I had this issue on a new install. First time installing heater and was disappointed as I thought the smell was part of the deal. Found this video. Did not pull unit out. Just sealed the glow plug gasket with red rtv and smell went away. Thanks for taking the time to post this! You get what you pay for going for a cheap unit. Still happy with the purchase now.

@adrianm.8126

Жыл бұрын

Thank you for the advice! That sounds spot on! I have a smell of diesel on startup and when shutting off my heater. I will try your approach - I won't take the whole unit out, instead I will just remove the cover and seal the glow pllug gasket and that small hole.

Great video! Really really big thank you for posting that. I will seal the glow plug and that small hole. It's too cold right now for me to remove and put apart the whole unit. I will try to follow Brian's advice posted below in the comments. Many thanks for showing the method of testing the unit, I will do the soap test in the summer just to make sure the unit is nice and ready for the next winter in my van.

This was the best help on KZread. Thanks for posting.

Thanks so much for this video!! It was the key to resolving the diesel smell I was getting from my new CDH.

Hi, thanks for the video! I saw someone else fix the leak at the shaft of the rotor as you say can't be fixed. He applied some sealant and closed it off.

Thank you for these two videos. Mine is brand new and smelled of diesel on startup. The blow test showed it leaking just like yours. But my glow plug was also loose. Must have been a Friday in the factory 🤣

@jackg8478

Жыл бұрын

What did you use to tighten the glow plug?

@gtirdobby

Жыл бұрын

@@jackg8478 I opened the heater up and used a spanner. I cut a new gasket from a gasket sheet from local car parts shop. I also used some gasket paste to help seal it. Just be careful of gasket touching the fan if you go down this route. If it's touching the fan just trim the gasket until it stops touching.

@dazzassti

7 ай бұрын

Every day is a Friday in China 🤣

Great vid! Great idea with blowing into the air intake also! The other place that may be a problem is with the bolts holding the unit together, (the fan housing portion and the heat chamber). Those bolts may not have been tighten all the way at the factory. Then after the unit heats up it expands and closes the gap and many times they won't even put a gasket between the two parts. -Mike

@blacksheep5736

7 ай бұрын

You mean this? kzread.info/dash/bejne/pZZ_la2loqvFm5M.htmlsi=OtvPy-LPzqMWlVp-

Just did a service on my DH and did the same test too, air blows from the glowplug seal, but I don t have smoke smell. But a had it one time, and check the exaust, and it had a small crack. Check your exaust tube!

The longer the exhaust the more back pressure, keep the flexible exhaust as short as possible.

@jwgmail

6 ай бұрын

Oh that's a really good point that I had not thought of.

@Genghis-Khan121

6 ай бұрын

Unfortunately some of us have no choice

It works! Thank you!

Metal seals are of a one use throwaway design because they compact on tightening.

If you have an exhaust leak it is the burn chamber gasket. You have to remove the fan-motor-intake assembly to get to the burn chamber bolts and gasket.

@jwgmail

5 ай бұрын

no exhaust leaks so far fortunately...

Thanks so much for this👍

@jwgmail

4 ай бұрын

Glad it was helpful!

My heater ran great for over a year, then it started smoking with a horrible diesel smell inside and outside,,, I changed the heater base unit but kept all the old hardware, Same thing it smelled awful, I tweaked the pulse settings and checked everything, Still could smell it.. then I changed the fuel pump and that solved the problem,, The pumps pump precisely 0.0288 milliliters each pulse,, ,, The old pump was rusted though it still pumped, its accuracy was gone and that is critical for these heaters because they're build for those precise pulses of fuel,, My old pump was dumping excess fuel into the chamber,, try changing the pump

Change the glow plug or try tightening it it maybe loose from the factory or the crush washer is defective which you would have to replace the glow plug the red rtv sealant will only makes things a little difficult to take apart and you will have a mess to cleanup

that looks like the glow plug is'nt tight enough or theres a gap between the heating eliment and the thread part

