I have recently bought a 2.2 Prestigo Ulysse diesel and Ive notice that when its cold and I turn the ignition off and get out of the car I can hear a noise like I've left something on, Ive had a little look on my hands and knees in the dark and I think the noise is the fuel pump running and also sometimes a fan which is located under the passenger footwell. the noise normally continues for a couple of minutes after I turn the ignition off? A friend mentioned that it may be an Auxillary diesel powered heater, Ive looked in the handbook and found no mention of one, does anyone know if the Prestigo has one and what its for?

The auxilliary heater was an expensive option available for diesel engined vehicles. It comprised of a small diesel engine fitted under the car, with its own fuel line from the tank, it's own exhaust system, and was plumbed into the car's coolant system. It was controlled either by a switch on the dash, or by a remote control so that you could switch it on from inside the house before getting to the car.

It was usually only specified for very cold climate countries. If you have one, it should look like the photo below. There's further information on retro-fitting one in the PDF below.
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Davren said:

The auxilliary heater was an expensive option available for diesel engined vehicles. It comprised of a small diesel engine fitted under the car, with its own fuel line from the tank, it's own exhaust system, and was plumbed into the car's coolant system. It was controlled either by a switch on the dash, or by a remote control so that you could switch it on from inside the house before getting to the car.

It was usually only specified for very cold climate countries. If you have one, it should look like the photo below. There's further information on retro-fitting one in the PDF below.
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Hi Thanks for the reply


I'm pretty sure its not one of those then unless its well hidden somewhere, the wining noise defiantly seems to be coming from the fuel tank area and the fan noise seems to be coming from this unit which is located under the passenger foot well ??

I was wrong it is one of those units, I had another look and spotted the exhaust hanging out, the weird thing is whats it for? there isn't any buttons on the dash for it and there is nothing in the cars paper history to say its been retro fitted it certainly looks like original spec but why would you need an independent heater than only appears to work when the ignition is on? perhaps its for cold mornings you turn the ignition on half an hour before you start the car so that it heats the cooling system?

t4xy said:

perhaps its for cold mornings you turn the ignition on half an hour before you start the car so that it heats the cooling system?

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correct, diesel fuel turns to "wax" at low temps, and IF you can get the cars engine started..it'll not warm the coolant for @15 mins

this is probably a unit similar to an Eberspacher.

I remember my sons old 307 had a coolant heater built in - again top spec diesels only.

t4xy said:

there isn't any buttons on the dash for it and there is nothing in the cars paper history to say its been retro fitted it certainly looks like original spec but why would you need an independent heater than only appears to work when the ignition is on? perhaps its for cold mornings you turn the ignition on half an hour before you start the car so that it heats the cooling system?

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Possibly it's controlled by a switch, but you haven't found it yet. If it was retro-fitted, the switch could be anywhere; glove box, under a seat for example.

Possibly it originally had a remote control and the previous owner lost it, didn't have it, or didn't give it to you.

As far as I know, none of these systems required you to switch the car's ignition on. Leaving the key in the car would be a security risk. The manufacturer wouldn't have designed it that way.
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This car is starting to fascinate me with all the gizmo's fitted to it, I cant wait for summer to get underneath it and start having a proper look, I found this youtube video which seems to suggest that the unit does not pre-warm the car but is instead fitted to aid the warm up of the engine and hence save fuel but if you watch the video it looks like it wouldn't be hard to fit a switch for independent use.