Reinstall Westy heater under bench or no?

[greggarthurevans]

I bought a Westy stuffed Adventurewagen and had a few hours to pull parts from the Westy donor/junker. I pulled the rear seat heater but had to cut the hoses in random places to get it out. Does the under seat heater do much or would I be better off going straight to a propane system rather than bother to reinstall?
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[shagginwagon83]

Heck yeah I love my rear heater more than the front. On the other hand, it's another part of a system that can leak and fail.
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Brandon
"Jo Ann" - '83.5 Westfalia EJ22e w/Peloquin
Instagram @joannthevan

[bobbyblack]

I like to garage my Westy over winter, but still do get it out once in a while. Over the last two winters, and it has saved my butt when my Toy needed work. Put that in the 'dependable' thread.. Anyway, I've had two coolant leaks under the rear bench, and each time I have fixed the problems, even though I know I'd like more space and the costs to fix the leaks were not small. I LOVE my rear heater! My kids love it even more.
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'87 Westy 'Flossie','86 Westy 'R1','86 tintop GL - Subi2.2 'J2','83.5 stock tintop L 'ZoomBus','74 Karmann Ghia, '63 Notch

[joetiger]

Those among us from warmer climates tend to remove the rear heater, but count me as a major proponent. The rear heater does a great job of regulating a comfortable temperature throughout the van when it's really cold out.

The shut-off valve wears out and can leak, but there's a heavy-duty replacement available from Van Cafe and other vendors.
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Joe T.

'86 NAHT Vanagon GL Syncro/ supercharged ABA 2.0 "Pigpen"
'04 GTI 1.8T
'04 Golf R32

"get metaphysical with it. if it's simply a means to get to and from places, it will let you down. if it becomes your zen, it can't fail you." -dabaron

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[JimboCrawdaddy]

I use mine all the time. I've never had any problems out of it, so it's easy for me to say keep the heater!
Also, when you're just getting up to operating temperature, it helps warm the whole inside up faster and then you can dial it back a little. That's what I do.

[dobryan]

The rear heater is awesome. Lots cheaper than an aux heater.
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Dave O
'87 Westy w/ 2002 Subaru EJ25 and Peloquin TBD

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[Ahwahnee]

All good advice above - I live in the desert and wouldn't want to be w/o that heater - I can imagine how nice it could be in Cleveland.

[djkeev]

I removed mine, I live in NW New Jersey.

I've driven the Van across Country in the Late Fall / Early Winter.

Most recently I was in Great Falls Montana with MINUS 9° F........ coldest spot in the lower 48 on that day.

The welcome to Montana sign on the Pass from Idaho was encrusted in Ice and buried in Snow.

Bottom Line? NEVER on that trip were we ever cold inside the Van. Just the front heater worked........ Granted, I had rebuilt the heater box and eliminated uncontrolled RAM air. I could have Ram air or turn it off completely, I also had the option of recirculating cabin air as I desired.

Most often I let Ram air dribble in and barely moved the temp lever off of Cold. Any more movement towards hot and were were shedding clothes as we died from excess heat.
Most of that trip found me in shorts and barefoot. I like far less heat than my Wife.

My Niece currently has the Van on the West Coast and one of her comments was how well the heater works!
I told her that her heating system is literally a one of a kind. No other Vanagon has heat like she does!
A few have her level of quality Air Conditioning.

Dave
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[Steve Arndt]

I wouldn't considering getting rid of the rear heater.
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Steve
Steve's 87 Syncro project

[kamzcab86]

Mine leaked; removed it and haven't missed it. I much prefer the storage space. My van's front heater is a blast furnace and I don't generally have rear passengers.

Perhaps if I traveled in frigid regions I'd have a different opinion.

🍺
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~Kamz
1986 Cabriolet: www.Cabby-Info.com
1990 Vanagon Westfalia: Old Blue's Blog
2016 Golf GTI S
"Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance." - 孔子

[cmayna]

I just replaced the original leaking core in my rear heater. Working like a champ. highly recommend you replace as much hose as you can easily get your hands on. I got GoWesty's premium core and new valve. Glad I kept it running. Very toasty!!
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'90 Westy / automatic.
If I'm not working on the camper or my '50 Chebbie truck, I'm either fishing with the wife or smoking Salmon.


Craig

[vanagonjr]

[WillSharp]

I removed mine and put a Propex HS2800 heater in its place. Best mod I have done to my van. Ive had the little valve on the OG unit leak and create a mess before which is a pain.
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1889 Syncro Adventure Wagon 3.3 SVX

[dhaavers]

I'm cheap, and even though I don't DD her in the winter, because of the occasional
times I DO get the van out, I plan to keep the rear heater for the foreseeable future.

It's even been handy in Utah, in June...(at altitude)...



- Dave (48°N Latitude, FWIW...)
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86 White Wolfsburg Westy Weekender
"The WonderVan"
<EDITED TO PROTECT INNOCENT PIXELS>

[DuncanS]

I'm really biased on this, so if you don't care, then just ignore my posts.

I use my van as a multivan--small "m"--and have stripped out all the rear seats as I carry a ton of boat crud, lumber and tools. The ECU got relocated behind the left trim and the heater was moved to under the driver's seat.

This has been the best of all the 80 mods I have made. Here's why.
The rear heater has flow restrictors on it to make sure that the front heater is not starved. The coolant control lever is behind the rear seat kick panel and even though I've had quite a number of T3's, I never could remember which was direction was on. Was it towards the back or front? And if you needed to switch in mid season, then it could only be done with the car stopped.
By removing the flow restrictors, I am able to get heat within the first half mile!! Because the control valve is directly under my knees, I can "feather" the valve to simulate the flow restrictors.

This is in the off direction which turns out to be handy as all levers moved to the right insure max defrost If I need a heavy defrost, I shut it off entirely until the windshield is clear and then turn it on. The fan draws the air in from under the seat and distributes it evenly throughout the back for no draft operation. Here is a shot of how the control cable is connected to lever. and a shot of the valve end.

And here is a pic showing it in place with the intake guard screen. A tight fit that require rework, but wouldn't leave home without it. If anyone care I have a bunch of photos showing how the housing was modified to fit.

[jimf909]

I much prefer the storage space over the heat. I've gladly deleted rear heaters from the two vans I've owned.
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- Jim

[drj434343]

Deleting the rear heater in my Westy made a noticeable difference in the amount of time it takes to warm up the van interior. That said, once warm, I've never had an issue with just the front heater keeping the van warm when driving in below freezing conditions. In my case, I removed the heater to make space for a Propex installation like others here. I consider this a far more critical an aux heat solution than the factory rear heater if you're going to camp a lot.

That said, I did not remove the rear heater in my daily driver tin top where space is not so much at a premium. I appreciate the quicker heat up and being able to blast the heat from time to time.

[greggarthurevans]

thanks everyone. If the heater works that good I definitely will use it. as I have 2 or 3 toddlers in the back. But what about about installing the heater in an Adventurewagen. I think the previous heater was propane and I assume I will have to start fresh with all the hoses. I have never really thought about the radiator system Is it a big deal to splice into the hose before it gets to the motor? no wait I guess it would be the hose going from the motor back to the radiator.
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Thank you all for babysitting me as I live my samba dreams. I will do my best to pay it forward......someday.

[dobryan]

[silversync]

Reinstalling the rear heater was my first "modification". It's a must-have to keep the Van warm in the winter.
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