I personally think the diesel smell you get when starting up and shutting down is caused by this scenario. My diesel heater is inside, and I expel the combustion exhaust out through a bulkhead fitting. Here is what I think causes the temporary SU/SD diesel smell. 1) You turn on the heater and the fan starts to spool up at a very slow rate, 2) After a few seconds the glow plug is energized drawing around a 100 watts , 3) After several seconds, diesel is pumped into the combustion chamber and is kind of vaporized and burned, 4) To keep the fan from cooling the glow plug and increasing the 100 watt draw time, the mapping of the ECU is such that it keeps the fan at a very low speed, not much air movement, 5) With the low air movement, I personally feel burned and unburned diesel fumes/vapors are back flowing out the fresh air combustion inlet into the cabin area. 6) Now when the glow plug is deenergized, the fan speed is increased preventing back flow. 7) Same thing kind of happens on SD, to little air flow causing a back draft.

@jwgmail

4 ай бұрын

I don't think it's the backdraft because the smell stopped after I put the silicone on there - but I agree that it's the fan speed and low heat that's causing there to be more unburnt diesel at startup... somehow that never dawned on me that clearly but clearly that's what's going on, so thank you. The fumes outside are definitely horrible at startup.

Just pul out that plug or rubber boot and cut it off, then use aluminum foil and use high temp silicone over the foil, over the hole where the glow plug is, that rubber smell is coming from that rubber plug that goes over the glow plug.

'Why' is the exhaust gas escaping past a poor seal? a poor seal should be 'good enough' as the exhaust gas should not have any back pressure unless you have a very poorly run exhaust system. Not saying it should have zero pressure theres the wall effect of the exhaust pipe causing restriction but the pressure should be very very low and not enough to get past a push fit rubber seal. Glad you found it as such leaks can be deadly

Youy do not need to seal the rubber cap as the leak is from the glow plug, yo0u nwill find that they are not screwed in very tight and thus that is where the leak is eminating from, NOT the rubber seal!! I ggod way to test for leaks, but think outside the box, the air can only be coming from the glow plug thread.

@italiaimballaggis.r.limbal3202

5 ай бұрын

e quindi, come sigillare meglio la filettatura ? Tk

Hey. How would You describe the smell? I made some tests with new heater but there is noticable smell of plastic(?), not a burned one but still, for sure it's not neutral air. It worked only few hours now- I wonder if it will be gone after time. Does the smell You talk about similar or is it typical diesel fumes smell?

@jwgmail

Жыл бұрын

It smells like diesel just like when you're pumping it at a gas station. I never had any plastic or rubber smell, but someone in my first video said kzread.info/dash/bejne/d3aTuZJ-f5fUirg.html "Mine had an "acrid" smell while running. Not a fuel smell. I found the problem to be the rubber oval gasket that is mounted at the bottom of the unit. This rubber heats up and stinks like cheap Chinese plastic but worse. I replaced the gasket with red silicone RTV and it is all good. No more cooking a stink burger underneath my heater."

@chrishale

Жыл бұрын

Great vid thanks. I too have a burning plastic smell so I think I’m going to replace the bottom rubber gasket and all the possible leak spots with red rtv

@plopez9152

Жыл бұрын

I have the same problem with the plastic smell. You ever find out what was causing it?

What is the source of the diesel that is getting into these unsealed areas? is it possible to eliminate the source of the smell?

@actiondisplays

Жыл бұрын

Hi Jack, I just posted a couple reply's to JWgmail's vid on diesel heater odors. Instead of me retyping everything, go back to his comments section and you'll see I have a couple posts. Hope this helps, -Mike

How did you apply the silicon to the head? Did you keep the gasket on and only do the underside?

@jwgmail

4 ай бұрын

If you mean head like the cylinder head of an engine, check out this video kzread.info/dash/bejne/d3aTuZJ-f5fUirg.html&ab_channel=jwgmail (but it didn't really work). If you mean the brown seal over the glowplug, I put the red rtv around the mating surface of that brown seal and stuck it into the hole, so the rtv was squeezed out some and it sealed real nicely

@blairwhite2115

4 ай бұрын

​@@jwgmailthanks for the reply, Yes I did mean the cylinder head and I see in your other video that you did the underside (only where the paper ripped). My gasket seems to be loose between the top two bolts, I put some red RTV on the glow plug, fuel gasket, as well as the underside the paper gasket. Well give it a run tonight and see how it goes 🤞

@jwgmail

4 ай бұрын

@@blairwhite2115 That's weird... the quality control on these things ain't that great, but the casting on mine generally seem to be ok. Good luck, bud!

