Having a remote control fuel burning heater allows you to warm your car from the comfort of your house – a definite bonus for cold British winters, no more scraping ice and freezing fingers on cold mornings!
The remote heater (Webasto Telestart) was an expensive option that few L322 Range Rovers were fitted with, if you have a TDV8 model however you probably actually have the wiring already in place, and may even have the receiver module. It is possible to buy a fob and program it to your receiver but the remotes are expensive and the programming doesn’t always work. Here’s how to convert your heater to be controlled from your phone, including setting timers and regular heating schedules.
I used a cheap 12v WiFi enabled switch – see the bottom of this article for an Amazon link to get one.
First thing you need to do is find the wiring. The receiver module is fitted near the fuse box behind the right hand side panel in the boot. Remove the panel and you should see something like in the photo below. The wiring for the receiver module has been unplugged (it’s the loose cable hanging out). The receiver itself it mounted to the back of the metal panel, shown by the red arrow. You can just reach over and pull the plug out of the top of the module.
Cut the plug off the wiring (keep it safe in case you want to reinstate the standard controller in the future). I used cheap pre-insulated bullet connectors for this install. You can splice new wiring in, use professional connectors or just chocolate blocks – whatever you are comfortable with!
There are only three wires, +12V (Black/Red), GND (Brown/Black) and a switched live (Yellow/Green). Apply 12V to the switched lived and the heater will run.
Prepare the Wifi switch for fitting:-
We need to feed 12V to the Input+ and one side of the output and Ground to the Input-. The other side of the output will connect to the switched live that originally came from the receiver in the car.
Taped up to make it a bit neater:-
And connected to the wiring that we prepared earlier:-
You can mount it however you like, I just used double sided mounting tape for ease:-
Now you need to download ‘eWeLink’ from the app store to your phone (Android and Apple versions are available – it’s free) and follow the instructions to configure the switch to connect to your WiFi – all done, easy as that!
From the app you can now switch the heater on & off:-
It is worth setting a timer to turn the heater off automatically after a set period, so you don’t flatten the battery if you forget about it! (the original Webasto receiver runs the heater for 30mins then switches it off again)
You can also set up a schedule, if you want to automatically heat the car up at set times (for example every weekday morning before you leave for work)
Note – I did this on my 2007 L322, I can’t guarantee other years/models work exactly the same way, so it’s best to check your wiring etc. before you commit, any messing around with your car’s wiring is done at your own risk!
Here’s an Amazon link to the type of switch I used – I have no connection to the seller. You pay the same price as you would normally but I get a few pence back from Amazon if you use this link to help towards the website fees.
UPDATE! – the exact switch I used no longer appears to be available online, so I’ve updated the links below with some alternative units that should work just as well (please note I’ve not tried them personally). If you have any success or problems with these WiFi switches please let us know in the comments below!
I hope you found this article helpful! – any questions or comments feel free to leave them below………
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January 1, 2018 at 10:57 pm
Hey ive bought all the bits and identified the rears wires etc plus of course the Pre heater itself!
Thanks so much my experience was the same as yours so many things you can buy but cost a fortune..
i also have a Disco 3 and im applying the same logic to this as you have shown with the L322
except with the LR 3 as well as the set up you describe
you also need a gadget which can pulse the car’s
‘w can bus’ system to turn the thing on..
after a bit of research i have found and ordered this gadget, so this combined with your Wifi switch should do the job on (later than 2005’s) Disco 3 also..
( The gadget costs £40 which is a fraction of the price for a shop bought kit
So again, thanks again for your generosity of spirit, kindness and common sence and lateral thinking for helping others who dont have to ready cash to get this kind of kit from the marketplace..
January 7, 2018 at 6:11 pm
Hi Matt!
Glad you found the info useful! – I hope your solution for the w-Can system works out – if you want to send me the details of your solution I can update this post and hopefully it will help other Disco 3 owners wanted to add remote control to their FBHs.
If you run into any issues getting your system working give me a shout, happy to try & brainstorm from this end if I can!
Cheers,
Dan
March 26, 2018 at 10:31 pm
Yo fellow Matt… What did you do?
February 6, 2019 at 1:26 pm
Hi matt just seen your post on modifying your disco 3…..are you able to share the details on the w can bus you mentioned…. I’m having problems with cold starting on my disco and looking to find a fix…..
April 28, 2020 at 4:05 pm
Can you let me know what you found to pulse the can bus system please
November 30, 2021 at 9:36 pm
Hi Matt, i know its an old post but I’d rely like to know what the device was to generate a can bus signal to turn on your aux heater. I have an L322 and woukd like to do the same. Many thanks
Gav.
