Heatwave

[Part Timer]

As I said it's Pure Freedom telling me it's now illegal. Vans might fall under a different category to boats because of the danger of rupture during a crash. @GrippaTANKmight be able to give a bit more insight 

 

[Ricardo]

Sorry but it's on eBay now.

You could always make a sensible offer for it.

 

[GrippaTANK]

As I said it's Pure Freedom telling me it's now illegal. Vans might fall under a different category to boats because of the danger of rupture during a crash. @GrippaTANKmight be able to give a bit more insight 

Good Morning,

All brand new vehicles that have to type approved, and this involves pre-registered vehicle change of use, so the correct fuel pickup integration method has to be used as per the manufacturers warranty instruction so as not to be in-breach of the regulations for vehicle conversions.

We only connect to the vehicle at the manufacturers recommended and provided location using OEM manufacturers parts, so this ensures that regulations are adhered to.

 

[Part Timer]

Hopefully @sprucecan translate  :1f603:

 

[spruce]

Good Morning,

All brand new vehicles that have to type approved, and this involves pre-registered vehicle change of use, so the correct fuel pickup integration method has to be used as per the manufacturers warranty instruction so as not to be in-breach of the regulations for vehicle conversions.

We only connect to the vehicle at the manufacturers recommended and provided location using OEM manufacturers parts, so this ensures that regulations are adhered to.

Thanks Grippatank.

Please can you link to exactly what these regulations are now.

All vans we use are type approved as a van for commercial use, so I'm confused as to why adding a diesel heater would be in breach of any regulations for vehicle conversions. I could understand an issue when a van is later turned into a motorhome for example.

So if you guys were adding a diesel heater to a Fiat Ducato (whose chassis is the most popular for motorhome home conversions) how would you tap off from the fuel tank?  I ask because the most popular way was the tap into the diesel return pipe. However, there were a few convertors that drilled a hole in the fuel pump assembly 'flange' and fitted a Webasto standpipe in that hole.

https://www.butlertechnik.com/downloads/Webasto_Fuel_Integration_Sept_2016.pdf#page=1&zoom=auto,-178,546

 

[spruce]

Hopefully @sprucecan translate  :1f603:

Type approval is basically a 'certificate' that approves that a certain vehicle to be imported or manufactured for use on British roads meets British standards. The motor manufacturer has to ensure that each vehicle made is identical to the vehicle that approval was granted for. So the manufacturers are held responsible if the vehicle isn't identical.

So it appears that the rules have been tightened to include vehicle conversions as well.

By the sounds of it, it appears that the manufacturers have to approve of the correct method of fuel takeoff and that would require only using their OEM parts.  That is common practice in other spheres to ensure the warranty isn't invalidated. For example, if you changed the cambelt and it wasn't an OEM part, then a failure of that part and any damaged caused would not be the responsibility of the motor manufacturer to repair.

This doesn't just apply to motor vehicles - all things imported into the EU have to meet EU regulations and the CE mark is proof they do.

So the way I see it is that PF made an excuse not to swap your heater over into your new van. If they do it to the manufacturers requirements using their parts then there is no reason for them not to do it. See the methods in the above link that Webasto recommend. I'm sure that these will still apply. But it will be clearer when Grippa include a link to the new regulations.

.

 

[Part Timer]

So it sounds that if anyone does do it correctly it will cost a lot more money. Probably easier to say it's illegal as feeding from a jerrycan will be a lot cheaper

 

[spruce]

So it sounds that if anyone does do it correctly it will cost a lot more money. Probably easier to say it's illegal as feeding from a jerrycan will be a lot cheaper

It will be interesting to see the regulations - I can't find them using 'google.'

If you buy a catalytic convertor for your van, it can only be purchased by you when you provide a registration number. This is to ensure that you are replacing your cat with the one that meets the regulations for your van model and year.

The cat for our Citroen Xsara Hdi facelift is much more expensive than the cat for the hdi of the previous prefacelift model. Its because its type approved.

 

[GrippaTANK]

Type approval is basically a 'certificate' that approves that a certain vehicle to be imported or manufactured for use on British roads meets British standards. The motor manufacturer has to ensure that each vehicle made is identical to the vehicle that approval was granted for. So the manufacturers are held responsible if the vehicle isn't identical.

So it appears that the rules have been tightened to include vehicle conversions as well.

By the sounds of it, it appears that the manufacturers have to approve of the correct method of fuel takeoff and that would require only using their OEM parts.  That is common practice in other spheres to ensure the warranty isn't invalidated. For example, if you changed the cambelt and it wasn't an OEM part, then a failure of that part and any damaged caused would not be the responsibility of the motor manufacturer to repair.

This doesn't just apply to motor vehicles - all things imported into the EU have to meet EU regulations and the CE mark is proof they do.

So the way I see it is that PF made an excuse not to swap your heater over into your new van. If they do it to the manufacturers requirements using their parts then there is no reason for them not to do it. See the methods in the above link that Webasto recommend. I'm sure that these will still apply. But it will be clearer when Grippa include a link to the new regulations.

.

Type approval laws have indeed been tightened over the past few years, but there is no new type approval laws. However - the most recent update to the guidelines (http://www.dft.gov.uk/vca/vehicletype/) only applies to vehicles that are not yet registered. 

In short, if we were to work on a vehicle that had to not yet been registered, we would have to apply to have the type approval reassessed.

However, once the vehicle is registered (as all of the vehicles are that we work on, regardless of being brand new or used), then for the type of installations we carry out, providing we adher to the manufacturers provided and preferred fuel integration method, then no warranties or type approvals are invalidated.