I might only live in Berkshire, but my house is exposed to the elements and the windchill makes for some horrendously iced up windows and windscreens in the morning. In the past I have used a special blanket on the Windscreen but it is a pain to put on and off. :(

(Running the car before driving offachieves nothing at all as the 2.0L TDI will not warm up unless it is under load, and i don't think it is good for it anyway).

I know some people have had a Kenlowe pre-heater fitted to their Fabia in the past and they rate the units quite highly (KENLOWE). It would be ideal for me as I have a mains power socket nearby.

However the problem i have is that I am not convinced the unit would actually fit in the engine bay... it really is a bit crowded in there! :confused:

Has anyone done this on their Octavia, and if so with what engine?

I see the unit is not huge (about the size of a fuel filter) so i would of thought finding room would not be too difficult, don't forget when you remove the plastic engine cover there will more room under there, one possibility might be bolting it to the engine block? i would however inquire with Kenlowe before doing that as the extra vibration may invalidate the warranty.

I would suggest NOT mounting it to the block itself.

Really it needs to be on an inner wing or against the bulkhead. The unit isn't big and you should be able to squeeze it in.

I suppose worst case scenario you could always put in behind the glovebox or similar... would obviously need holes drilling for the pipework but its an option atleast.

Is there room under the fusebox/battery?

What about relocating the battery to the boot??

There will be a way of getting it fitted for sure.

There is a good space forward of the airbox and to the right of the inlet trunking with a nice base onto which you could mount a bracket; plus there is conveniently a water hose from the radiator right there as well; plus its close to the battery/fuse box for power supply.

Thanks.

There appears to be a bit of space just behind the battery, and it might be accesible if the battery is removed...

Definetely would prefer to have it bolted to bulhead.

Thanks.

There appears to be a bit of space just behind the battery, and it might be accessible if the battery is removed...

Definitely would prefer to have it bolted to bulkhead.

... but then how would you route the in/out water hoses? Got to be a mare.

Use the 'alternative fixing plate' to mount it on the horizontal base behind the nearside headlight.

Get a smaller windshield fluid bottle if you have xenons and put it beneath it, or inside the bumper, in front of the other side's wheel arch.

Or try looking from underneath, there has to be some space available somewhere around the gearbox.

Put it low down, behind bumper area next to the front fog lights.

If you park near your house or a "mains output" I would install one of these kits: www.defa.com I

f you park far from "mains output" I would i choose a webasto diesel heater. They work great if you do enough driving to keep your battery topped up.

Cars that are meant for the scandinavian market have a LIN-bus controlled PTC heater element in the same housing as the heater matrix. They work great, and makes demisting/deicing the front screen easy as it heats up very fast as long as the system voltage is OK and you haven't pushed the "econ" button on the climatronic.

Enjoy!

Anyone know why you can't order the Skoda pre-heater setup for UK cars.

Asked about it when I order my Scout, dealer just shrugged his shoulders, knew less than I did.

Spent sometime looking at the Kenlowe option, they have no specific fitters to point you towards which seemed a shame.

I'd take mine to have it done but they can't even point you to any places that have done installation before.

Kenlowe seem to be missing business by not being very customer focused, I'm afraid.

It probably doesn't have room anywhere because of the RHD setup. The car is mainly conceived for LHD.

You could order Webasto diesel heaters on the Passat etc, so there are proper kits and things out there.

It probably doesn't have room anywhere because of the RHD setup. The car is mainly conceived for LHD.

It just fits in the air con ducting though, so seems a bit random if you're talking about the PTG heater.

I wanted to order this when I bought my Scout, but it was not possible to get it factory installed. The dealer said it was because of the Diesel Particle Filter, but I doubt that.

A local dealer of Eberspacher showed me a sketch on how to mount it in an Octavia II. It is mounted on the left side behind the front bumper. There is enough room to fit the whole system.

Only problem is the price. It's really expensive. (about £2000 in Norway), so I have decided to wait for a while.

Another thought is to let Skoda mount the factory kit and get it 100% integrated with MDF etc. That would be nice, but I don't know if that is possible. Then you don't have to press the econ button and do all this manual stuff to enable the heater.

You could order Webasto diesel heaters on the Passat etc, so there are proper kits and things out there.

There is a slight difference on the Passat and the Octavia regarding the engine preheater. On the Octavia it is electric, on the Passat it is fuel based. That means it is much easier to add the Webasto kit on the Passat than on the Octavia, and much cheaper as well.

If you park near your house or a "mains output" I would install one of these kits: www.defa.com I

f you park far from "mains output" I would i choose a webasto diesel heater. They work great if you do enough driving to keep your battery topped up.

Cars that are meant for the scandinavian market have a LIN-bus controlled PTC heater element in the same housing as the heater matrix. They work great, and makes demisting/deicing the front screen easy as it heats up very fast as long as the system voltage is OK and you haven't pushed the "econ" button on the climatronic.

Enjoy!

Can I get a PTC heater element in the UK and install it ?