As always, thank you for the helpful tips. Starting from easiest to diagnose and fix and working from there, I repositioned some of the wires and now it all works fine.
Espar (Eberspacher) D2 "No Signal" After running for hours
- Thread starter pointsunknown
- Start date
pointsunknown
Member
I see I made my first post on this issue over 3 years ago. After having successful heater operation all winter this season I believe I can finally say my initial issue (which started this thread) has been resolved. The solution was fortunately/unfortunately to replace my easystart timer (EST) heater controller with a new controller. This time, I ordered just the regular easystart controller from heatso.com, mostly because I never really used the timer feature and just didn't want to pay extra. Wired it up, just like I had the old EST, to the heater and high altitude kit, and that was that. Has consistently worked with no hiccups (knock on wood) over multiple cold weather trips all season long. Years of fiddling solved by about $60 and 20 minutes of (re)wiring work.
So that makes 2 of us with similar symptoms that ultimately ended up being a bad EST controller unit (Midwest drifter posted on the same solution back in Nov 2017 - I am just a little slow to act). Hopefully this helps others who have similar issues and have exhausted all other troubleshooting/wiring options. Thanks to all that helped me through this.
So that makes 2 of us with similar symptoms that ultimately ended up being a bad EST controller unit (Midwest drifter posted on the same solution back in Nov 2017 - I am just a little slow to act). Hopefully this helps others who have similar issues and have exhausted all other troubleshooting/wiring options. Thanks to all that helped me through this.
Midwestdrifter
Engineer In Residence
My replacement EST has been running strong as well, no signal issues to report.
imsebastian
Member
Does anyone have a comprehensive description of the workshop menu for the Eaststart Timer? I've seen a list of fault codes but... Which entry in the workshop menu corresponds to the fault codes?
Thanks in advance !
Thanks in advance !
Midwestdrifter
Engineer In Residence
Page 24 see attached.
OK, I need some help :-(
We've been sleeping in a friends house for the last week and I accidentally left the tank at 1/4 full.
Tried to turn on heater and it said No Signal.
Filled up with diesel and tried again.
After a few attempts to prime the line, the pump starts working and the heater starts to produce heat.
Then the pump decides to stop working and the heater stops making hot air.
Easystart Remote+ says No Signal again.
I've pulled the fuse for the pump, D2, and removed/replaced the battery for the remote.
No dice. Still says No Signal.
Only other thing to add is that I recently did a service on it and replaced the mesh screen (wow, what a PITA to get that out) but afterwards it worked flawlessly for a few days without any hick-ups.
What the heck is this No Signal message and how do I troubleshoot it?
We've been sleeping in a friends house for the last week and I accidentally left the tank at 1/4 full.
Tried to turn on heater and it said No Signal.
Filled up with diesel and tried again.
After a few attempts to prime the line, the pump starts working and the heater starts to produce heat.
Then the pump decides to stop working and the heater stops making hot air.
Easystart Remote+ says No Signal again.
I've pulled the fuse for the pump, D2, and removed/replaced the battery for the remote.
No dice. Still says No Signal.
Only other thing to add is that I recently did a service on it and replaced the mesh screen (wow, what a PITA to get that out) but afterwards it worked flawlessly for a few days without any hick-ups.
What the heck is this No Signal message and how do I troubleshoot it?
tothebeyond
Active member
I have read through this entire thread, and keep thinking that maybe we have a similar issue, but we are not getting anything from our easystart pro controller. It is blank - and I did create a fresh thread to this fact, I have not gotten anyone answering that just yet. Many of you mention 'no signal' but that indicates that you are getting some form of communication from your easystart unit, correct? We have made all the voltage readings as per the troubleshooting guide, checked the two fuses that we have, all checks out. Full tank of gas, too. Tried a friend's new controller, same thing - no display on the easystart. Totally flummoxed by this problem and so disappointed after it was working for two whole days. Really don't want to pay $3-400 for a diagnostic at a workshop much less the drive to/from being 2+ hours, and then there's parts and repair if needed. We would really like to solve this as much as possible ourselves but running out of ideas now.
Is the wiring to the controller already installed in your van?
Have you tried bypassing the wiring if so?
tothebeyond
Active member
Yes, the controller was connected to the harness and it was working fine. I believe we have already tried to bypass the harness completely, to get the fan to turn on, after visiting a local van conversion company, but we are trying that again with a 12v car battery hooked up to the heater connector and bypassing the harness, so we can determine whether the unit itself went bad suddenly or if it's the harness. We also ordered a new harness off Amazon so that we can try that as well. We'll know more after we get that on 4/22, and hopefully will have a solution.
tothebeyond
Active member
I am adding info here - we directly connected 12v into the B1 connector at the heater, an the fan did not turn on at all. After discussing with a few other heater owners, that should have worked, at least. Now we are thinking the heater went bad. still sleuthing this out.
tothebeyond
Active member
Further question; our fuel was very low early last week when we were attempting to troubleshoot the heater, and we had learned that it will shut off if your fuel tank is below 1/4 so heater doesn't suck your tank dry! We have filled the tanks since then, but the heater won't kick on, not even direct wiring. Is there something inside the heater unit that may need to be reset? The fuel line is full except for one bubble, would that affect the heater turning on? Drawing at straws now...
elemental
Wherever you go, there you are.
I am not an Eberspächer heater expert, but I have one in my van. Just for clarity - the heater doesn't "know" the fuel tank is below 1/4. The pipe in the fuel tank that connects to the heater is physically ends above the bottom of the tank such that it can't pick up fuel once the tank is below about 1/4. If you have tried to run the heater with a lower fuel level, then it pumped all it could then shut off when it ran dry. I don't know how many times you'll have to let it run through the start cycle to get it to self-prime and have fuel flowing again (I haven't [yet] run my heater dry). However, if you can't even get it to go through the start cycle something else would seem to be amiss.
tothebeyond
Active member
Thank you for your reply, I understand about the heater running out of fuel, i.e. running dry, and realized that we might have to go through a few cycles to get it to start pumping fuel again however at this point we are not getting the heater to even turn on the fan even when we directly apply power to the two leads in the B1 connector that the troubleshooting instructions say to do. We are totally flummoxed about why everything is reading properly when we measure it with a voltage meter and check the fuses, and yet nothing turns that heater on. At this point we are wondering if the heater itself went bad, but gosh it was only running for a short time on two consecutive days, as we tested it out...
Midwestdrifter
Engineer In Residence
Some Models may require clearing codes to remove a lockout.
Kim_Marcus
Kim Possible 2004 2500 SR
Getting ready to install my new Espar. Thanks for doing the due diligence and writing it up for 3 years.
tothebeyond
Active member
I have been wondering about whether it may be a lockout condition. But our controller is not turning on and giving us any display so we can't know the codes. Any idea how we can clear any codes otherwise? Do we need to hook it up to a diagnostic at some repair center?
Midwestdrifter
Engineer In Residence
The edith diagnostic tool (or a clone) would work.
tothebeyond
Active member
Thanks for that idea, but at $600 thereabouts for the Edith, it's half the cost of a new heater, and we still wouldn't have proof that it would solve things. I wouldn't want to use a clone unless I was certain that was totally accurate. I'm in over my head when it comes to diagnostics, so I am in touch with the seller now about the warranty for this heater...and will report back on this thread once I get things resolved.
tothebeyond
Active member
we solved our issue! Turns out a connector was missing the orange wedge thing that separates the pins, and after conversing with our dealer, we stole one from an unused connector and everything is now working fine!