January 1, 2023 at 1:33 pm
I have the same problem can you help me how to activate CAN BUS DISCOVERY3
gadget Marca name?
January 1, 2023 at 1:39 pm
hello Matt, I have the same problem can you help me how do I activate ?
Name gadget (marca ) thanks
January 1, 2018 at 10:58 pm
Thankyou so much!!
January 1, 2018 at 10:59 pm
Thankyou so much!
September 30, 2018 at 9:59 am
Hi & great info,I have a FfRR tdv8 2007 also, I’m going to fit the reciever when it arrives! My question is this; will it only work when both your phone & car are within range of your WiFi, or can the receiver get a message via gsm?
September 30, 2018 at 10:22 am
Hi Will – this setup needs the phone & car to be on the same WiFi network, so will work either at a fixed location or with the addition of a mobile WiFi hotspot in the car it will work ‘in the wild’ (within WiFi range). I think the wifi switches can be configured to work through the internet so in theory could be operated from a smart phone anywhere in the world, but this is not something I’ve tried. Hope this helps, Cheers, Dan
February 15, 2019 at 8:49 pm
Have you got to be in range of WiFi router
Or can you do it’ through 4g
Many thanks
February 16, 2019 at 5:30 pm
Hi Gerry – the switch is WiFi only so needs to be in range of a router, you may however be able to set up a WiFi hotspot on a phone and they connect via that – but I’ve not tried it! If you give it a go let us know how you get on & I will update the article accordingly 🙂 Cheers, Dan
October 20, 2018 at 3:15 pm
H just been looking at your post very good to know it is possible with out getting ripped off. Hope you can help me I’m am disabled and getting to my car is hard never mind sitting in it while it warms up.
I have a range rover sport 2006 but the wiring in the rear of the car is not the same as the pics you posted can you please give me any information on how I can do the same as you manky thanks. John
October 21, 2018 at 5:14 pm
Hi John – the 2006 Range Rover sport is based on the T5 architecture, so different than the L322 unfortunately. Looking at the wiring diagram it appears the fuel fired heater in your vehicle is CAN controlled, so unfortunately it may not be as easy to add a remote. I would guess if you can find the CAN communication details you could add a remote to control an Arduino (or similar) to send the required signals over the CAN bus – but this is more in depth and requires a familiarity with coding, CAN communication etc.
Let us know if you find a solution for your vehicle! Cheers, Dan
October 22, 2018 at 10:59 am
Does the L322 TDV8 2008 need a water pump and warm the cabin?
October 22, 2018 at 4:47 pm
Hi Matt, The TDV8 is normally fitted with the fuel burning heater and auxiliary water pump from the factory – this mod just adds the remote control. If you have the option for timed climate through the settings on the dashboard screen you should have all the hardware you need. Hope this helps, Dan
October 23, 2018 at 8:35 am
My car is a fuel burning heater (webasto) but I do not know if there is a water pump in the car, how can it be inspected? I can not find the timed climate in the menu. However, these 3 lines are found in the car.
October 23, 2018 at 4:17 pm
Hi Matt – I believe the water pump is mounted directly to the side of the fuel burning heater unit – see this image as an example:-
Image is from blackbox solutions, you may be able to find more info here:- https://blackbox-solutions.com/help/SM074.html
Hope this helps, Cheers, Dan
December 3, 2021 at 12:13 am
Can you use your swith to turn on the existing reciever? If you had a momentary positive pulse or would it need to be a constant on or off switch?
November 2, 2018 at 12:13 pm
Hi guys can anyone tell me how to fit this set up to an 06 R,R,S as I have looked in rear of car and the wiring is different than it’s big brother I HAVE FITTED an after market remote which opperates by means of third button on landrover remote turning the follow me home light’s on then off after three seconds that works fine but I want to opperate by sms ( text ) not sure what wire to use.many thanks.John
November 2, 2018 at 9:33 pm
Hi John – you could probably hook the same wifi switch I used into your existing remote system, but it unfortunately doesn’t support SMS messages – hopefully someone else reading this will have some advice for you! Cheers, Dan
September 21, 2022 at 9:04 am
Hi John,
I have Sport 2011 and all the hardware (can control it through touch screen) but I need remote control. Can you share more info on your setup?
Tnx
November 21, 2018 at 8:57 pm
Hi this is a really great hack and worked exactly as you said. I’m sure I can find many uses for those wifi switches, great find thanks. I did get caught out this morning when I used it for the first time as I switched it on 20mins before I left home and realised that once you have left your home wifi you can no longer control it, so it just stayed on and I had to pull the wire out when I got to work!
I should remember most times, but I recommend fitting a manual switch in circuit to disable it if you forget.
