Heater Problem

[Themattylewis]

Evening all,

With it getting a bit colder over the last couple of days, I’ve been (attempting) to heat the car up a bit. Unfortunately my 2013 A3 2.0tdi seems to have forgotten the difference between hot and cold. 

I’ve had a search about some of the forums to see if there was a solution, but none are jumping out at me. A fair few people seem to have had this problem but people don’t seem to have posted how they resolved afterwards.

hoping someone on here will know what they’re talking about!

Things I’ve done so far;

checked coolant level, fluid within the guides

checked radiator pipes (top being hot, bottom being normal temp) read that it can be caused by a faulty water pump but no issues there by the looks

mine doesn’t have the issue some people have where hot air starts to blow when giving it some revs, seems to be pretty constant temp (that being cold air) 

there is a definitive switch over when switching from cold to warm on the dials, so assuming nothing is wrong there

attempted to have a gander at the cabin filter but couldn’t get the second plastic bit off to access, nearly broke my hand and didn’t have any tools on me - surely this won’t be much of an issue though(?)

just to note the air con and cold air work perfectly, and it’s recently had a service and my mechanic always clears any fault codes so it can’t be showing on the computer which leads me to think there must be air or a blockage in the system somewhere, the question is where?

any help is appreciated!

Cheers

Matty

 

 

[Magnet]

Hello Matty,

Any history of a recent coolant change, or work being carried out which necessitates the coolant system being disturbed? 

Coolant temperature gauge reading normal after a few miles and remains at this reading? 

You could try getting the car hot and selecting the maximimum setting on heating control, and checking if both heater hoses are the same temperature after a couple of minutes - obviously observing all safety requirements. Not sure how easy they are to get at on yours - may require some engine cowl removal. If both pipes are not hot then try squeezing them, and you might feel some air rush movements. 

Kind regards,

Gareth. 

[bigdumper]

my 55 plate audi 2.0 tdi is doing the same. heater is cold ,but could not bleed system, temp gauge stays normal, have to top up header tank every 2 days, this morning i put 2 bottles of k seal in header, no differance, am i doing something wrong, help//////

 

[Magnet]

'........am I doing something wrong?'

Sorry, but in my opinion yes - putting one bottle of K Seal in this cooling  system. Putting two!?? Using/ losing coolant? The car is trying to tell you something and you need to find out the cause of coolant loss/use. Basic things first:- change/ swop the header tank screw top - but I would not use an eBay one. No difference? Have the coolant system pressure tested. This should not cost you as much as two bottles of K Seal. What you do about having two bottles of this stuff in the coolant?? 

Kind regards,

Gareth.

[Majella]

Hi my car is doing the same thing I’ve just had radiator done a full service and still no heat my car is a Audi A3 141 Reg 

first Audi and I’m sure it will be my last nothing but trouble with her since I got her 

[M8Mnrz]

I have a 2013 A3 2.0 tdi and had the same issue. Thankfully I jave an extenced warranty and they replaced the heater matrix and the thermostat. They have told me i may need to top up with coolant as sometimes this will come up as a fault after flushing the system out. I picked the car up yesterday and the heating worked fine and i havent had time to top it up. On the drive this morning the heater worked fine until I turned it off and back on again and its now baclk to blowimg cold. 

This is due to the coolant being changed and until I top it up again it will alledgaley not work so the advice ref coolant change seems to be good....will let you know if this doesnt work!

 

[Andyman220]

Hey, I’ve been having the exact same fault with my car I’ve just changed the matrix and now it blows luke warm. Upon further inspection. we found that the blending flaps can be to blame for this as they are prone to stick on cold or luke warm. The thermostat in my opinion doesn’t seem like something to change if the car is running well ie not over heater or taking too long to warm up I hope this helps