gotta love a long holiday weekend for getting stuff done.
Prompted by
this thread started by scarab, I finally got my aux. heater (Webasto) hooked up to run from a remote fob.
This is a super-simple project on an E53 3.0D and it works really well.
Not wanting to spend a fortune on this project, I grabbed this $10 remote unit from ebay...
315M DC 12V 1 5000S Adjustable Delay Timer Wireless Relay Remote Switch | eBay
I made a loom and connector and mounted the receiver in the relay tray in the right side of the boot (trunk)...
The loom runs down to the battery tray and connects to connector X18830...
I set up the remote to be a one-shot with a time of 15 mins. A single push of button A closes a relay in the receiver for 15 mins, activating the aux. heater and running it for 15 mins. A red LED starts flashing on the MID once the aux. heater starts up and if I start the car while the aux. heater is running, it continues until either the coolant temp reached 75 Deg. C (I think) or the 15 minutes time expires.
Once the aux heater has started warming the coolant, it signals the IKHA module with the bus to turn on the cabin fan and direct warm air on the windscreen.
15 mins of running uses about 50cc (0.05l or 1/20th of a litre) of diesel and warms the engine coolant to about 40 Deg. C. The cabin isn't super warm but it's a LOT better than the usual refrigerator temps that normally greet me in the mornings.
Cannot use this if the car is in a garage, as the fumes from the aux. heater exhaust are dangerous (as is any exhaust gas) but if the car is a garage, you won't need to use this.