November 22, 2018 at 10:25 am
Hi Andy – thanks for the comment. Good point about the control – I should have mentioned in the the original write-up. You can set a timer in the phone app so once you trigger the heater it will switch off a set amount of time later. The timer is then run in the switch module itself so it doesn’t matter if you drive off while it is still running, it will turn off even without a WiFi connection. Hope this helps, Cheers, Dan
December 11, 2018 at 11:23 am
i have a 2005 the wire i think are a different i still should be able to wire in the wifi switch ?
December 11, 2018 at 11:58 am
Hi Graham – as far as I know this should work on all years of L322 – though I can’t guarantee it! The vehicles it seems to be substantially different on are the Range Rover Sport/Discovery platform where the FBH needs to see a specific signal, rather than just a +12V feed. Cheers, Dan
December 22, 2018 at 8:57 pm
hi dan, great article. would this work for the disco 4, 2009 model?
January 3, 2019 at 4:27 pm
Hi Ian – I’m afraid the Disco 4’s use a different control system for the FBH so rigging up a remote is a bit more complicated – I believe kits are available from eBay to do the job though…….
January 21, 2019 at 7:54 pm
Hallo Dan
lch habe ein Rang Rover 3,6tdv8
muss ich den Zuheizer zuerst freischalten?
Meine garage hat gesagt dass gehe nur beim Sport, nicht aber beimLM 322.
Gruss Reto
January 21, 2019 at 8:31 pm
Hi Reto – this was done on a 3.6 TDV8 L322 Range Rover, I did not have to do anything to the heater for this to work. The heater in a Range Rover Sport is CAN controlled I believe so this setup will not work on a RR Sport vehicle. Hope this helps, Cheers, Dan
January 21, 2019 at 9:17 pm
Hallo Dan
Ich habe denWLAN-Switch bestellt.
Ich habe das Kabel im Kofferraum gefunden/die farben stimmen auch überein.
werde den Switch einbauen,dann werden wir sehen. Ich werde berichten.
Gruss Reto
January 21, 2019 at 9:23 pm
Hi Reto – Good Luck! (Viel Glück!) Cheers, Dan
January 22, 2019 at 12:54 pm
Hallo Dan
Habe (Schwar/Rot) mit(Gelb/Schwarz) verbunden läuft nichts somit muss ich den Switch wohl nicht montieren?
Gruss Reto
January 22, 2019 at 9:00 pm
Hi Reto – You mention yellow/black but in my vehicle the switched live was yellow/green? The first thing to check is that the heater works when +12V is applied to the switched live (yellow/green) – you can do this without the switch in the circuit. It is not always obvious that the heater has started (especially if it is too warm for the fuel burning heater to run), you should see the light come on on the button next to the HVAC screen and if you listen from the outside of the car you should hear the fans running slowly (you can hear them at the air inlet at the bottom of the windsceen/top of bonnet). Hope this helps, Cheers, Dan
January 22, 2019 at 9:26 pm
Hallo Dan
Habe mich verschrieben war(Gelb /Grün).
Habe dann Auto gestartet zuheizer ist angelaufen – 5°!!
Das Licht auf der Taste neben dem HLK-Bildschirm hatt nicht geleuchtet.
Gruss Reto
January 22, 2019 at 9:34 pm
Hallo Dan
habe nur den Zuheizer verbaut, habe schon gelesen dass man die Standheizung zuerst frei schalten muss?
Gruss Reto
January 22, 2019 at 10:29 pm
Hi Reto – I’m afraid I don’t understand the question (my German is not good so I am relying on Google translate!). It might be worth checking the timed climate mode (setting a time for the heater to run from the dashboard screen then locking the car), this would prove everything is OK from the vehicle side?
Is the vehicle a German market car? – it’s possible there is something in the market specific settings that stops the remote heater control working, but I can’t see LandRover installing the module in the boot if the car is not capable of responding to it……
Cheers, Dan
January 23, 2019 at 7:05 am
Hallo Dan
Ich kann den Heizgerät nicht vom Bildschirm aussteuer (kein Klimamodus).
Ist ein Schweizer fahrzeug.
Gruss Reto
January 23, 2019 at 8:47 am
Hi Reto, Ah, I suspect that might be the problem. If you have no timed climate mode in your vehicle then this probably wont work without an update to the CCF (Car Config File). Special diagnostic software is required to modify the CCF. This is unfortunate – I hope you find a solution! Best regards, Dan
December 2, 2019 at 8:46 pm
Hello dan great info
I can’t find the WiFi switch you recommend will the sonoff ones be ok
Kind regards
Ray
December 3, 2019 at 10:21 am
Hi Ray – it appears my link had stopped working and the exact switch I used is no longer available online, so I’ve updated the article to include a couple of alternatives. This one looks like it should work and appears to be the best value – https://amzn.to/2rQwbtc. The Sonoff ones look like they should work also, but most of them are 240V AC only, you need to make sure you get one that can be driven from 12V DC. Hope this helps. Cheers, Dan
December 14, 2019 at 7:26 am
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F401401920119
Hi all , I intend to do this on my 2002 TD6 . Hope it works .
