Inpa webasto help

[marinaman]

Hi all

trying still to sort Webasto
got the Inpa set up, i get fault, no flame.  coolant temp 23c  implausable working area,
i gather these only work when cold but isnt the INPA supposed to overide all that and test the unit at any time

i press activate  and the fan spins  pump starts  then after few mins shuts down, if no flame  does that mean the glow plug is faulty  ,  a bit confusing .  it will sit there running a a low speed until the software ends the test.

is there a way to test the glow plug in or out of the heater ?

Thanks

[X5Sport]

There is a loooongg thread in fixing these things, and a few guides too on the site.

[marinaman]

been through that but doesnty seem to give any advice on testing with the INPA

trust me to have a question thats not covered !

[Huxsta]

Can you not just do a continuity test on the glow plug ? If faulty then replace.

[marinaman]

What im trying to find out is if the INPA can overide the webasto instuction not to work if the outside temp is above 5c ,  cant find anything on that at all.

i would have thought somehow this could be done as all owners who go to a dealer with a fault surely cant wait for a low temp to get a result from the dealer tests.

The main big write up on here states that even applying 12v to pin 1  in temp above 5c leads to the unit not going into full workkng mode.

[X5Sport]

Pin 1 will start it if everything works.  The unit will still shut off if it fails to fire up correctly.

If the glowplugs is faulty then it will shut down.  BMW will simply swap out the unit for a new one at well over £1k.  They don't repair anything.

[marinaman]

thats what im trying to find out if pin 1  will fire it even for a period of time to test it all works as it should. 

heres a copy from the big write up i found on the forum,

quote.    Telestart – with +12V to pin 1
This method is necessary for telestart beause the car could be ‘asleep’ when telestart is requested; meaning k-bus is asleep!
few important conditions it checks are:
-  Popular theory is that it ignores the temperature checks, but I have found that when the outside temp is like 19c, the system starts up, but goes back to the off state  unquote.


as said  he found when 19c  it starts but turns off,  so i was trying to find a way to fool it into thinking its 5c  or does the INPA do that is my main query ,  otherwise how do you test it in anything but cold winter conditions
Also  the handbook even states  to run it a few times in summer to blow the cobwebs out,  seems daft telling you to use something that only works below 5c

[X5Sport]

Unless you have the extra option of Aux Heating on the car, the unit is there only for bringing the coolant temp up faster.

If you have an existing fault condition then the system will not run and will need to come off the car and be stripped.

[Huxsta]

I put a fused feed into pin 1 with a cheap little remote unit purchased from maplins about 4 yrs ago. (E39 530d, same system) mine will now start and run even if outside temp is 25c if I want it too, as I'm forcing it to run with the direct current. I do believe however if you disconnect the outside temp probe (mine is behind front bumper) then this will flash up -40C on the on board computer and this will enable the webasto to fire! Never had to try it though to find out.

[marinaman]

found the probe,  it sits behind the lower front pass side grill  near the fog lamp  you can see a black thin probe point.
to get it out there is a trap door but unless you got fingers like ET  its far easier to remove the 2 lower bolts on the plastic wheel arch gaurd and easy access is revealed.  for future testing though i simply moved it up into the side of the headlight housing pointing out into the air.
when you pull the probe off the wiring plug the inside temp drops to minus 40, now i dont know if the aux heater takes it reading from there but will be testing it another day when coolant is cold.