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DIY PTC (Auxiliary) Heater Install

eurocars

5/17/15 - Never forget
Location
Indianapolis
Car(s)
2006 GTI
The 1K0963235E comes on the '05 Jetta TDI's. Th 1K0963235F comes on the '08 Rabbits and the 1K0963235G comes on the '12 Golf's. They are three different parts and the first pn the OP listed is the most expensive of any of the three i've seen. Not sure if they are interchangable or not
 

LateAPXR

Ready to race!
Location
Fort Wayne, IN
The 1K0963235E comes on the '05 Jetta TDI's. Th 1K0963235F comes on the '08 Rabbits and the 1K0963235G comes on the '12 Golf's. They are three different parts and the first pn the OP listed is the most expensive of any of the three i've seen. Not sure if they are interchangable or not

For my specific application I need whatever will fit a 2008 FSI. The OP's car was a 2007, but it looks like things may have changed between those years.

Unfortunately I can't find any concrete info on it yet.
 
Bumping because it's goddamned cold out there.

1K0963235E and 1K0963235F are different beasts.

According to these guys:

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/253504-1k0963235f-activation-code-for-cbbb-engine-ecu/

The E revision connects to CANbus, has onboard brains. F version is dumb (just heating element, apply power and it gets hot) and earlier version ECU won't know how to turn it on.

Which may mean that you could still jam it in there somewhere and control it with a switch.
 
Found a rev. E from a 2006 jetta tdi via car-part, not a huge amount of money, ordered it.

I guess now i should get the wiring.
 
Hey, it also seems like this diy has you connecting to CANbus right at the gateway.

I've been in there and fiddled with my gateway, and that's sort of an awkward pair of wires to get to.

I may try tying into CANbus at my radio harness instead, where i can tap into the lines that go into my PAC interface and put a nice 2 pin socket and plug in without having to modify any factory wiring. It's all the same to the bus.
 

JetTurbo

geezer
Location
South Florida, USA
Car(s)
2018 GTi Autobahn 6M
...
Step 4, Wire the data connection:
The heater has a direct connection to the comfort CAN bus. The nearest location of the bus would be the Data bus diagnostic interface....

Hey, it also seems like this diy has you connecting to CANbus right at the gateway.

I've been in there and fiddled with my gateway, and that's sort of an awkward pair of wires to get to.

I may try tying into CANbus at my radio harness instead, where i can tap into the lines that go into my PAC interface and put a nice 2 pin socket and plug in without having to modify any factory wiring. It's all the same to the bus.

Are you sure about the "all the same to the bus" statement?

I was under the impression that connecting to the radio's Info-tainment CAN bus
probably isn't going to work, as you need to connect to the comfort CAN bus.
Pretty sure each bus type has different communication speed, etc. The purpose of the CAN Gateway
is to act as a universal translator between all the different CAN bus types in the car,
that is why they all are present at that location.
:iono:
 
Are you sure about the "all the same to the bus" statement?

I was under the impression that connecting to the radio's Info-tainment CAN bus
probably isn't going to work, as you need to connect to the comfort CAN bus.
Pretty sure each bus type has different communication speed, etc. The purpose of the CAN Gateway
is to act as a universal translator between all the different CAN bus types in the car,
that is why they all are present at that location.
:iono:

Yeah, i guess you're right.

Crap. I didn't want to have to work with that wire harness at that connector. It's a bit awkward.

Oh well.

Maybe there's a wiring diagram that might reveal a better spot.
 
Actually. According to a diagram in this pdf:

http://www.vaglinks.com/Docs/VW/Misc/VWUSA.COM_VW_MK5_Jetta_ElectricalSystem_SSP_873403.pdf

this should add some additional confusion. It seems that there are two possible aux heating systems, but yes, the one we are talking about is J604. J364 is a webasto block heater that involves glow plugs and is installed under the hood, in the cooling system.

but both say "may not be available on north american models" which means i need to talk to that junk yard again. the computer indicated that they had the part, but sometimes the computer is full of crap.

quick googling of tdiclub indicates that these do exist on north american TDIs. not all of them, but many of them.

Edit: whoops, just got email confirmation from the junkyard that it shipped out friday. So yes, you can find these by going to car-part.com and searching for a 2006 jetta tdi heater core. It will also return some gassers in this search, though, so you will have to actually get on the horn and talk to someone. Tell them to look for the big honkin 100A fuse on the bus bar at the front of the fuse/relay box under the hood.
 

