Back in the 80s I purchased a used 1971 bus. After the first winter I decided to find out why the heater wasn't working, I grew up with VW buses and knew they could do more than what this one was. First stop was the heater boxes. The cables weren't properly adjusted so they only partly opened the ducts. I lubed things up and adjusted the pulls so the dash control opened them fully at the top but they were fully closed at the other end of the slide. Then I got to the long pipe you showed. Mine still had the blanket on it so I took that off for inspection. There was only a couple of inches remaining at each end, the rest had rusted away. A previous owner had attempted a repair but worked against themselves - they used PVC pipe which I'm surprised didn't melt, but worse they used an adapter to reduce the size of the pipe from about 4 inches down to 2 inches, then had a corresponding adapter at the front. Obviously this was severely restricting the air flow. I found that metal stove pipe would fit so I bought enough to replace the big pipe and cut it to fit. Before mounting it I decided to check the airflow in the front of the vehicle with a shop vac on blow, and some debris came out the defroster vents and it was obvious there were clogs. So I vacuumed it out and a ton of rodent nesting material came out. Eventually I got the front pipes cleared. I reattached the pipe and replaced the insulation in the blanket. This all had quite an effect on the heater output. If I had it on defrost and had any papers lying on the dash, when the engine revved up as you moved off all the papers would blow off the dash. Air flow was excellent. Due to the size of the van the interior didn't warm up fast but the defroster was effective and the heat would build. We found out on one road trip it was 22 degrees F outside and in about 20 minutes the interior was up to 70 degrees F. People have to remember that this system is a lot like a forced air furnace in a home. If one duct is closed the air will take the easiest path to escape, and if all ducts are closed or blocked the air will not force it's way out, it just stalls at the fan. Since the heat in the VW is kind of marginal ANY losses are felt - incomplete opening of the heater boxes, leaking air hoses from the fan to the heater boxes, and often the mini heaters on the rear exhaust will pop loose and let air escape before it even goes into the heater box.
Great video! Growing up in the 60’s we had a couple busses don’t remember much heat, I’m 65 now and it’s nice to see how they’re supposed to work, I’ll bet they were hot when new or just all in tack, if I owned one today I’d get it working and extra insulation on that long run and every where I could wrap it, thanks for the video!!!
On the Type 3 the exhaust was fitted to the heat exchangers with large nuts, about 50mm across flats. I spent ages trying to free them with a cold chisel and a hammer, I think I gave up eventually. Presumably VW had a special spanner/s for it.
Don't know if u've been to west coast US before, but it snows a bit. My 65 bus with stock heater worked great as had all my other VW heaters. They just have to be maintained . Great video.
Thanks for the explanation. The after market header exhaust on my bus and broken at a weld joint and I am trying to decide what type of exhaust to replace it with and leaning towards stock exhaust/heater box. Luckily I still have the duct to the front of the bus and my fan shroud has the air flow ports. Though a sidewinder exhaust just looks cool.
Thanks for this. I have a ‘79 and have looking at the ways to heat the van whilst driving, over winter. I thought ‘why don’t I just get the original system set up correctly?’ But then worried that it might not be very warm, but you’ve assured me that it’s absolutely the best thing to do! 😊
Thanks for revealing the heating system with the air-cooled Beetle engine. it is new for me and would be a good idea to do some experiments and record the temperatures inside and outside the car-cabin with and without the heat exchange working. What if I live in a hot country! How can I improve air cooling for my Beetle engine only. Do these heaters help cool the engine while traveling? Or will removing it will cool the engine more efficiently? best regards
Hi, the pipe that comes up from cab floor has a switch but i cannot see how to connect this on my van, nor do i know what is open and not. The lever is not parallel to the levers on the dash. Am i missing something?
I have a 76 Bay Westy. It has the flat boxer motor 1800. The heater fan is working but I don't feel any heat coming out of anywhere. What could I be missing?. Thanks for the video.
Yep that probably means the inner part of the exchanger is rusted out and leaking exhaust gases into the heater ducts. I would keep the heater closed up until you replace the exchanger as the fan will be pumping carbon monoxide into the vehicle!
No I've disabled it for the moment as it was letting exhaust fumes into the cab, which is ... undesirable :) The plan is to source some decent (non-leaky) heat exchangers to replace the ones that are there at the moment. The pipework behind the dashboard is largely missing too, so I'll need to source that from somewhere. I also have some new cables to fit so hopefully we can get the controls working properly.
Lord maintaining these was SO much harder when I had my first Bug in 1980s!! God bless RUclips, eh? 5 years I put up with barely any heat in my 61 Bug! And scraping ice off the inside of the screen in Winter as I drove along!🤣🤣 I coulda fixed it easy if we’s had the internet back then! You millennials don’t know how lucky you are!! Spoiled!!! All we had was a Haynes manual and, if we were lucky, a handy VW loving mate!!
Back in the 80s I purchased a used 1971 bus. After the first winter I decided to find out why the heater wasn't working, I grew up with VW buses and knew they could do more than what this one was.
First stop was the heater boxes. The cables weren't properly adjusted so they only partly opened the ducts. I lubed things up and adjusted the pulls so the dash control opened them fully at the top but they were fully closed at the other end of the slide.
