Hi all,

After an 8-year absence since my last 4.2 Classic, I'm finally getting back into a Range Rover tomorrow, a 2006 4.2 S/C !!

I haven't actually seen the car, but there's been no mention of FBH (which I understand is pretty rare on petrol?) so I'm assuming it won't have it. I understand the configuration of the system fairly well from the pump and petrol pipe from the tank through to the FBH, wiring, software and remotes.

I'd quite like to have the functionality of FBH but it seems that unless many of the components are already installed, it seems it would be both complex and extremely expensive to retrofit it.

Does anyone know definitively what components, if any, are already installed on a non-FBH 2006 4.2 S/C? Am I naive in thinking that I just need to buy a petrol FBH and remotes or would I need to source absolutely everything, which sounds quite impractical?

Tks in advance for any thoughts.

Paul
2006 4.2 S/C Vogue SE (after tomorrow!)

I've seen one petrol driven FBH for sale on Ebay and that was a while back.

Apart from the heater and fobs, there is also the RF module to receive the signal from the fob and 'speak' to the head unit.... would the head unit need a software or hardware upgrade to enable FBH use/timer etc, I wonder.

The receiver is in the boot in mine but I assume there might be cabling between the there (left side) and the head unit already in place.

You would need all that gubbins and more but without the change over valve to stop the thermo top heater trying to heat the engine block instead of the cabin you won't get very far . 2008 MY Supercharged
Rimini Red / Jet
four zone climate
remote park heater
and no ugly kid windows.
magnus satis quod turpis satis

IMHO you really don't need one, the petrols warm up so quick it's not really necessary, put the heated front and rear screens, seat heater and steering wheel heater on and your toasty and the windows are clear in no time at all.....  Pete

__________________________________________________
2014 L405 Autobiography SDV8 4.4 Loire Blue Ebony interior
2011 L322 Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8 Baltic Blue. Parchment over Navy Interior. Sold
2012 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged Ipanema Sand, Jet Interior. Sold
2002 L322 Vogue 4.4 V8 Epson Green, Ivory over Aspen Interior (Fatty Offroader) Sold
-Click for Project Fatty off roader-

A simpler solution might be to fit an aftermarket electric pre-heater such as this
http://www.kenlowe.com/Heating.php

Thank you all so far for your replies. I've now collected the car and it certainly doesn't seem to be installed. It's not available via the on-screen configuration.

My prime reason for wanting to fit it is really to assist with starting the vehicle, reducing engine wear and improving fuel consumption. I'm less bothered about whether the interior is warm but I am a great believer that 80% of engine wear happens in the first 30 seconds from cold startup. So I'm trying to promote some heat into the coolant, and thus oil, before starting the engine.

If I can't get a definitive answer on how much of the total system might already be there, it's probably going to be unrealistic to fully install it. In which case, I'll probably have to look at electrical pumped systems such as the Kenlowe, which I fitted to my Classic many years ago.

Tks n advance if anyone does have the definitive answer on what components might be installed by default in the petrol vehicles.

Cheers

Paul

The 4.2 warms up really quickly so I don't think you have much to worry about there and as I said earlier I your car wasn't built with the change over valve the FBH can't be retro fitted without a lot of work , it's one of those classic "yes you can do it but it's cheaper to sell your car and buy one with it fitted " scenarios . 2008 MY Supercharged
Rimini Red / Jet
four zone climate
remote park heater
and no ugly kid windows.
magnus satis quod turpis satis

This is something I looked into too, the Petrol FBH itself is relatively difficult to find, although they do crop up. I have owned one L322 with the petrol FBH - Dolphinboy has it now.

As well as the above mentioned parts you would also need the fuel lines and pump to the FBH. I actually looked at the feasibility of installing a diesel FBH with a small 2 or 3 litre fuel tank behind a wheel arch liner etc. In the end I decided retrofitting one was just too much effort.

The second best option, specifically as you mention that you're not fussed about the interior would be to fit a genuine LR/Jaguar Block Heater. These screw into the core drain plug by design and are very efficient at heating the engine. They aren't expensive - but obviously rely on being near a power source.