I just installed a new heater. My old heater began to leak with the same smell of diesel. When summer is here I will install a new gasket

Thank you for this video. I copied what you did but the hot air that comes out still smells like plastic. Do you have any recommendations on what is causing it to smell like plastic?

@jwgmail

10 ай бұрын

sorry I don't know what it would be. are any of the electronics overheating or touching the metal? Have you let it run a long time, hoping the smell will fade and stop?

@thefix2573

9 ай бұрын

The rubber bushing on the bottom stinks when touching the exhaust , either cut it out 1/2 inch away from the pipe or toss it, it's just for vibration. If you take it apart and smell the black rubber gasket on the bottom you'll instantly recognize it, it should be silicone not rubber.

I have same issue and now I know to do. I complained to Amazon about this and got a refund

But the smell you had was of combusted diesel (like the exaust) or liquid gasoline (like in a tank)?

@jwgmail

Жыл бұрын

It was *not* combusted diesel. It smelled just like diesel in the tank.

@ignitore

Жыл бұрын

@@jwgmail mmm i suspect it could be part of my problem... today i touched some gasoline drops and the skin has quite similar smell...do u think i should replace the two gaskets as first step?

@jwgmail

Жыл бұрын

@@ignitore where were the drops coming from? which two gaskets are you talking about?

@jwgmail

Жыл бұрын

@@ignitore It was slow to remove the whole heater from the car, but I had to do it, I could not fix it in the car. I recommend removing the heater and blowing into like I showed in the video

@ignitore

Жыл бұрын

@@jwgmail no the drops came to my hand from the tube while refitting the heater. After one or two hours I noticed that my skin smelled similar to smell i have from the heater. I’m talking about the internal gaskets, the kit u can buy with the two gaskets of the combustion chamber.

why is it leaking up to that red plug, it's leaking internally.

@jwgmail

6 ай бұрын

The glow plug under the red cap screws into the body of the heater. They use a metal gasket there to seal the glow plug but the gasket isn't working well enough. Search google www.google.com/search?q=diesel+heater+cutaway+diagram and hopefully you can find one that's shows the glow plug clearly

You never said if it actually stopped the smell lol... did it work?

@jwgmail

7 ай бұрын

I put it in the description of the video but I should have put it in the video itself - YES it worked! I was so happy. Some people have a burning rubber smell and that's a different issue (the rubber seal on the bottom) but this fixed the unburnt diesel smell for me...

@dazzassti

7 ай бұрын

@@jwgmail nice one you’re a champ👍

They will always smell no matter what. 1 -The cap is vented, 2- the intake tube for burner air if not out side of the heated environment will let stink out. Never let one run unattended. Always have carbon monoxide and smoke detector in area of use. The life you save may be your own!

@Den-ml7zg

Жыл бұрын

Wrong, I have two and they are totally safe to run unattended.

@UQRXD

Жыл бұрын

@@Den-ml7zg OK if the fan speed sensor fails. I found the shut down does not work right. The heater will just turn off. Then the unburned fuel vents back into area being heated. Very strong fumes! THEY WILL CHOKE YOU. IF YOU WANT TO TRUST YOUR LIFE TO AN UNCERTIFED DIESEL HEATER FROM CHINA GO AHEAD.

I sealed everything and only have the front motor shaft with a small leak. Yet it smells of burnt diesel (smells like a clean burn too). annoying

@jwgmail

Жыл бұрын

Bummer. Definitely not smelling the exhaust? Or are you specifically saying that it IS the exhaust that's an issue?

