Jump to content

Could a turbo feed a heater core?


10Speed

Recommended Posts

VW's are air cooled.  A small amount of the air that is blown over the engine is siphoned off and blow through heater boxes that are around the exhaust, and then through the sill's and in to the car...

 

Because my car is turbo with over sized exhaust tubing there is no room for heater boxes even if they did fit my tubing, so I have no heating in my car, not really a big problem, it's not my daily and I'd rather go fast than stay warm.  But I was wondering, if I changed my turbo for one with water cooling connected to a heater core and blower would it generate enough heat to warm my car?

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I cant see why it wouldnt work, annnnnddddddd

A prius (There's one at Zebra, at last check) has good parts for this idea.

 

They need to keep the heater going even when the motor is off, in the engine bay there's a thermos tank for hot coolant, and a 12v electric water pump designed to pump the heater circuit. So you could use the pump from that, and then any old water based heater core, and lines in between.

IMG_1039-2.jpg

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

is that sufficient on a turbo that has/needs(?) water lines? (I don't know just asking)

 

I was thinking you could run a valve quite easily that diverts flow and just have a small rad or oil cooler for the turbo water when not wanting to heat cabin, so its just a manual slider to select heating/cooling inside cab

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think it's a good idea, but I just wonder how much heat  the turbo will generate, especially under light throttle/cruise conditions? The pipework to the core is usually quite small, 6-8mm usually, so not going to be a huge amount of flow, and it is just the central housing that the water flows around, not the exhaust housing. There will be some  losses of heat as the water is piped forwards too.

 

A water cooled turbo does not necessarily need the water cooling, they will operate okay without it, as the oil cooling will do the job on its own, so no need for diverters etc. It will still get a lot of cooling with the pump going, and the heater flap closed shut anyway.

 

 

Another option might be to double skin the turbo downpipe, and blow air between the two skins, much like the original Porsche/VW heat exchanger. Should be plenty of available heat there.  The only downside to this is that if you develop an exhaust leak between the two skins, it will kill you with carbon monoxide poisoning. But as a VW owner you probably knew that anyway :)

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

That prius water pump is for the most invertor cooler, which only gets up to about 40°C

Aahhh yep my bad, indeed it is.

There is still another electric pump and stop valve in the engine bay though, as I described - not sure what it looks like though.

cours-2-5-bottle.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...