The property of diesel fuel to solidify at subzero temperatures poses the challenge of ensuring an uninterrupted supply of diesel fuel during a cold start. An effective solution for normal pumping of fuel through the fuel system is heating of individual structural elements that are included in the diesel engine fuel line circuit. These include: fuel intakes, pre-cleaning separator filters and fine filters, as well as pipelines.
The market offers ready-made solutions that can be heated and are installed to replace standard elements. The main disadvantage of such devices is their high cost. For this reason, many car enthusiasts prefer to implement heating of diesel fuel with their own hands.
We also recommend reading the article on how to clean the diesel particulate filter. From this article you will learn about the basic ways to clean this filter yourself.
Fuel intake heating
Diesel fuel freezes already in the fuel tank. For this reason, preheating it when there is a big minus outside the window allows you to restore the fluidity of diesel fuel. You can raise the temperature in the fuel tank in different ways. One of the simplest is the solution to lower a regular 50-watt light bulb into the tank, which is located near the fuel intake. During operation, the light bulb heats up, the paraffin dissolves, and the system is able to pump diesel fuel.
The second way is to independently build an electric heating of diesel fuel with your own hands. Such heating will be similar in principle to a heating coil. To solve the problem you will need to get to the fuel intake grid. Then small diameter holes are drilled in the body at an equal distance from each other. It is recommended to make about 5 such holes on each side.
Please note that independent implementation of this electric heater circuit must be carried out taking into account the fact that the design must necessarily have a fuse. You will also need to equip the circuit with a special button to turn on the heating. An additional element is a relay for automatically turning off the current supply.
Next, you will need a wire whose material has high resistance. Tin wire works well for this task. The specified wire must be threaded through the prepared holes in the housing, creating a heater. The free ends will need to be connected to the power supply when finished.
Video: development of a pre-heater for VAZ
Sergey Kalinov in his video spoke in detail about the nuances of self-assembly of heating systems and showed an example of their installation on VAZ cars.
Most car owners, when they mention winterizing their car, remember replacing tires, buying a new battery, or other activities that help them get through the winter comfortably. And many of them are right, especially those living in less harsh parts of Russia, where the temperature very rarely drops below 10 degrees below zero. But in severe winters, when the temperature can easily stay at -30 degrees Celsius for weeks, you have to prepare your car for winter more carefully, or forget about its existence until the first spring thaw.
For this purpose, there is a special device called engine preheating. This device allows you to quickly and economically warm up the engine and interior of the car; in some trim levels there is control using a timer, remote control or mobile application for smartphones on the Android or iOS operating system. To warm up the car, gasoline or electricity can be used, it depends on the configuration and model of the device.
It is worth noting that many may find that making a preheater themselves can be incredibly difficult. But actually. You will need to put in very little effort to assemble the structure and connect it to the car system. But before the actual instructions for making preheating, we will understand the principle of operation and the history of creation.
Also, for those who want to understand in detail the factory device from the German company WEBASTO, you can read our article, which describes in detail all the nuances of the device from this manufacturer - All about WEBASTO.
How did the idea of creating preheating come about?
But more often, more “progressive” methods were used, or rather, blowtorches or kerosene lamps were used. But it’s even difficult to imagine a modern person digging under a car with a blowtorch in -30 degree frost. Therefore, the emergence of automatic systems that warm up the engine and interior of the car is a logical step in developing the comfort of car owners.
Types of pre-heaters
First of all, the main task of preheaters is to ensure that the coolant in the vehicle system is heated to operating temperature. Thereby warming up the power unit and allowing it to start in any weather conditions. At the same time, fuel is significantly saved on warming up and the working life of the engine itself is preserved. After all, the motor constantly starts and runs at operating temperature, excluding operation with increased load at low temperatures.
Note that preheaters can be divided into only three main groups, and all of them differ only in the type of fuel or energy used. But all the main functions and the heating principle remain the same. And so, devices are divided into:
• Gas (in design very similar to gasoline).
Below we will consider each type separately, where we will discuss the positive and negative aspects of different types of devices, as well as the power and heating speed.
