Hi everyone, hope you all had a good Christmas/New year.
Just wondering if anyone has any experience with renault range T night heaters. Mine has stopped working. When I press the button it lights up for a couple of seconds then goes off. It never fires up. I’ve searched on here but there isn’t much information for the range T heater. I’ve tried pulling the fuse F69 and replacing plus the big red one but even with both fuses out the light comes on and goes off like before. Not sure if there is another fuse not listed in the book. I’ve spoken to Renault service and they were no use at all. Has anyone else got any suggestions I could try as it’s freezing in here.
Thanks Martyn
Has the pump been stepped on ? a common issue as the plug stays connected so looks ok but the terminals get pull back that little bit and don’t connect.
Punchy Dan:
Has the pump been stepped on ? a common issue as the plug stays connected so looks ok but the terminals get pull back that little bit and don’t connect.
Thanks for the reply.
Where is the pump located? I’ve been off recently so it’s possible.
Remove lost sock and skiddy wabs from in front of vent outlet and it’ll work fine.
Pump is near fuel tank, normally hides down side near fuel pipes from tank, should go tick----tick----tick. Also make sure all out let’s, and intake haven’t got anything covering them.
biggriffin:
Pump is near fuel tank, normally hides down side near fuel pipes from tank, should go tick----tick----tick. Also make sure all out let’s, and intake haven’t got anything covering them.
I can’t get to the pump, the top of the fuel tank is under the catwalk. I’ve checked the 2 vents 1 behind each seat. Not sure if there are any others. Can’t see any.
Thanks Martyn
Is the external vent smoking like a train when it’s trying to fire up and stinks of partially burnt diesel? I believe it’s the glow plug that’s had it if that happens. Sometimes you can coax them back into life by keep cycling the switch every 5 mins or so each time it fails, but this tends to only happen if you haven’t used the night heater for a long time, say at the start of winter after a hot summer. I had to do it about a dozen times on our spare DAF recently and eventually it kicked into life after smoking the yard out and it’s been good as gold since. If it’s not smoking out of the back then sounds like you’ve [zb]ed it, especially if you’ve had it working fine in recent days. They are temperamental things at the best of times. I presume you have ensured the temp dial is at max, yes? If the temp dial is set low then obviously it won’t fire up as the cab temp is already above what you have the night heater temp dial set to.
Mick Bracewell:
Is the external vent smoking like a train when it’s trying to fire up and stinks of partially burnt diesel? I believe it’s the glow plug that’s had it if that happens. Sometimes you can coax them back into life by keep cycling the switch every 5 mins or so each time it fails, but this tends to only happen if you haven’t used the night heater for a long time, say at the start of winter after a hot summer. I had to do it about a dozen times on our spare DAF recently and eventually it kicked into life after smoking the yard out and it’s been good as gold since. If it’s not smoking out of the back then sounds like you’ve [zb]ed it, especially if you’ve had it working fine in recent days. They are temperamental things at the best of times. I presume you have ensured the temp dial is at max, yes? If the temp dial is set low then obviously it won’t fire up as the cab temp is already above what you have the night heater temp dial set to.
Thanks for the reply. It’s not smoking at all. The light comes on then after a few seconds goes off. There is no smoke or noises. Also I should have said its a 70plate so I’m hoping the glow plug hasn’t failed already, although with the amount of problems I’ve had with this and the 15plate before it, I wouldn’t be surprised. Luckily it’s going back next week. Hopefully the new MANs will be a bit more reliable
If you have a full width catwalk then the plug is less likely to be the problem, although as Dan says, it is a common problem, and the symptoms you describe do point to a power supply fault.
Have you checked the air INLET to the heater? A blocked inlet will cause a problem much quicker than a blocked outlet. Also, what fuel level is in the tank? The night heater fuel pump on my old Scania won’t lift the fuel if the tank is low.
mm1988:
Hi everyone, hope you all had a good Christmas/New year.
Just wondering if anyone has any experience with renault range T night heaters. Mine has stopped working. When I press the button it lights up for a couple of seconds then goes off. It never fires up. I’ve searched on here but there isn’t much information for the range T heater. I’ve tried pulling the fuse F69 and replacing plus the big red one but even with both fuses out the light comes on and goes off like before. Not sure if there is another fuse not listed in the book. I’ve spoken to Renault service and they were no use at all. Has anyone else got any suggestions I could try as it’s freezing in here.
Thanks Martyn
Hi Martyn, your problem sounds similar to this Volvo problem and I wonder if the solution here would be of any help to you?
edinburgh_newbie wrote:
Got an fh4 having night heater issues if o turn it on motor kicks in for 3 seconds then turns off.If i set it to lowest temp will kick in for about 30 seconds then turn off. Cant get it to stay on at a temp of 21 or 22
2 very cold nights abroad one weekend recently and after google and all else failed spoke to the mechanic on Monday who started me on the right track so I’ll post this now for future reference as it’s a bit late to help you.
