Eberspacher coolant heater on a 2.2dCi

[Martin Tyas]

Whilst under the car working on the crankshaft pulley failure I also noticed that the exhaust pipe from the coolant heater had cracked in two places just above one of the plastic shields/cowlings under the front bumper.
It's a complete assembly fabricated from stainless steel components consisting of a flexible front section of pipe welded to a small silencer box to which is welded a rigid S/S pipe that meanders it's way under the floor pan.
Although made by Eberspacher and not Renault the exhaust assembly is specific to the Espace and is over £200 (260 Euro) from Renault.

As Eberspacher heaters are also used in boats and trucks (to provide heat for sleeper cabs) I had a look around the internet (and even found some parts on e-Bay) to see if I could obtain the components to repair the exhaust instead of replace it at such an exhorbitant cost.
I managed to get a 1.5m length of 24mm stainless steel flexi pipe (enough to repair the Espace unit twice) and 2 genuine Eberspacher S/S pipe clamps for £20 from a boat yard... less than a tenth of the cost of replacing it and the only difference will be that the flexi pipe will be clamped to the silencer instead of welded.... but looking on the parts diagrams that's how it was originally on the earlier phase 3's anyway so why spend the time taking the whole thing off just to have the pipe welded to the silencer.

So, a good result for once.

Martin

[Anders Dinsen]

You are a very creative man, Martin! Well done!

[Martin Tyas]

Here is the outcome of the £20 repair rather than £200+ replacement.

The original flexi pipe was welded to the little silencer box but was relatively easily removed and what little remained of the weld could be filed off the silencer inlet pipe leaving a smooth mating surface for the new pipe. I used the same type of stainless steel Eberpascher clamp to attach the pipe to the silencer that is used at the other end to make the joint to the heater unit.... problem solved.

Martin

[Anders Dinsen]

Here is the outcome of the £20 repair rather than £200+ replacement.

The original flexi pipe was welded to the little silencer box but was relatively easily removed and what little remains of the weld can be filed off the silencer inlet pipe leaving a smooth mating surface for the new pipe. I used the same type of stainless steel Eberpascher clamp to attach the pipe to the silencer that is used at the other end to make the joint to the heater unit.... problem solved.

Martin

Congratulations on the fix! Nice photo

[renaultbiler]

Just bumped over this pdf file a while ago (attachment) - descriptions and diagrams of the D3WZ heater fitted with the G9T engine. Perhaps it might come in handy for anyone.