HELP - heater core replacement

[RE001]

Hi,

currently trying to replace blocked heater core.

so far have only got under glovebox and realised I can’t actually slide the heater core out due to another part blocking its path out. 
 

anyone else done this and have any ideas? 
 

do I just need to start removing the rest of the part(s) under the glovebox? 

 

picture attached - the part I’m talking about is the black box to the left of the heater core. 

thanks

[squish14]

Hey, 

 

Not much help but how did this go in the end? I'm having heating issues at the moment ( barely any warm air even when on "HI" and the rest only blows cold) did you have the same issues and did the heater core replacement solve the issue? Or was you getting no hot air at all? 

 

Thanks 

[ian.f]

Interested to know the outcome here too please. I had the same issue. Flushed the core which helped a bit, but still not as it should be. 

[Vytas]

On 12/15/2023 at 7:30 PM, squish14 said:

Hey, 

 

Not much help but how did this go in the end? I'm having heating issues at the moment ( barely any warm air even when on "HI" and the rest only blows cold) did you have the same issues and did the heater core replacement solve the issue? Or was you getting no hot air at all? 

 

Thanks 

Hey how did you get on with this? You managed to get it out? I have a problem on my car were there is not much heat coming from front vents and only cold air from footwell and rear vents. I think its the heater core matrix. 

[Magnet]

It seems the OP did return to view Ian’s post of 5th Feb. but did not respond. 
Could be worth sending him a PM.

Kind regards,

Gareth. 

[Vytas]

16 minutes ago, Magnet said:

It seems the OP did return to view Ian’s post of 5th Feb. but did not respond. 
Could be worth sending him a PM.

Kind regards,

Gareth. 

Thanks will do, for some reason i can only PM 1 message a day:/

[RE001]

1 hour ago, Vytas said:

Hey how did you get on with this? You managed to get it out? I have a problem on my car were there is not much heat coming from front vents and only cold air from footwell and rear vents. I think its the heater core matrix. 

Hi, 

I had very little knowledge or experience with cars, so the steps I mentioned earlier were as far as I could manage on my own. Fortunately, I found a mechanic who was able to assist. I’m not entirely sure how he managed to slide the core out, but he did, and he replaced it with the part I had sourced. That resolved the issue completely.

I believe I paid around £100–£200 for the repair, which was significantly cheaper than the quotes I had received from Audi and other garages.

From what I saw, a flush might have worked as well, as the old core was clogged with a lot of debris. If you’re facing high repair quotes, it might be worth trying that first.

Sorry I couldn’t be more helpful, good luck with your repair.

[Vytas]

23 minutes ago, RE001 said:

Hi, 

I had very little knowledge or experience with cars, so the steps I mentioned earlier were as far as I could manage on my own. Fortunately, I found a mechanic who was able to assist. I’m not entirely sure how he managed to slide the core out, but he did, and he replaced it with the part I had sourced. That resolved the issue completely.

I believe I paid around £100–£200 for the repair, which was significantly cheaper than the quotes I had received from Audi and other garages.

From what I saw, a flush might have worked as well, as the old core was clogged with a lot of debris. If you’re facing high repair quotes, it might be worth trying that first.

Sorry I couldn’t be more helpful, good luck with your repair.

Hi,

 

Thanks for the answer. Can I ask you what was your initial problem that pointed you to replacing the heat core matrix? My car has low heat coming from the front vent and windshield vent, and no heat at all to the footwell area and back passenger seat vent.

Thanks!

 

[RE001]

6 hours ago, Vytas said:

Hi,

 

Thanks for the answer. Can I ask you what was your initial problem that pointed you to replacing the heat core matrix? My car has low heat coming from the front vent and windshield vent, and no heat at all to the footwell area and back passenger seat vent.

Thanks!

 

I originally had intermittent heat, this then became no heat. I just googled around to see what the issue could be. That pointed me to some coolant “bag” issues some people were having. 
this related to there being silica bags that would burst and cause a blockage in the heater core which in turn would lead to limited or no heat. 

if you have a helpful garage close by you could ask them to flush the heater core for you. Or there are videos online if you’re confident with trying this yourself. 