Electric pre-heater
But such simplicity also brings with it some difficulties. The car becomes dependent on an electrical outlet, and if there is no automation, then overnight, the pre-heater can consume about 15 kW of electricity.
Therefore, such a system can be installed, at least having your own garage with electricity. In other cases, it is worth paying attention to devices of a different configuration.
Gas or petrol pre-heater
Accordingly, the car can be left parked even at -50 degrees Celsius, and by setting the automatic start of heating, you can end up with a warmed-up car with a warm interior.
As disadvantages of use, we can highlight some difficulty in operation and additional fuel costs. And also the need to constantly monitor the condition of the battery, because this system can completely discharge the car’s battery if it is already in poor or almost discharged condition.
DIY preheater design
Before starting the instructions, I would like to note that at home it is not possible to make a device that runs on gas, gasoline or diesel fuel. For independent creation and connection, only an electric model with an external power source is suitable.
Heating of the coarse filter
The filter heating circuit can be implemented and diesel fuel fluidity can be ensured by the following modifications: the drain valve is replaced with a glow plug or the heating element is mounted in the body of the fitting through which fuel is supplied. In the process of implementing these schemes, you will need special equipment in the form of a lathe or contact specialists who can produce handicraft parts.
Please note that removing the drain valve will not allow you to subsequently remove excess water from the fuel supply system that may be present in the diesel fuel. You should resort to this heating method only if you are completely confident in the quality of the diesel fuel being filled.
To carry out the work, the coarse filter (separator) is removed. After this, you need to machine a sleeve from steel, which will act as a substitute for the drain cap. Next, a thread is cut to securely attach the element to the filter housing. After this, a hole is drilled in the bushing and an internal thread is cut with a tap, through which the stud will be attached.
Then the glow plug is screwed in, the positive wire is fed to the heating element, the negative wire is fed to the stud. The finished solution is screwed into the separator body. All work related to the implementation of the electrical circuit implies the same requirements that were put forward when creating heating of the fuel intake from the on-board network of a diesel vehicle.
We also recommend reading the article on how to increase the power of a diesel engine. From this article you will learn about how you can increase the efficiency of the engine by installing a special tuning box and the main advantages compared to chip tuning.
There is also a simplified method for installing a glow plug, which does not require recessing individual additional elements. To install a glow plug in the valve fitting, you need to drill a hole, cut a thread in it and screw in the glow plug. The power supply is connected in the same way. It should be added that the second scheme is similar to factory solutions for heating diesel fuel.
Advantages and disadvantages
The advantages of Longfey preheaters include:
- Small overall dimensions, which makes it easy to find a place for its installation;
- The presence of a pump ensures uniform heating of the antifreeze in the system due to forced circulation;
- Availability of overheating protection systems (when a certain temperature is reached, the device turns off);
- A wide selection of models allows you to choose a device for any car;
- Connecting the Longfey heater will not cause any difficulties and does not require modifications to the motor;
But they also have certain disadvantages that relate not only to the devices of this particular manufacturer, but to the design and operation features of all devices of this type:
- To connect, you need a 220 V socket, so such devices cannot be used if the car is located far from housing;
- Requires compliance with safety precautions when using;
- The breakdown is detected only during the process of starting the car (the device was turned on, hoping that it would work, but then it turns out that the engine is not warmed up);
But all the negative aspects do not become a reason to use this device in a car. But at the same time, for everything to work normally, the Longfey preheater needs to be installed correctly.
Refinement of the fine filter
The fine filter loses its throughput even with a relatively small degree of paraffinization of diesel fuel. This does not allow the engine to start and can lead to malfunctions of the fuel injection pump, the fuel chamber of which is not supplied with fuel. Among the methods for heating diesel fuel with your own hands, heating this fine filter element stands out.
To make your own fine filter heater, you will need about 10 meters of copper wire, which has varnish insulation. You also need to have tools and materials for soldering (soldering iron, some tin and rosin), as well as insulating tape. Additionally, you will need to have a relay, a 10 or 15 A fuse, and a switch button.