You also have the Kenlowe hot start kits with pumped water, you can rig a relay to run the heater blowers too to warm the interior. A final and cheapest (and least effective) option is the stick on sump heaters. These are heater pads that stick to the sump and heat the oil more than anything.

I've had the thermostat on mine replaced 3 times as I don't believe it's functioning correctly - I actually find it takes much longer to warm up than expected. Part of my commute is a long downhill stretch and the temperature actually drops 1/4 of the gauge. 

ptjs1 wrote:

My prime reason for wanting to fit it is really to assist with starting the vehicle, reducing engine wear and improving fuel consumption. I'm less bothered about whether the interior is warm but I am a great believer that 80% of engine wear happens in the first 30 seconds from cold startup. So I'm trying to promote some heat into the coolant, and thus oil, before starting the engine.

IMHO this is an old wives tale, never seen any evidence to back up the 80% wear claim, which originated with Magnetec oil years ago, trying to worry you into buying their product.

Modern engines are built with up to 20 times the tolerance of old ones, they fit together better and do not wear significantly at start up, the designers now know far better how different metals work with each other and how to build longevity into a design, the worst thing for these engines is deposits in the oil, regular oil changes is far more important than starting wear...

The FBH will not operate for long on a cold morning before it turns off to save the battery, in that short time the oil will not have been warmed at all, 90% of the oil is sat in the sump nowhere near the water jacket, the small amount of heat created by the FBH will have been absorbed by the large amount of metal the engine is made of and increased the temp by maybe a few degrees at most... The FBH is designed to increase the cylinder temp to assist a diesel to start and then to run after start to warm the inside of the FF as the diesel engine runs so cool it takes ages to warm up... Your petrol engine will heat up many times faster than a diesel....

I really wouldn't worry about the cold mornings and wear...

Just change all the fluids in the FF now you have it, then check and replace regularly for many years of grin inspiring driving.....  Pete

__________________________________________________
2014 L405 Autobiography SDV8 4.4 Loire Blue Ebony interior
2011 L322 Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8 Baltic Blue. Parchment over Navy Interior. Sold
2012 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged Ipanema Sand, Jet Interior. Sold
2002 L322 Vogue 4.4 V8 Epson Green, Ivory over Aspen Interior (Fatty Offroader) Sold
-Click for Project Fatty off roader-

I would say do it. Ive got diesel heater Im going to plumb into my 4.4 petrol as soon as Ive fixed all the other issues. I retro fitted it to my old Td5 disco, but pulled it out when I sold it. Im not gont to try and do anything fancy, just plumb it straight into the water system and use the GSM remote I bought for £30. along with a 2 or 3 litre tank .They are clever systems, fully self contained if you get the right one, just add power and away it goes. They have built in battery protection as well so wont flatten the battery for the sake of heat.

The petrol heaters are very similar to the diesel ones. I would look on eBay germany if you want to stick to petrol as they are far more common. search for webasto standheizung benzin No7 - 2003 V8 Vogue

As Haylands wrote, the genuine FBH fitted in the sc is not designed to warm up the engine but the car interior for a 30 mn cycle (the Land Rover marketing must have few women in their staff). Rather than needing 4 mn to reach working temperature, with the pre-heating it will take approx 3 mn
Didn't know some sc have no FBH, I'm not sure if mine were to fail I would start to repair it because from the moment you know where it seats in the car it cuts your motivation. Current:
- L322 2006 S/C lpg
- RRC 1988 lpg / 287 000 miles
- Stage one 1981
- Lightweight 1976
- 109 SW 1968 under rebuilt

Gone: none

Genuinely think its a waste of time and effort in our climate for petrols. As said above, given that this forum and others are areas where you are likely to see issues being commented, I dont ever recall seeing systemic issues of engine wear attributed to cold starts where the solution would have been a heater in some form. Even then, imho the engine wear doesn't come from it purely being cold, it comes from whether there is oil lubricating the surfaces. To me, if anything, there should be oil priming systems which flow oil up through the block before starting, not heaters.

The V8's heat up really quick. On a really really cold start, I just let it idle for a short time until the ECU starts to bring the revs down from its initial high idle speed. When it starts dropping the revs, the ECU is seeing the temp rising, so heat is building in the block. And anyway, on such starts you're normally having to let the windows demist anyhow. V8 or else ...