Red90's
Land Rover Defender Heater Upgrade - Overview
The Defender is well known for having a poor heater. You may have
heard me state in the past that I believe it is actually not that
bad. In my experience, the overall output is on par with a normal
car. The
one downside of the stock heater is that the matrix does not have very
high efficiency. This means the difference between the water and
air temperature is relatively high so that the engine needs to be quite
hot before the heater works well.
The
problems with heating the Defender is normally one of three things:
- The heater is adjusted poorly or in bad shape. The hot
cold flap can be out of adjustment or the seals can be bad.
- There is little to no insualtion.... This is a stock
design problem. Adding insulation is a necessity.
- There are leaks letting drafts in. Again another great
design feature!!
Despite all of this, I live in Canada. It gets cold here and
there is no such thing as a heater that is too big. I've dreamt
of putting in a heater that puts all other car heaters to shame.
I wanted something that was affordable and easy to source.
There are a few options availble. I chose the Mobile Climate Control model
12-1203, http://www.mcc-hvac.com/.
This is available in Canada from Princess Auto, a nationwide chain,
part number 9089533 https://www.princessauto.com/en/36000-btu-12v-auxiliary-heater/product/PA0009089533
The specs........
- 10500 Watts (36000 btu-h)
- 190 l/s (400 cfm)
- 15.6" wide x 6.25" high x 9.62 deep"
- 3 speed
It fits on a left hand drive truck. I'm not sure about right
hand drive.
My plan is to do this upgrade in three
stages which I will cover at
different times. Click on each title to see that phase.
- Heater Install
- Outlet Modification
- Intake Modification