@Veikra

Жыл бұрын

@@jwgmail Most definitely exhaust smell. Perhaps my testing room isnt air tight and draft is pushing the exhaust back in it. Further testing to come this week

@suppsuppa2773

Жыл бұрын

@@Veikra I think we have the same issue, sealed everything, still smells expecially on startup. Only leak i can find now is form the fan motor shaft, but it's very small. Question for the author: now that it's fixed, when u blow inside the intake, is it completely airtight?

@jwgmail

Жыл бұрын

@@Veikra Good luck, lmk how it goes. My heater's exhaust (on my VW van) is not too bad when it's running on high, but on low - whoooaa not good. If I was camping next to someone in a tent, I would feel bad running the heater because the exhaust smells so much.

@Veikra

Жыл бұрын

​@@jwgmail To be clear, I'm only talking about the smell INSIDE. So on the side of the unit. Only seal that leaks air is the motor shaft but lots of people have that leak and no smell. It`s not a huge smell, but cant use it beyond testing because of that. Run it long enough you get a headache. Althought it seems better with the glow plug seal and fuel tube RTVed I brought the exhaust over a meter away from closest window today, still a slight smell. I could understand getting a bad unit, but since I can`t find the fault it`s hard to call it

Why seal it? Its a bit over the top OTP

@jwgmail

4 ай бұрын

I know, I don't like that either but it was killin me. It was straight up unusable, especially if my girlfriend was camping with me. No way she was gonna tolerate that

I did what you said but still strong smell of diesel

@jwgmail

3 ай бұрын

Man that's a bummer, did you try the soapy water thing I did in the video? If you blew into it and it seems sealed, maybe the problem is the hose bringing the diesel to the heater? The black rubber hose rots really quickly in my experience, while the hard clear/white plastic seems to have a decent lifetime.

@kevinfarrell6948

3 ай бұрын

I have the white hard nylon hose. I found out the valve thing in the tank cap had fallen out and was in the bottom of the tank. I put it back in but still getting a diesel smell but not as bad. I've only burnt many 4 tanks of diesel.

@jwgmail

3 ай бұрын

@@kevinfarrell6948 I have the hard nylon hose too, but where the hard hose meets the pump and where it meets the bottom of the heater there are some 2 inch pieces of rubber, and that rubber degrades quickly, even though I got fuel line. I have the tank in a cabinet in my van and I did my best to seal that cabinet with caulk and everything, but any time you open it it smells like diesel. The smell even creeps out some. don't know if that's your issue but man, that stuff is just incredibly smelly : (

@kevinfarrell6948

3 ай бұрын

Thx for your reply, I have clear pieces of fuel line connecting the nylon line to the pump and heater. I have my air intake inside, that might be my trouble.

Mine is new and I got a smell to it.

@matthewlee2686

Жыл бұрын

Mine to I just installed it today. I have 2. My other one is clean smelling. But this new one definitely smells. It was very smoky the first time I used it.

@jwgmail

Жыл бұрын

​@matthew lee the quality control of these things is pretty poor. But the german-made ones like webasto or eberspächer are crazy expensive. Mine is now fine inside the van. Outside the van, at high speed it smells fine but at low speed, the diesel smell will just about make your eyes water from 3 feet away.

@matthewlee2686

Жыл бұрын

@@jwgmail yeah I agree on the quality. I'm testing one out in my house. But I definitely need to take care of the Smell issue. I'm gonna rtv around the glow plug like you did and try that. I ran my other one in my home for a few days with no issues. I guess you never know what you are going to get when you buy one.

@jwgmail

Жыл бұрын

@@matthewlee2686 definitely try the blowing into it trick. That made it immediate obvious where air was escaping from the combustion chamber.

@davidtaylor-iw9kh

5 ай бұрын

@@matthewlee2686 did you rtv your heater and did it work the one i have stinks have to open a window stoped useig it for now let me know

Oh oh THAT SMELL! Cant you smell THAT SMELL! The smell of mess around you……………

What about a burnt rubber smell.

@jwgmail

8 ай бұрын

Check out the long string of comments started by @b0b0- on my other video: kzread.info/dash/bejne/d3aTuZJ-f5fUirg.html