[ian.f]

Hi,

Sorry for late reply. 
I haven’t solved my issue. Booked in at a mechanics on Dec 9th. 
I have some heat from front vents, and cold from back/rear-footwells. 
I’m thinking it’ll be the matrix, like you’ve all mentioned here. 
As soon as I’ve got it back, I’ll post here and update you. 
 

cheers

[Vytas]

 

1 hour ago, ian.f said:

Hi,

Sorry for late reply. 
I haven’t solved my issue. Booked in at a mechanics on Dec 9th. 
I have some heat from front vents, and cold from back/rear-footwells. 
I’m thinking it’ll be the matrix, like you’ve all mentioned here. 
As soon as I’ve got it back, I’ll post here and update you. 
 

cheers

Thanks

[squish14]

RESULT!!! 

 

So I finally got round to swapping out the heater core and it's done the job! It took me a total of 2 hrs and I'm not a mechanic! 

 

Every garage I took it too either didn't want to do it or said it would be £1500 and 2 days to do it. I'd say give it ago your self, it's fairly straightforward. There's 2 things I'd change if I had to do it again... number 1 don't get drunk the night before 🤢 spent way to much time upside down for that! And 2. Get a flexi drill bit to get in the small spaces.. there's so many screws!!! 

 

I'd recommend whilst your there changing your pollen filter.. mine was disgusting! 

Also disconnect the battery first, for when your unplugging the air bags.

 

Other than that the only additional thing I had to take off was the blower motor on the back of the pollen filter, this gives enough room to slide the core out, in turn of this undo the 2 bolts on the media unit and slide it forward an inch. It just helps with the room

 

 

 

[cliffcoggin]

Thanks for the information Josh. That's the level of detail often missing from simple guides.

[Vytas]

49 minutes ago, squish14 said:

RESULT!!! 

 

So I finally got round to swapping out the heater core and it's done the job! It took me a total of 2 hrs and I'm not a mechanic! 

 

Every garage I took it too either didn't want to do it or said it would be £1500 and 2 days to do it. I'd say give it ago your self, it's fairly straightforward. There's 2 things I'd change if I had to do it again... number 1 don't get drunk the night before 🤢 spent way to much time upside down for that! And 2. Get a flexi drill bit to get in the small spaces.. there's so many screws!!! 

 

I'd recommend whilst your there changing your pollen filter.. mine was disgusting! 

Also disconnect the battery first, for when your unplugging the air bags.

 

Other than that the only additional thing I had to take off was the blower motor on the back of the pollen filter, this gives enough room to slide the core out, in turn of this undo the 2 bolts on the media unit and slide it forward an inch. It just helps with the room

 

 

 

Hi Josh,

 

Thanks for the update. Did you buy OEM radiator and where did you buy it from, I can`t find anywhere.

I managed to get the Audi OEM repair manual and was going to use it. It did say I needed to take both side panels from the driver and passenger. Did you need to do that, or have you done all the work from the passenger side?

I waiting now on my garage to get back as I think they will cover the costs to repair it, fingers crossed, as I bought the car only on 28 OCT and this issue was there when it was sold to me. Their aftersales did divert me to their service department to arrange the repair and I am waiting for call back. By the way the warranty they sold me with it, did not cover "blockages" so that was out the door.

Thanks again for the update!

The garage I got quote form was charging me 5 hours of labor time and around 400£ for parts (950 with VAT).

I can give you a link to the OEM manuals if anyone wants. They were uploaded by someone else, so I have no idea how long they will be there. Hopefully, this is allowed if not please delete.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Jx_L5y73mTxSQHxpXti7xw6fRNJQRe0A?fbclid=IwY2xjawHDp75leHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHX84hi5ZdWAoI2W_TreVS_8Wp8c3pEdD3Pc6545RTHA06G9Y03hEPqLmcw_aem_UuUtITdLl9fEKFXDKLA-RQ

Edited December 9 by Vytas

[squish14]

27 minutes ago, Vytas said:

Hi Josh,

 

Thanks for the update. Did you buy OEM radiator and where did you buy it from, I can`t find anywhere.

I managed to get the Audi OEM repair manual and was going to use it. It did say I needed to take both side panels from the driver and passenger. Did you need to do that, or have you done all the work from the passenger side?

I waiting now on my garage to get back as I think they will cover the costs to repair it, fingers crossed, as I bought the car only on 28 OCT and this issue was there when it was sold to me. Their aftersales did divert me to their service department to arrange the repair and I am waiting for call back. By the way the warranty they sold me with it, did not cover "blockages" so that was out the door.

Thanks again for the update!

The garage I got quote form was charging me 5 hours of labor time and around 400£ for parts (950 with VAT).

