P1000 Pioneer cab heater question

[AdamY]

Hey everyone,
I’m new here and I’m looking for feedback on the Honda cab heater. I recently purchased a 22 pioneer 1000-5, I purchased the full cab and heater from the dealership and had them install everything. I live in Northern BC and the cab is absolutely brutal for letting cold air in, but after following some advice I found on this forum I managed to get it sealed up ok. But I find that the heater in it is an absolute joke.

the two lowest settings on the heater basically don’t even blow air, the blower basically makes a groaning noise and air flow is essentially non existent. On the third setting the groaning noise stops but the airflow is still at what I feel would be the lowest setting on any normal blower. Also the dial that switches vent positions between floor, dash and defrost doesn’t do anything at all, I have airflow through dash vents and a small amount of air through defrost, nothing through floor vents at all

I’ve talked to the dealership about it and they tell me it worked just fine when they installed it and don’t seem interested in looking into it. I guess my question is does anyone have any experience with the Honda brand heater? is there something wrong with my heater? or am I wasting my time and these heaters just suck and I should look into aftermarket options? Any advice would be much appreciated

 

[Admin]

 

[Scoop]

Can't speak for the OEM heater, but generally speaking:

If you're NOT moving (and no cold air is entering the cabin), my Ice Crusher heater (and most other heaters, likely including the OEM Honda unit) keeps it fairly decent in there. Three speeds, just different fan sounds = different airflow. No groaning or non-existent airflow.

Now if you're talking about keeping it toasty warm while moving about, I don't think any heater will be able to keep up with all the cold air coming in, no matter how well you (think you) seal up the cab.

The Pioneer was never meant to be as toasty warm as either a car/truck/Jeep, nor as good as a SXS that was purpose built for it with a factory heater or HVAC system (e.g., CanAm Defender, Polaris Northstar).

 

[Vikes79]

Hey everyone,
I’m new here and I’m looking for feedback on the Honda cab heater. I recently purchased a 22 pioneer 1000-5, I purchased the full cab and heater from the dealership and had them install everything. I live in Northern BC and the cab is absolutely brutal for letting cold air in, but after following some advice I found on this forum I managed to get it sealed up ok. But I find that the heater in it is an absolute joke.

the two lowest settings on the heater basically don’t even blow air, the blower basically makes a groaning noise and air flow is essentially non existent. On the third setting the groaning noise stops but the airflow is still at what I feel would be the lowest setting on any normal blower. Also the dial that switches vent positions between floor, dash and defrost doesn’t do anything at all, I have airflow through dash vents and a small amount of air through defrost, nothing through floor vents at all

I’ve talked to the dealership about it and they tell me it worked just fine when they installed it and don’t seem interested in looking into it. I guess my question is does anyone have any experience with the Honda brand heater? is there something wrong with my heater? or am I wasting my time and these heaters just suck and I should look into aftermarket options? Any advice would be much appreciated

Generally speaking it’s an issue with all Pioneers IMO. The cooling system was borderline in the summer on previous generation of 1000 Pioneers. From what I understand the system is better on the newer Pioneers…for overheating in the summer. Generally speaking this means bigger radiator, better fan design etc. All else being equal this means than the machine has to work even longer in winter to raise the overall system temperature to a point that you get strong supply of hot enough coolant to the heater.

Most of us with heaters either install a secondary tstat to force hot coolant to the heater by isolating until more cooling is needed, or you can go old school and simply block about 1/2 of the front radiator. This is how I do it by simply inserting a long strip of cardboard across the radiator and its support. Preferably directly on the radiator.

of course this is provided all the ducts and such are connected properly etc.

I plow snow in a sweatshirt and baseball cap with soft uppers and mid panel even at -15f, but I have the 1/2 door bottoms sealed really well and most of the roof sealed with foam. I don’t know of very many people that have the bottoms of the 1/2 door sealed at all. You can see how mine is still setup in the winter.

from back when my Pioneer was new…
Thread 'Vikes79 Hardwater Honda build'
P1000 - Vikes79 Hardwater Honda build

driving back and forth from my ice house on the open roads is another thing but it’s not unbearable.

