How Do You Keep Warm in a VW Bus?

This morning was cold and rainy. Not a nice day. But in just a few minutes I was sitting up, eating breakfast and looking at Internet headlines, toasty warm still in my pajamas. The secret? An Eberspacher gas heater.

Only a few buses sold in the United States were originally fitted with these fine examples of German engineering. A lot of buses sold in Canada, however, were, so I am told.

They are marvels of caloric output.

They blow piping hot air through duct work beneath the rear seat into the passenger compartment.

It only takes a few minutes to take the chill out of the air, and only a few more to make things really toasty inside.

The picture above shows an Eberspacher BN4 similar to the one I have in my bus. Note the fan visible at the entrance. It pulls air into the heater,  past a small combustion chamber and dumps it into your interior at a temperature of about 120 degrees.

Below is the duct beneath my rear seat where tha air comes out.

The bus I have did not come with a heater.  I did a lot of looking and scrounging on eBay and Samba to find one, and to find the duct work needed to install it.

Finding a working, adjustable fuel pump is one of the hard parts.

Adjustment part is critical for your heater to work right. If too much gas is fed to the heater it will burn rich and emit black soot and foul smelling smoke, and will eventually foul yourspark plug/glow plug.

If too little gas is fed into the heater it will not run, or will run too hot and automatically shut down.

Installing a heater requires cutting through the firewall in the engine compartment.

When I installed my heater I made a modification that I recommend. I installed an inexpensive mechanical  thermostat behind the driver's seat and wired the heater to it. It should be mechanical. A mercury switch will not work accurately on uneven ground or when the bus is in motion.

The modification did away with the need to install a cable to lengthen or shorten the on/off cycles to control temperature.

And, like a house thermostat, it can keep your bus at a constant temperature. Or trigger your heater to come on at night when the temperature drops.

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VW buses are notorious for being cold to ride in.

When the outside temperature falls below 40 the heat exchangers on an air-cooled engine cannot keep up with the cold air leaking in through the cracks and worn seals and jalousie windows.

So having a gasoline heater helps when driving. The duct at the base of the back seat blows warm air forward to the driver's compartment.

The heater does require electricity to run. A good house battery is a must. It also requires gas but not much. One or two pints will keep you warm through the night.

To the left is my heater.
The fan blades are not visible. They are shielded by a plastic cover that draws air from higher in the engine compartment.

Used Eberspacher heaters are still available but good ones are increasingly rare. If you do find one make sure it is in good operating condition.

There is no one any longer that I know who repairs them. They are complicated. And parts are hard to find.

But the upside is drinking coffee and eating toast, warm in your pajamas on a frosty morning in your Volkswagen bus.