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Got a bunch of 4awg 'tsunami' wire and other stuff from a guy who used to do sub installs early this week for, almost nothing.

Got my PTC yesterday. It's the real thing, rev. E, surprisingly thin. Junk yard threw in the water core too, dunno what i'm gonna do with that.

Tonight i measured, cut, and crimped. First time using my hammer type crimper for large lugs. Love it.

The lugs i used, fwiw, are Philips 8-2121 4ga 1/4" max lug, solid copper, not plated.

for the PTC end, after the cables were crimped, i put the negative lug in a vise and bent it right-angle to fit without busting up any of the plastic.

The positive lug had to be filed down on both sides to fit.

I don't feel like taking pictures just now. Tomorrow I'm gonna get out the plumbing soldering kit and solder the lugs as well, then put adhesive-lined heatshrink over the collars.

already have 100A mini-ANL 100A fuses. Gotta get some M6 nuts and whatnot at the hardware store.

Still gotta make the canbus cable. I'm hoping that some tools and supplies show up from china tomorrow but i have other ways to make that cable. I'm not using repair wires and the official connector, because screw it. i'm pretty sure that .1" computer jumper type connectors will fit, and I'll just zip-tie some strain relief so that it doesn't get yanked out.

I don't have a garage, but one of my friends does, and says it'll be available to me around 7pm tomorrow night.

Can't wait to have instant heat on the cold mornings.
 
Just about done with my install.

Got one little quibble. The studs on the bus bar are NOT m6. They are maybe m5? Dunno, but i don't have the right hardware to complete the install tonight.

Also, that amp install DIY on the vortex is moronic. The wiring advice is anyway. Jackholes like that cut open the insulation on the charging lead from my alternator just a few inches from the bus bar, with 3 open studs. What a bunch of fuckheads.

. :Sent by pneumatic tubes
 
Further thoughts:

This is easier if you remove the LH knee panel, and removing the RH knee panel would not be a bad idea either.

You will have to remove the footwell air manifold to get the core inserted. This is way easier with the LH knee panel removed.

I happened to have a flex shaft about a foot long with me, and it was very helpful with removing and reinstalling the upper screws on the heater box cover.

the lugs i used are great, but slightly too wide for the terminals on the bus bar.

you'll note in this picture:



that the plastic on the right side of the fuse is broke off, and the plastic on the left is trimmed.

the lugs i used are close enough i can just file them down a bit
 
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fwiw if anyone else is tired of waiting 15 minutes for windows they can see through, there are at least three more out there for a song:

(yes, i searched for the *electric heater core)
 

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Tutti57

Ready to race!
Location
Rochester,NY
Such a cool mod. Nice write up.

How much does this end up costing when done, looks like <$100.
 
Such a cool mod. Nice write up.

How much does this end up costing when done, looks like <$100.

i ended up paying $85 shipped for the core, $20 for the heavy gauge wire (used, from someone's amp install) and then the misc hardware and fuse.

if you use the connector and repair wire that probably adds another $20 which is why i am recycling the wires off an old pc beeper speaker or something (it fits, mostly).

I also already have a hammer-type crimper for large lugs. High current wires should be crimped well enough that you can't pull the lug off. if you have a blowtorch or an exceptionally powerful soldering iron you can solder them too, but current spikes can cause the solder to briefly melt which can lead to a fire if you did not also crimp the connector on.

hammer-type crimpers vary from $15 on up. I have this one i bought for my dual battery & winch installation in my land cruiser:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003X51S00/

I should stress, again, that if you use car-part.com to find it like i did, you do need to actually talk to someone and make sure you're getting the electric core and that they're really pulling it out of a tdi. The first guy i talked to was all set to try and dig one out of a gasser A3 for me, which wasn't going to work, and he wasn't following what i was trying to tell him. So i called the next guy.

Another thought: 10 feet of 4ga is more than enough. 9 feet would do it in a pinch, i don't think the battery lead needs to be 6 feet long. but I'm not sure 5 feet would do it. just saying, if you come across a good deal on not quite 10 feet, it'll probably work out with the same kind of 60/40 split. I had plenty of slack, and i used a few inches less than 10 feet.

If you're made of money, i'm pretty sure NAPA and some other auto parts stores can make you custom battery cables to spec. 1/4" being 6.35mm, ask for 1.4" lugs.

I bent the negative lug on the heater core end into a Z shape with vise & hammer. right-angle lugs exist, or you can just bend it into an L yourself.
 
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