Engine part..whats this called

[Amarrly]

Hi, Vauxaual Vivaro CDTi. Has been sat idle for too long during lockdown. Went to start it the other day, felt like it kept wanting to fire but just chugged along, after a quick look under the bonnet, I noticed one of these had corroded away and broken. What is it and would this be the cause?.

[Boosted LS1]

whatever you do don't snip those wires ;-)

[njw1]

That looks like an auxiliary coolant heater which would be used (as the name suggests!) to warm up the coolant more quickly in cold weather and no that wire not being connected wouldn't prevent the van from starting. It sounds to me like your battery has become discharged from lack of use, have you tried jump starting the van or putting a new battery on?

[stevieturbo]

I'd doubt that would have any impact on starting, and it's probably been like that for some time

[tribbles]

It's a vortex channeller.

[bearman68]

njw1 said:

That looks like an auxiliary coolant heater which would be used (as the name suggests!) to warm up the coolant more quickly in cold weather and no that wire not being connected wouldn't prevent the van from starting. It sounds to me like your battery has become discharged from lack of use, have you tried jump starting the van or putting a new battery on?

Don't listen to those having a laugh - it's the heater used to ionise the coolant, and therefore pumping hydrogen into the engine. Helps the diesel burn cleaner and quicker. Defo won't start without those wires connected.

Or alternatively it's what NJW said.