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Espar B4L Heater not starting at Elevation
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Hey curmudgeon! Checking in to see how your new standpipe install went and if its' helped with your altitude issues with your espar. And I'm still not clear how the new pipe installs. Does it thread into the existing aux tap or did you have to drill a new hole to thread it into?
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I don't have my van yet, "it's being built". With that said it appears a new hole would be drilled and the nut threads onto the standpipe from the back of the pump. I'm just in the process of collecting all of the stuff for whenever I actually receive my van. Ordered on 2/10 if anyone is curious. No VIN yet.
@TrevMetz
FWIW, as a "full transparency" reminder (mentioned in another thread), my current Espar S3 B5E implementation is on an E-350 Econoline van, to help educate me in prep for a Transit high roof "Version 2" conversion. But I believe the fuel pump implementations are VERY similar between the two. In any case, on the Econoline, the fuel pump is plastic (as is the tank), and comes in two versions, one with an auxiliary fuel port and one without. Mine does not have the aux port, but the area where it would go, including the vertical line (mostly open area) that would have the 6mm plastic tube is available. So I drilled a hole in the top of the pump there and dropped my Espar 2mm standpipe down into that vertical space. An advantage of this is that if I screwed anything up in the process, I could buy a new fuel pump (rather than a new tank). This also allows me the option to simply remove the system if I want to put it in a different vehicle or if I want to sell it without the Espar mod. So you could look into whether that's feasible on the Transit fuel pump. The available place to drill that accommodated all the functional requirements was a tight fit, in that I had just enough space on the top of the pump to get the stand pipe in, not overlap the edge of the fuel pump lock-ring bracket with the top of the standpipe fitting, and on the inside top of the pump to still have enough access to get the nut on and tighten, while limiting to the region where the standpipe could go down all the way to just short of the bottom of the pump. So marking the drill hole in just the right spot was critical. (There was plenty of space for the vertical pipe itself). And again, this is on an Econoline, so there may be important differences or issues to consider on the Transit.
Alternatively, it shouldn't be a big deal to patch a hole in the Transit plastic tank if you decided to just drill into the tank and you wanted to remove it in the future. If you do drill into the tank, it makes sense to do it near to where the fuel pump is mounted, because that is more or less in the center and less susceptible to slope-induced issues when the fuel level is low.
Don't drill in to the actual plastic gas tank. I've been told by Webasto technical support that this is actually a violation of Federal law, but I have not confirmed that. You need to drop the tank and remove the fuel sending unit. Drill into the top of the sending unit in what you think is the best place. There is really only one good place to drill. See the attached pictures. Getting the lock ring clamp off was a pain on our new AWD chassis and it would have helped to have this a tool or similar.
![150998]()
![150999]()
Still in disbelief people do this to their van for heaters that are not that reliable to begin with. If determined to have a fuel heater it seems better to just get the diesel version with its own small tank.
This seems like a really obvious spot where Ford could deny you warranty service. Certainly if a fuel system component goes wrong. And possibly if engine issues happen. These companies will look for any opportunity to deny warranty service.
This seems like a really obvious spot where Ford could deny you warranty service. Certainly if a fuel system component goes wrong. And possibly if engine issues happen. These companies will look for any opportunity to deny warranty service.
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Jeez Youtube is almost unwatchable with so many ads. It has gotten ridiculous
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I use Adblock Plus for Firefox (free and open source), which blocks most of the YouTube ads.
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When you open with a smartphone it goes to the YouTube app directly. It sucks
Van build and research involves so much YouTube that I bit the bullet and started paying for it. You might want to consider it. It's a tiny fraction of how much you end up spending on the van and the improvement to the quality of life is substantial.
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Ublock Origin for browsers, Brave Browser on mobile. No ads no more.
I'm also getting ready to install my B4L in my 2021 HR extended AWD Transit. I've been scrounging the forum and other places to be prepared as possible as this is likely to be one of the most complex jobs in my buildout.
Here is a video I found showing a standpipe installation from a knockoff heater, I like when they show their struggles & mistakes.
In my Espar B4L kit, the standpipe is included. The standpipe has what looks like a length of fiber optic line running through it and moves freely within it. Should this piece of plastic remain? Perhaps it helps with the cavitation issue? Since it is not secured in the standpipe in anyway, maybe it would get sucked into the fuel pump?
![152997]()
Here is a video I found showing a standpipe installation from a knockoff heater, I like when they show their struggles & mistakes.
In my Espar B4L kit, the standpipe is included. The standpipe has what looks like a length of fiber optic line running through it and moves freely within it. Should this piece of plastic remain? Perhaps it helps with the cavitation issue? Since it is not secured in the standpipe in anyway, maybe it would get sucked into the fuel pump?
Found my answer, in case anyone else has the same question, it is to prevent debris from getting inside the standpipe and should be discarded before installation.
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Let us know where you end up putting that standpipe into the tank!
I plan to install it just as @skirunman pictured above. I will also post pics once I have it complete.
That pump looks virtually identical to the pump on my Econoline, and that's where I drilled for the Espar standpipe.
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