Then I got to the long pipe you showed. Mine still had the blanket on it so I took that off for inspection. There was only a couple of inches remaining at each end, the rest had rusted away. A previous owner had attempted a repair but worked against themselves - they used PVC pipe which I'm surprised didn't melt, but worse they used an adapter to reduce the size of the pipe from about 4 inches down to 2 inches, then had a corresponding adapter at the front. Obviously this was severely restricting the air flow. I found that metal stove pipe would fit so I bought enough to replace the big pipe and cut it to fit. Before mounting it I decided to check the airflow in the front of the vehicle with a shop vac on blow, and some debris came out the defroster vents and it was obvious there were clogs. So I vacuumed it out and a ton of rodent nesting material came out. Eventually I got the front pipes cleared.
I reattached the pipe and replaced the insulation in the blanket. This all had quite an effect on the heater output. If I had it on defrost and had any papers lying on the dash, when the engine revved up as you moved off all the papers would blow off the dash. Air flow was excellent.
Due to the size of the van the interior didn't warm up fast but the defroster was effective and the heat would build. We found out on one road trip it was 22 degrees F outside and in about 20 minutes the interior was up to 70 degrees F.
People have to remember that this system is a lot like a forced air furnace in a home. If one duct is closed the air will take the easiest path to escape, and if all ducts are closed or blocked the air will not force it's way out, it just stalls at the fan. Since the heat in the VW is kind of marginal ANY losses are felt - incomplete opening of the heater boxes, leaking air hoses from the fan to the heater boxes, and often the mini heaters on the rear exhaust will pop loose and let air escape before it even goes into the heater box.
G Morn Rob,excellent advise,much needed &Appreciated,rgds&best wishes Steve&Theresa Rainham Essex England
Cheers , gonna check mine out tomorrow as never had any heat since I bought it last year . Good to see the system and hose locations .
Great video! Growing up in the 60’s we had a couple busses don’t remember much heat, I’m 65 now and it’s nice to see how they’re supposed to work, I’ll bet they were hot when new or just all in tack, if I owned one today I’d get it working and extra insulation on that long run and every where I could wrap it, thanks for the video!!!
On the Type 3 the exhaust was fitted to the heat exchangers with large nuts, about 50mm across flats. I spent ages trying to free them with a cold chisel and a hammer, I think I gave up eventually. Presumably VW had a special spanner/s for it.
Don't know if u've been to west coast US before, but it snows a bit. My 65 bus with stock heater worked great as had all my other VW heaters. They just have to be maintained . Great video.
Thanks for the video Rob!
Thanks for the explanation. The after market header exhaust on my bus and broken at a weld joint and I am trying to decide what type of exhaust to replace it with and leaning towards stock exhaust/heater box. Luckily I still have the duct to the front of the bus and my fan shroud has the air flow ports. Though a sidewinder exhaust just looks cool.
Thanks for this. I have a ‘79 and have looking at the ways to heat the van whilst driving, over winter. I thought ‘why don’t I just get the original system set up correctly?’ But then worried that it might not be very warm, but you’ve assured me that it’s absolutely the best thing to do! 😊
If it’s working correctly it’s pretty effective, make sure that your heat exchangers are good and not letting exhaust fumes into the cab .😮.
Thanks for revealing the heating system with the air-cooled Beetle engine. it is new for me and would be a good idea to do some experiments and record the temperatures inside and outside the car-cabin with and without the heat exchange working. What if I live in a hot country! How can I improve air cooling for my Beetle engine only. Do these heaters help cool the engine while traveling? Or will removing it will cool the engine more efficiently? best regards
Good vid, thanks for the overview!
I drive a 71 westy year around in Alaska and the system will work I get workable heat down to about 25F so yes they will put out heat.
Hi, the pipe that comes up from cab floor has a switch but i cannot see how to connect this on my van, nor do i know what is open and not. The lever is not parallel to the levers on the dash. Am i missing something?
I have a 76 Bay Westy. It has the flat boxer motor 1800. The heater fan is working but I don't feel any heat coming out of anywhere. What could I be missing?. Thanks for the video.
Great overview thank you ... I am trying to work out my heating system that seems to have four cables but only the=ree levers? Wish me luck!
Thanks! I think one of the levers controls two cables for the heat exchanger flaps if that makes sense. Good luck with the resto!
Hi Rob,we're about to buy,a 1972t21600cc van,and wonder can the heat exchangers be changed without removing the Engine.manythanks&rgds Steve&Theresa
Yep! It's a bit fiddly, but they can be changed without pulling the engine
My VW 411 had an auxiliary gasoline heater.
They were available for every VW model.
I have the smell of fumes when My heater leaver is up does that mean the heat exchangers are rusted?
Yep that probably means the inner part of the exchanger is rusted out and leaking exhaust gases into the heater ducts. I would keep the heater closed up until you replace the exchanger as the fan will be pumping carbon monoxide into the vehicle!
Cheers thankyou,rgds Steve
A tour of the heating system... or lack thereof! 😀 Is your heating working to any great degree now?
No I've disabled it for the moment as it was letting exhaust fumes into the cab, which is ... undesirable :)
The plan is to source some decent (non-leaky) heat exchangers to replace the ones that are there at the moment. The pipework behind the dashboard is largely missing too, so I'll need to source that from somewhere. I also have some new cables to fit so hopefully we can get the controls working properly.
Lord maintaining these was SO much harder when I had my first Bug in 1980s!!
God bless RUclips, eh?
5 years I put up with barely any heat in my 61 Bug! And scraping ice off the inside of the screen in Winter as I drove along!🤣🤣
I coulda fixed it easy if we’s had the internet back then!
You millennials don’t know how lucky you are!! Spoiled!!!
All we had was a Haynes manual and, if we were lucky, a handy VW loving mate!!
狭そうw