My 2006 LR3 is an overland rig. 18 gallons of water, fridge, shower, 3 gallon water heater, two burner stove, shower/privy, sink, etc... And I still manage to have room to sleep inside along with my 80lb dog. But I tend to camp more when its colder. However while the 4.4L Jaguar Space Heater is nice, it is a bit of a fuel hog when idling at night in those temps. Not to mention the often copious amount of water that collects in the exhaust - I have actually woken up to the sounds of the LR3 being waterboarded.

So bring on the "Chinese Diesel Heater". These are cheap copies of the fancier brands. Mine is a true 2kw (much harder to find). The common one is a 5kw which is often "retuned" at 8kw or "detuned" at 2kw. But in fact only two are made, a smaller 2kw and the 5kw. even the 2kw I have can run harder at near 3kw output. Anyway, I bring this up because size is important and there is not much room for this install. You want an air gap around the heater.

This is not a how-to post. But I will discuss the exhaust. These do not produce much CO, if any, when tuned well and running at low/mid speeds. At full power they can produce some. But during startup they can produce a lot as combustion temps start so low. So if you do an install like this you want to upgrade to double walled exhaust pipe. This is what Webasto and the like use. It will not leak though it is harder to bend. You will also want to upgrade to t-bolt clamps. And you want to seal each end with high temp gasket maker or such. Basically you want to ensure you get NO combustion gases to get inside during operation. The port on the truck for exhaust is a boat thru-hull fitting. When in use I can slip an exhaust pipe extension on to ensure the gases are carried a little further away from the truck body. When not in use I will have a cap on it.

 

This looks very cleanly installed, I dont see it mentioned but where did you mount the fuel tank?

 

Well.. that is the hiccup right now. I need a solution for a tank setup that can fit under the truck, but there is sooooo little room. So for now the tank is mounted inside. Its a small 1.5 gal and I use kerosene alternative. So if it leaks, it will evaporate and won't leave nasty fumes. The tank is mounted within my camping/overland module that replaces a third row seat, right against this rear panel where the heater is. But it is a temp setup.

I think my eventual plan will be some sorta metal tube, like the EAS reservoir, along the passenger side. It will most likely have a low fuel sensor switch so I dont run it dry. Filling will probably be from a small tank in the engine bay with a hose going down to the larger tank. But I am still looking at options to get it right and keep it simple. Obviously one issue with a hidden tank is simply knowing how much is in it at any given time.

 

I plan on winter / ski camping. I never tent camp anymore. Car air mattress in the back is how I do it. Thought about building heater into a box on the roof but this makes more sense to me. No running a hose through window every time. No scraping snow In the am, etc. I've already ripped the interior apart and ordered the remaining bits in preparation.

Have you got this up and running? Do you have any pictures of where you cut the cubby?

I contemplated routing the exhaust downward so no drilling into visible bodywork. From what I can see it may be close to the filler neck and EVAP components. I would have to remove the heat shield above the muffler to verify.

As far as fuel tank I got a spill proof quick disconnect. I plan on putting fuel tank in a pelican case. There's also room to probably mount a tank in the full size spare well.

This meter so I don't die
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I've used it during a campout last weekend. I did not use it a ton but it ran for hours, just not all night (was not that cold out). I have a dog, so it was actually great running it to keep him warm.

You can try a downward path if you want. That was my initial plan. But in the end the side mount, for me, was safer because I do water crossing and lots of muddy trail runs. So I want to know the exhaust is protected and safe. If you mount under the truck you may trap the exhaust a bit, but probably not a huge issue.

The cargo panel, I just cut the cubby box off. That was all I did not modify it.

Yeah, CO meter is a must. But when running properly they produce none. Also keep in mind you must use hard fuel lines after the pump, no long runs of rubber or such. The pump is basically a fuel injector, so soft lines absorb the pressure pulses and you will have operational issues.

As for my tank, its still inside. Its a 1.5 gallon and I have no topped it off yet. I also run ultra clean kerosene alternative. If it spills it does not have a strong smell but its kinda like paint thinner. And it evaporates fast. I had a friend pack up their all-in-one diesel heater and she did not know the fuel cap had a breather. All their clothes got soaked. Anyway, dont feel like you need to run diesel. There are better, cleaner, safer alternatives.

 

Info on the kerosene?

By double walled exhaust tube, I'm assuming you mean whatever comes with the kit plus something like this?

Think running a muffler inside would add to much heat?

 

Just saw this now... Not, def not that exhaust. That stuff cracks easily from bending and even from the hot/cold cycles. Will def leak out eventually.

I did recently make revisions to my setup. I installed a newer quiet style pump. Pretty sure it is not actually quieter and I think everyone is just calling them quiet to sell more of them. I do know there are some much quieter ones out there tho....

But I did move the pump to a new location and wrapped it in insulation and covered the port in sound deadener. I can only hear the pump faintly at very, very low speeds such as startup. So that was a large improvement. Below you can see the pump sitting out of the silver lined area. That is where it went and packed with the same insulation you see to the left of that spot.



I also installed the new style muffler. Also unlike the original pics above, I moved the exhaust lower down to reduce the bend as it left the main body. I think it may have been too sharp of a curve. Then it goes into the new style muffler. And again all wrapped and sealed at each connection with high end clamps. No leaks detected. I did add a bracket to the muffler to keep it from moving around. It was a bit "springy" without it. I also added a short intake for the heater, that black accordion tubbing you see below. Amazing how a few inches reduced the overall heater noise.






Another change was dropping the whole rear HVAC integration. It simply did not work well. I ended up with a very warm headliner at max output. The factory tubing is just too leaky! So I removed the C pillar cover and took out the factory tube. I capped the factory end at the headliner then installed my own vents. This improved CFM output 10 fold. And I went with two outputs to help mix the air in the cabin, which was a good idea. Also the lower one can have its cover vent removed and a pipe attached if I really want to direct air somewhere. Like if it will be well into the negatives and I want to make sure air reaches my feet.






I am much happier with the revisions I made. It works better and is quieter. I will have to see how well it works in extreme temps next winter. But the one time I have used it since all this it was at freezing and I ran it as low as I could all night and I stayed very warm.