 

[AdamY]

Generally speaking it’s an issue with all Pioneers IMO. The cooling system was borderline in the summer on previous generation of 1000 Pioneers. From what I understand the system is better on the newer Pioneers…for overheating in the summer. Generally speaking this means bigger radiator, better fan design etc. All else being equal this means than the machine has to work even longer in winter to raise the overall system temperature to a point that you get strong supply of hot enough coolant to the heater.

Most of us with heaters either install a secondary tstat to force hot coolant to the heater by isolating until more cooling is needed, or you can go old school and simply block about 1/2 of the front radiator.

of course this is provided all the ducts and such are connected properly.

Generally speaking it’s an issue with all Pioneers IMO. The cooling system was borderline in the summer on previous generation of 1000 Pioneers. From what I understand the system is better on the newer Pioneers…for overheating in the summer. Generally speaking this means bigger radiator, better fan design etc. All else being equal this means than the machine has to work even longer in winter to raise the overall system temperature to a point that you get strong supply of hot enough coolant to the heater.

Most of us with heaters either install a secondary tstat to force hot coolant to the heater by isolating until more cooling is needed, or you can go old school and simply block about 1/2 of the front radiator.

of course this is provided all the ducts and such are connected properly.

So far I haven’t had an issue with the actual temperature of the air, coolant seems to be getting up to temp pretty quick, if there is a problem it seems to be a blower issue, the air is hot there just doesn’t seem to be very much of it being spit out

 

[AdamY]

Can't speak for the OEM heater, but generally speaking:

If you're NOT moving (and no cold air is entering the cabin), my Ice Crusher heater (and most other heaters, likely including the OEM Honda unit) keeps it fairly decent in there. Three speeds, just different fan sounds = different airflow. No groaning or non-existent airflow.

Now if you're talking about keeping it toasty warm while moving about, I don't think any heater will be able to keep up with all the cold air coming in, no matter how well you (think you) seal up the cab.

The Pioneer was never meant to be as toasty warm as either a car/truck/Jeep, nor as good as a SXS that was purpose built for it with a factory heater or HVAC system (e.g., CanAm Defender, Polaris Northstar).

Yah I know what you’re saying, which is why I’m hesitant to insist there is an issue to the dealership. I don’t expect it to be cooking in there but honestly it barely takes the chill off

 

[Scoop]

So far I haven’t had an issue with the actual temperature of the air, coolant seems to be getting up to temp pretty quick, if there is a problem it seems to be a blower issue, the air is hot there just doesn’t seem to be very much of it being spit out

Tears, misrouted, and/or improperly seated duct work?

 

[Vikes79]

So far I haven’t had an issue with the actual temperature of the air, coolant seems to be getting up to temp pretty quick, if there is a problem it seems to be a blower issue, the air is hot there just doesn’t seem to be very much of it being spit out

Are all the ducts having the same output? Can you feel a difference in air pressure between high and low fan speeds?

 

[PDogRex]

I installed the new Honda heater in my 22 P1K5 Trail. As you mentioned the 2 lowest settings barely move any air, the highest setting is where I leave mine most of the time.The output is pretty pathetic !😡I have sealed around the instrument cluster, roof, steering wheel tilt “slot” it has helped some. Next will be around the large gaps of the half doors.

 

[AdamY]

I installed the new Honda heater in my 22 P1K5 Trail. As you mentioned the 2 lowest settings barely move any air, the highest setting is where I leave mine most of the time.The output is pretty pathetic !😡I have sealed around the instrument cluster, roof, steering wheel tilt “slot” it has helped some. Next will be around the large gaps of the half doors.

Good to know thanks for the info! Does your selector switch do anything? Mine is apparently just for decoration and doesn’t reroute the airflow at all

 

[PDogRex]

Good to know thanks for the info! Does your selector switch do anything? Mine is apparently just for decoration and doesn’t reroute the airflow at all

Yes the selector switch works at diverting the airflow where you need it.

 

[Rayger143]

Sounds to me like you have a diverter issue and might be blocking air flow. What part of Northern BC? It can be quite cold up there. Welcome to the club from another BC guy. You better post some pics of that ride of yours before the cops get here.