They sell the switch on eBay , follow the link .
March 27, 2020 at 5:00 pm
I’ve got a Range Rover Sport HST v8. Just had a look in the boot and I’ve not got a fuse box in my right hand side. Any idea where to look to find these wire/plug
March 28, 2020 at 2:36 pm
Hi Buster – the original Range Roger Sport is built on the T5 platform, so similar to the Disco 3 and requires a different approach. If you have a look through the comments you will find some solutions to control the heater in these vehicles via the w-can bus. Hope this helps, Cheers, Dan
May 3, 2020 at 8:58 pm
Hi Dan,
Silly question, you say this works on 2007 L322 models. I have the supercharged L322 2007, will petrol vehicles have the heater or only diesels?
Steve
May 4, 2020 at 1:48 pm
Hi Steve, the fuel burning heater was a standard fit on a lot of the diesel models so it is quite common – I believe a fuel burning heater was available on the petrol models but it was only ever offered as an option so it is very rare. I don’t know if the control systems are the same so not sure if this solution will work on a petrol vehicle. If you find a workable solution for your vehicle please let us know 🙂
Cheers, Dan
July 30, 2020 at 8:10 pm
Hi Dan
That’s great post and thank you for your time to share knowledge with us.
I am thinking of retrofitting a Webasto FBH to my 2008 TV8 L322 and I was wondering, If you could share some photos of your original installation where FBH is fitted in the engine? Cheers.
July 30, 2020 at 10:14 pm
Hi Anthony – I’m afraid I don’t have any photos showing the heater itself (and I no longer have the vehicle), but on the L322 the FBH is located behind the wheel-arch liner in the front-right wheel arch. You can see it in this video on YouTube:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoJ6z–qYF0 (I have no connection with the creators of the video, it’s just one I found!) Hope this helps, Cheers, Dan
August 3, 2020 at 11:02 pm
Hi
Thanks, the video helped it make clearer for me. However, there must be fitting instruction somewhere. I am going investigate further. Cheers. All the best. Ant
September 8, 2020 at 9:04 am
This works for me! L322 RR Vogue (2007). Followed the instructions and all went as planned. Had to drag the router out onto the drive with an extender cable in order to get a strong signal, but after putting router back in the house the device continued to work.
This is a life-saver for me as the RR suffers from poor starting, the heating rods (?) need replacing at great expense, so this Webasto heater pre-heats the engine and the car starts first time!
Thanks Dan!
September 8, 2020 at 7:16 pm
Hi Robert – Glad it works for use and thanks for the message 🙂 Cheers, Dan
November 30, 2020 at 10:14 am
Hi Dan,
maybe you have another idea….(TDV8-2008)
When +12V is applied to the switched live (yellow/green) nothing happens..
The heater starts immediately via the remote control and the HVAC screen..
thanks sebastian
November 30, 2020 at 8:00 pm
Hi Sebastian – Sorry to hear it’s not working for you, I wonder if your vehicle uses a later CAN controlled heater? Have to tried putting a Multimeter/Oscilloscope on the Yellow/Green wire and seeing what the receiver is doing to that wire when it is triggered by the remote? Cheers, Dan
November 30, 2020 at 8:05 pm
thx for your help….i will try … what happens … when i use the remote
December 30, 2020 at 2:12 am
Just dropped in to say thank you for this guide – I actually ended up using a GSM switch that you call to turn on and off rather than a wifi one, so I can use it at work too, but the installation is identical. Saved me from buying a replacement fob at ludicrous prices on ebay!
December 30, 2020 at 6:21 pm
Hi Joe – thanks for the comment, good idea using a GSM switch too! Cheers, Dan
January 4, 2022 at 1:15 pm
Hello. Please how it should be connected to this relay? https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001520919240.html
I don’t want to break anything, a relay like yours didn’t come here. Thank you
January 4, 2022 at 5:35 pm
Hi Lucas – I’ve not tried it with the relay from your link but in theory it should work with 12v connected to COM and the switched live connected to NO. You will of course need to make sure you get at 12V version of the relay. Hope this helps, cheers, Dan
February 15, 2024 at 8:23 pm
Hi,
This worked fine for 2008 l322. Next step for me is to make heater also heat the engine.