Heater and control issues

Hi Guys, I'm new to the forum, but a self confessed Sprinter fanatic! My questions, if you can help me, are as follows;

1. My heaters work fine in my 2005 413CDi, but my controls do not illuminate when the side lights are on. Is there a bulb(s) that need changing and if so where are they. I did strip my dashboard to take a look, but it was not obvious to the untrained eye where the bulb(s) was hiding.

2, I have a small exhaust in my front nearside wheel-arch which I believe is from a diesel powered engine bay and heater booster. The left heating control lights red when pushed in, but nothing seems to happen, nor does any smoke come from the wheel-arch, any ides what could be wrong.

I have checked both fuse boxes, the one below the steering column and the one under the drivers seat and all are fine.

Really appreciate any help and assistance.

Cheers, Roger

Roger 413DCi said:

Hi Guys, I'm new to the forum, but a self confessed Sprinter fanatic! My questions, if you can help me, are as follows;

1. My heaters work fine in my 2005 413CDi, but my controls do not illuminate when the side lights are on. Is there a bulb(s) that need changing and if so where are they. I did strip my dashboard to take a look, but it was not obvious to the untrained eye where the bulb(s) was hiding.

Cheers, Roger

Click to expand...

Yes there are bulbs, they are inside the heater control panel, and you have to take that out and then apart to get to them. There are only two, in mine, and they transmit light around the rest of the heater controls via the clear plastic part.

Can't help on the heater issue, but there was a recent, in the last couple of weeks, thread on this with links to heater issue diagnosis charts.

Thank you Charliektm400exc, really appreciate the advice, I'll have a go at changing the bulbs this Saturday

The pre heater on my old 311 (2110) fired up only when the ignition was on and the engine running. Yes its the far left button. It would take approx 2 mins to work out what was happening before it fired up usually. You will hear the dosing pump kick and the burner spin up. I think if the fuel was below a quarter it would not fire as it sensed there was not enough fuel. For further fault finding id dig deeper in the archives....Worth fixing as its a great bit of kit.

wittworks said:

The pre heater on my old 311 (2110) fired up only when the ignition was on and the engine running. Yes its the far left button. It would take approx 2 mins to work out what was happening before it fired up usually. You will hear the dosing pump kick and the burner spin up. I think if the fuel was below a quarter it would not fire as it sensed there was not enough fuel. For further fault finding id dig deeper in the archives....Worth fixing as its a great bit of kit.

Click to expand...

Thank you for your advice, I will fill her up and see if the heater starts up properly, failing that I will have to take her in to the dealer as its beyond my skill set

Don't be surprised if it doesn't start at all. They have a coolant circuit that typically corrodes. I'd guess that out of ten UK 2005 Sprinters only a few would have working boost heaters.

Your red light to the left of the heater control panel could just be the REST indicator: press the button for about half an hour of low speed fan, blowing in warm air from the engine compartment. Good idea in principle. In practice all the heat has gone after five minutes!