 

[HBarlow]

As others have said, it's just not possible to stop all the cold air intrusion into a Pioneer cab. You didn't mention the local temps you're experiencing but "northern BC" is probably pretty cold.

My buggy is a 3 passenger instead of 5 and I've installed automotive insulation on the roof, dab, and floor. The aftermarket Inferno heater "warms" the cab in temps in the 20° range but it is never going to be as comfortable as we all might want.

The best way to determine if your Honda heater or installation is defective would be to compare it to another Pioneer. Can you find another Pioneer owner who has a cab heater installed?

 

[RedorDead]

Sounds to me like there is a problem with what the automotive world calls blend doors. The moving parts that control the mix of cool/hot air as well as directing the air to upper, lower, or dash vents. Air valves if you will. Or possibly the installer screwed up the ductwork. Any good auto tech who understands such systems can give you a second opinion on the functioning of it.

I do have the factory service manual and I can send you some excerpts (assuming the heater is documented) if you like.

 

[Scrappapotamus]

Honda has written directions with illustrations for most all of their accessories. If you go to their power-sports site and find your heater under the accessory tab, you can access the installation instructions and download or print them from their site. Print the directions, study them and then grab a flash light and determine if your heater was installed properly.

 

[slowdryrider]

I bought my machine used and it does have the honda heater . Not sure what blower is in yours but I did change mine to a different blower when I got it. I did this because I found that the blower motor just doesn't put out enough air movement. I've owned a few different machines and built all my own cabs and heaters. I used this blower because I like the amount of air movement it produces . I usually run mine on low [my switch only has high and low] Like others mentioned if you have any sort of cold air coming in it's pretty hard to warm up the interior . Every place that leaks cold air helps cool off the cab ,so its very important to seal every air leak you can .

I did some searching and this is the heater motor assembly I used from summit racing[. sum-991102-2 ]
or Maradyne air blower assembly [TA 1160007m]

 

[slowdryrider]

Just got to thinking about your problem of no air through some vents. Have you travelled in any water say floor board height or more. What I found with mine is that the honda heater under the seat is mounted to low. I lifted mine up as high as I could so that the motor almost touches the seat bottom. If you've been in any water it's possible that you have water in the hoses that run from the heater to the vents. What I've done with mine [because this happens to me when travelling in water ] is I've found the lowest part of the vent hose that runs from the heater and used a 3/16 drill bit to put a small hole into the vent hose to allow any water to drain out. Water in the hose = no air movement .

 

[AdamY]

Sounds to me like you have a diverter issue and might be blocking air flow. What part of Northern BC? It can be quite cold up there. Welcome to the club from another BC guy. You better post some pics of that ride of yours before the cops get here.

That makes sense I’ll look into that, thanks for the advice! I’m around fort st john so way up
There haha

 

[AdamY]

Just got to thinking about your problem of no air through some vents. Have you travelled in any water say floor board height or more. What I found with mine is that the honda heater under the seat is mounted to low. I lifted mine up as high as I could so that the motor almost touches the seat bottom. If you've been in any water it's possible that you have water in the hoses that run from the heater to the vents. What I've done with mine [because this happens to me when travelling in water ] is I've found the lowest part of the vent hose that runs from the heater and used a 3/16 drill bit to put a small hole into the vent hose to allow any water to drain out. Water in the hose = no air movement .

I haven’t driven through any water but plenty of snow, I’ll Definitely look into that thanks!

 

[AdamY]

As others have said, it's just not possible to stop all the cold air intrusion into a Pioneer cab. You didn't mention the local temps you're experiencing but "northern BC" is probably pretty cold.

My buggy is a 3 passenger instead of 5 and I've installed automotive insulation on the roof, dab, and floor. The aftermarket Inferno heater "warms" the cab in temps in the 20° range but it is never going to be as comfortable as we all might want.

The best way to determine if your Honda heater or installation is defective would be to compare it to another Pioneer. Can you find another Pioneer owner who has a cab heater installed?

finding another pioneer with a heater would definitely be the answer but unfortunately I haven’t had any luck with that

 

[Bighat]

I'd take it back to the dealership and shove it up the ace. It's a new machine. Don't let a-holes off the hook, give it right back to them. The wash boy installed it and nobody checked it. Bet money on it.