Kodiak Installation

The newly refurbished Kodiak heater arrived from 3 Bros. yesterday, and they've done a really nice job. The new intake is magnificent. Hard to believe it's the same heater that left here! Haven't had a lot of time, but installed the main heater body and the connected part of the in-cabin distributor. Looking forward to starting it up once the Land Rover is running!

Wiring the Land Rover has, as usual, meant new parts to order, such as bullet connectors and crimper, and the project will have to wait until all those are here before the wiring can be completed, and that means other things down the line have to wait as well.

Below, the main heater body. The original orange wires are very long, and for now have attached them to the duct intake door cable. These wires may get shortened. Hoses attach to the two gray pipes just above the blower housing.

The original cable for the intake door is also extremely long, and will be shortened for a neater fit. Ducting from the fresh air intake opening on the front wing, near the headlights, attaches to the intake at lower left.

Below, the connected part of the hot-air distribution box. There's a second part to this, to which the in-cabin hoses attach, and these in turn go the to the windscreen demister vents. The white knob on the sub-panel is the heater control; turning it clockwise turns on the two-speed blower, in two increments, and pulling opens the intake door.

Getting the heater box and the in-cabin air distributor bolted to the footwell is an extreme challenge, as the forward bolt holes are very, very awkwardly placed, especially on the top side under the heater box. This may explain why only the rear-most bolts were used when I first saw the original installation, and may also perhaps explain why the Mk.II version of the Kodiak was only in production for just two years, being replaced by the Mk.III.

If you're interested to learn more about Kodia heaters, there's an excellent web page here.