If a fault has occurred it may require the laptop to reset it but this workaround may get a heater back running in the meantime hopefully.
On my truck the icool and night heater are operated by a switch and the normal temperature dial on the dashboard for the digital display.
The key is to pull the fuse to the heater while it is being powered i.e. during those brief 3 seconds while it is trying to start.
On mine the night heater fuse is F69 so I started the heater and immediately pulled this one.
Popped fuse back in and restarted the heater only to hear that gorgeous comforting purr that only a night heater can give you on a freezing night.
2 mistakes I was making before this was pulling the fuse long after the heater failed to start. Since it had already shut down it was unpowered anyway so pulling fuse made no difference.
Second was noticing that pulling fuse F69 did not immediately cut off power to the temperature display panel I assumed I had the wrong fuse. However afterwards I realized the temperature display is powered by the climate control (A/C) fuse F38.
If you haven’t done it before the the fuse cover (top panel of dashboard) is “hinged” at the windscreen side so initially lift it at the footwell side to open.
You don’t need a manual as the panel has a decal with all the fuses marked on it.
Old John:
If you have a full width catwalk then the plug is less likely to be the problem, although as Dan says, it is a common problem, and the symptoms you describe do point to a power supply fault.
Have you checked the air INLET to the heater? A blocked inlet will cause a problem much quicker than a blocked outlet. Also, what fuel level is in the tank? The night heater fuel pump on my old Scania won’t lift the fuel if the tank is low.
I assumed that the 2 vents behind the seats are the inlet and outlet. If not where is the inlet on the Renault?
Thanks for the info Hurryup&wait. The Renault is effectively a volvo underneath and the fuse box is identical. I did read those posts you linked when I was searching last night but I didn’t try pulling the fuse while it’s powered. I’ll give that a try
Just to update Hurryup&wait was spot on I just wish I had seen it earlier as I was freezing last night. If anyone else has a similar issue with volvo or renault night heater switch the heater on and immediately pull fuse F69 while it’s switched on. Leave it a minute and replace the fuse and mine fired up straight away. Not ideal but perfect as a temporary solution if you’re stuck on a cold night out and can’t get back. Not sure what the problem is but I’m guessing it’s an electrical/controller issue rather than fuel or glow plug as resetting it seems to fix it for a while
Good to see a good outcome.
If it is very cold you can always use the 6 cylinder night heater. Usually the mere mention of this will speed up repairs to the faulty one.
Franglais:
Good to see a good outcome.
If it is very cold you can always use the 6 cylinder night heater. Usually the mere mention of this will speed up repairs to the faulty one.
I did use the 6 cylinder one a couple of times, although to be fair the company I’m working for at the moment are quite good at getting jobs done when needed. It was just unfortunate that I didn’t have enough time to get back to get it fixed and Thompsons Renault said that the night heater isn’t classed a call out repair item even though its a brand new truck and already had a few problems with it. I learned a valuable lesson last night though, I need a thicker sleeping bag for emergencies 
I would have run the engine all night, [zb] em. If it has an auto-cut out, set the CC button on with the revs slightly above idle and it will stay running. No way I would have laid there freezing my ■■■■■■■■ off vs 5 litres of diesel.
mm1988:
Just to update Hurryup&wait was spot on I just wish I had seen it earlier as I was freezing last night
I’m glad to hear that worked for you too MM however I apologise as you read it almost as soon as I posted it. Although my post was prompted by yours I posted it in the Volvo heater thread first and copied it over so that hopefully a Google search or whatever would find it in future as I know how miserable a cold night can be without a night heater or enough blankets.
I meant to post it weeks ago so my bad 
However thank you for letting us know that this worked out for you too as so often there is no pass/fail feedback and we are none the wiser if we encounter a similar problem.
Franglais:
Good to see a good outcome.
Indeed Franglais as we are accustomed to mostly whinging and ■■■■■■■ around here.
Mick Bracewell:
I would have run the engine all night, [zb] em. If it has an auto-cut out, set the CC button on with the revs slightly above idle and it will stay running. No way I would have laid there freezing my ■■■■■■■■ off vs 5 litres of diesel.
Indeed Mick, I too have been that soldier and the CC button as you say is your only friend but I am seriously self conscious about disturbing others if I run it for more than 30 mins at night in Euroland even though for FH4 Volvos in winter that is almost a basic requirement due the the crap battery/power consumption set up. Maybe I need to grow a set as I pull a fridge most of the time