OEM block heater as mentioned by @MrCypherr they work great. You should also bock the lower grill portion with 3/4" pipe insulation to restrict the airflow to the rad. Some, in cooler climates, block even more of the "intake" area. For me, I found that blocking off just the lower portion was sufficient to not drop my operating temp while cruising at speed or while idling in traffic during snow storms, etc.

A remote starter, or idling the vehicle to warm it up is useless as the engine is far too efficient.
 
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TurboABA

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 24, 2010
Location
Kitchener, ON
TDI
RIP-2010 Jetta 6spd 2014 Touareg Execline
PTC basic info can be found in SSP318 as it has been part of TDIs since the '04 Golf....
Here's a quick extract:

SSP318 said:
The electrical auxiliary air heater
An electrical auxiliary air heater is installed in diesel vehicles. The electrical auxiliary air heater is a combination of a PTC heater element with an integrated control unit. It is installed downstream of the heat exchanger and provides additional heating of the vehicle interior after cold-starting the engine. The electrical auxiliary air heater directly heats the air which enters the vehicle interior. It acquires all information needed for operation via the convenience CAN data bus.

Activation conditions
The electrical auxiliary air heater is activated: - in the case of the 2C-Climatronic and Climatic: automatically via the CAN data bus; in the case of the heating system: if the occupants set the heating output to over 90% at the operating unit (analog signal), - if the water temperature is below 75°C, - if the engine speed is higher than 500 rpm, - if no load management system is active and - if the ECON button is not pressed

The importance of the load management system
The onboard power supply control unit controls the load management system, which has a special part to play in operation of the electrical auxiliary air heater. It can deactivate the electrical auxiliary air heater partially or completely. The load management system's status is indicated in the data blocks of the electrical auxiliary air heater. Power output can be reduced in steps of 75%, 50% and 25%.
Obviously, if you don't meet the conditions, or if you have a struggling battery\charging system due to drained battery, it won't work.
 

pedroYUL

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2011
Location
MI, USA
TDI
2015 Passat CVCA; 2015 GSW CRUA; 2012 wagon CJAA; 2004 wagon BEW
Mk5 and mk6 with the PTC heater I completely disagree that they never warm up. They warm the interior toasty and loads the alternator up which loads the engine up and brings it up to temp quicker. I even ran a log once...
I think this assumes car has a PTC heater and that all conditions are met for it to come on: full heat, blower speed...

If there is no aux electric heater, then it will be the same as mk4 or older cars, freezing till you load the engine.
 

Vince Waldon

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 25, 2009
Location
Edmonton AB Canada
TDI
2001 ALH Jetta, 2003 ALH Wagon, 2005 BEW Wagon
Yup, there's very little waste heat from our TDIs at idle, so a remote starter is not much of a help in the warm-up department. Making the engine work is the only way to get things warmed up.
 

DivineChaos

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 27, 2019
Location
Minnesota
TDI
mk6 jetta sportwagen tdi
Yeah I have mine on Max heat and blower 2. It's enough to defrost. If it's real cold I ride the breaks. Heats it up fast.
 

VW_Factor

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 31, 2009
Location
Leesburg, Georgia
TDI
2003 Jetta, 2009 Jetta, 2020 Passat R-Line Gasser
Recently did an EGR removal on the '09 along with the "off-road" package. NOx trap wasn't up to snuff lighting the DPF error light in the cluster. (Got 200k out of the factory exhaust system w/ the dieselgate fix) Its been coldish around here lately and I most certainly noticed the extended warm up times in the mornings when headed for work.

I really had no idea that the exhaust flapper backpressure along with the EGR coolant/heater core exchange would produce that much heat that quickly into the heater core/coolant system.

This car is my DD atm, and as I've aged I'm enjoying the creature comforts more. The longer "climate warm up" is certainly noticeable and not desirable to what I've become acclimated to. The heated seats help a ton. I am seriously considering just an aftermarket block heater or other type of coolant heater, knowing it works very well in my Ferd 7.3, but that diesel isn't a VW diesel. The 7.3 after being plugged is like 5 minutes idle to circulate the warmed oil to heat the rest of the engine/coolant with noticeable effect.

Wife was jealous with the ALH, and would fire it 5 minutes, then 10 minutes, then 15 minutes early before leaving on cold morning. Never made a difference. Coolant heater helped, but it doesn't return results like the 7.3 "oil in the pan" heat element.

This thread will certainly be relevant to my interests as of late. I don't like the cold.
 

DivineChaos

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 27, 2019
Location
Minnesota
TDI
mk6 jetta sportwagen tdi
The only thing it's heating up fast is your pads\rotors\bearings....... :rolleyes:
Yes. It also puts a load on the motor and trans. I'm a idle for 30 sec and takeoff kinda guy. Loading the engine warms it faster. And I've got 51k on these pads and their at 60% life. I really only do it on the -20 days while driving out of town.
 

TurboABA

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 24, 2010
Location
Kitchener, ON
TDI
RIP-2010 Jetta 6spd 2014 Touareg Execline
Lol... Aux heaters are programmable so I don't know how you think they work. I'm talking about the fancy parking ones. There's also less fancy once that only operate once the engine fires up.
 

TurboABA

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 24, 2010
Location
Kitchener, ON
TDI
RIP-2010 Jetta 6spd 2014 Touareg Execline
If you really want an awesome solution (not to mention one that's 2x as powerful as the D2 shown above), look up the OEM Auxiliary and Supplemental systems that fully integrate into the vehicle's controls are were available over the pond..... that's what we should've got over here in the north, but VW cheaped out as usual. :rolleyes:

If you're not following, look up SSP502
 

TurboABA

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 24, 2010
Location
Kitchener, ON
TDI
RIP-2010 Jetta 6spd 2014 Touareg Execline
Retrofitting the OEM Thermo Top V into our NA sedans is an awesome approach and provides ideal features and functionality.

It's unfortunate that parts are so hard to source and the costs can be significant.

VW should've simply not eliminated the hardware from Northern markets
 
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