Copper wire is wound in frequent turns around the body of the filter element. Contacts for supplying current are connected to its ends. The negative wire is supplied from the battery, a relay and a power button are installed on the positive one. It is optimal to make the positive contact from the ignition switch in order to avoid discharging the battery if the driver forgets to turn off the heating himself.
Electric engine heaters
The first electric heaters appeared on the streets of Scandinavian cities about 20 years ago. Russian newspapers and magazines then wrote about these units as wonders. Over time (or due to a decrease in winter air temperatures in Europe), the devices began to find use in other countries.
The operating principle of an electric engine heater is quite simple: the device itself is attached to the cylinder block, which is connected via a wire to an external 220 V outlet. Its power is small, but it is enough for efficient operation. Some types of such units are also adapted to heat the interior of the car with a certain amount of heat.
Video - electric pre-heater SEVERS M:
In addition to heaters connected to a remote socket, there are types that receive energy from devices that supply electricity to the car itself.
Each of them has its own advantages and disadvantages. The first is good because it doesn’t “eat up” battery power, but it does cause problems with finding sockets. The remarkable thing about the second is that it operates regardless of the presence of wires, but consumes the current that is generated for automotive equipment.
Well, now the very “root” of what we are talking about here. What is a pre-start electric engine heater? If you have ever seen a boiler, then it will immediately become clear to you what the principle of operation of this thing is. Only instead of a glass, it is inserted into the hole in the cylinder block, usually blocked by a plug, and heats up antifreeze, not water.
The only difference from a boiler is that this device is equipped with a timer or thermostat to turn off the heating when the coolant reaches a certain degree of heating.
Fuel line heating
In severe frost, even diesel fuel heated in the tank can crystallize again during the rapid passage of fuel lines. It becomes possible to implement heating of diesel fuel yourself thanks to external insulation of the line. Insulation materials that are used in construction are suitable for this. It is also possible to install electric heating tape. Another method is a heat exchanger, which is placed directly in front of the entrance to the diesel fuel fine filter. To implement the task, it is necessary to perform welding work.
The heat exchanger is a double-circuit system, which consists of two tubes having different diameters. Next, you need to insert one tube into the other and center the thin tube in relation to the thicker one. Fuel will flow along the outer contour (thicker tube). For this purpose, special pipes are made in a large circuit. The inner tube is connected to the internal combustion engine cooling system in such a way that coolant enters it when moving in a small circle.
The complex of the above measures will ensure proper and stable fluidity of diesel fuel both at the time of starting a cold engine and during the further operation of the diesel vehicle during severe frosts.
Thermal accumulators
Toyota Prius is equipped with such devices.
What are they? A heat accumulator is a thermos that collects a certain volume of warm coolant. When the engine starts, the collected liquid is injected from the heat accumulator into the cooling system. On average, the temperature of the entire cooling system fluid increases by 10-15 degrees, which makes it possible to operate the engine without much load. By the way, heat accumulators can keep coolant warm for up to 2 days. It is obvious that the method has the right to life. Moreover, when using such batteries, there is no need to consume additional electricity or fuel.
What is a dipstick and how to use it?
The dipstick for heating the oil consists of four main parts - a long wire with a clamp that is connected to the power source (12 V), a short wire connected to ground, a central part and the heater itself. On the central part of the dipstick there is a dive limiter and a red line - a mark that should be below the oil level.
Procedure for working with the heating probe:
- Before heating, it is necessary to move the limiter so as to ensure that the red mark is immersed below the oil level. Because the hole in the engine is too narrow and limits viewing; a regular oil dipstick will help to correctly measure this distance. It should not be less than the distance between the dipstick head and the actual oil level mark in the engine.
- Place the device into the dipstick hole.
- Connect the heater clamps to the power source.
- Leave the device turned on for 10-15 minutes.
- Unplug and remove the dipstick.
After using the device, wipe it with a clean cloth to remove any remaining lubricant. This measure will protect the engine from getting old oil residues into it in the future.