I can give you a link to the OEM manuals if anyone wants. They were uploaded by someone else, so I have no idea how long they will be there. Hopefully, this is allowed if not please delete.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Jx_L5y73mTxSQHxpXti7xw6fRNJQRe0A?fbclid=IwY2xjawHDp75leHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHX84hi5ZdWAoI2W_TreVS_8Wp8c3pEdD3Pc6545RTHA06G9Y03hEPqLmcw_aem_UuUtITdLl9fEKFXDKLA-RQ

Hey,

 

No I did everything from the passenger side. Unless they're planning on changing the whole Matrix?? The core replacement it's self, I wanted OEM ( They use Mahle) but no where had any in stock so I used these from Autodoc. ( see attached pick).

 

As for your warranty they should definitely be covering it them selves!!! If you have finance go through them! It's much easier trust me.

[Vytas]

17 minutes ago, squish14 said:

Hey,

 

No I did everything from the passenger side. Unless they're planning on changing the whole Matrix?? The core replacement it's self, I wanted OEM ( They use Mahle) but no where had any in stock so I used these from Autodoc. ( see attached pick).

 

As for your warranty they should definitely be covering it them selves!!! If you have finance go through them! It's much easier trust me.

Thanks for that. Did the core come with new seals and fittings or have you reused the old ones? And was the foam already on the radiator or did you have to buy it yourself? If yes what foam did you buy?

Another thing, i was recommended by someone from another Audi forum to flush the system 2-3 times so that the issue not to reappear and to use g12+ coolant instead of g13.

See the messages from the person below:

Him: If on diagnosis there are no problems with the servomotors and there is a temperature difference between the right side of the passenger and the left side of the driver and the car is not equipped with anlectric valve in the front right part under the windshield wipers, the radiator is clogged. General cleaning of the engine cooling system will have to be done several times, it is complicated and expensive otherwise the new radiator will clog in a maximum of 2 months during this period it depends a lot on how badly the cooling system is affected.

 

Me: What does it get clogged with?

 

Him: Wash the system several times with a special solution to remove deposits from the cooling system and water, drive the car 50 60 km with the solution, then drive outside and put clean water in, drive with it 10 20 km, then repeat the procedure without leaving the car overnight only with water in the engine in order not to create problems after this operation, do not put antifreeze G13 is a garbage because of it, deposits appear and the liquid is colorless. Introduce Antifreeze G12+ into the system

 

Him: because of the bad g13 antifreeze, a reaction is created and this degrades, creating films of dirt on the entire interior surface like a bank, this dries up, breaks and leaves through the system, the camdura radiator, having the smallest holes in it, destroys them all. 

 

END

 

 

 

 

Edited December 9 by Vytas

[squish14]

1 hour ago, Vytas said:

Thanks for that. Did the core come with new seals and fittings or have you reused the old ones? And was the foam already on the radiator or did you have to buy it yourself? If yes what foam did you buy?

Another thing, i was recommended by someone from another Audi forum to flush the system 2-3 times so that the issue not to reappear and to use g12+ coolant instead of g13.

See the messages from the person below:

Him: If on diagnosis there are no problems with the servomotors and there is a temperature difference between the right side of the passenger and the left side of the driver and the car is not equipped with anlectric valve in the front right part under the windshield wipers, the radiator is clogged. General cleaning of the engine cooling system will have to be done several times, it is complicated and expensive otherwise the new radiator will clog in a maximum of 2 months during this period it depends a lot on how badly the cooling system is affected.

 

Me: What does it get clogged with?

 

Him: Wash the system several times with a special solution to remove deposits from the cooling system and water, drive the car 50 60 km with the solution, then drive outside and put clean water in, drive with it 10 20 km, then repeat the procedure without leaving the car overnight only with water in the engine in order not to create problems after this operation, do not put antifreeze G13 is a garbage because of it, deposits appear and the liquid is colorless. Introduce Antifreeze G12+ into the system

 

Him: because of the bad g13 antifreeze, a reaction is created and this degrades, creating films of dirt on the entire interior surface like a bank, this dries up, breaks and leaves through the system, the camdura radiator, having the smallest holes in it, destroys them all. 

 

END

 

 

 

 

It didn't come with new seals and fittings so you'd need to buy new. I shamefully used the old ones because I didn't realise it didn't come with them.

The foam comes with the radiator you just need to stick it on your self, I just copied the old one like for like.

So I'd already had 2 flushes on the system before this to see if it would solve the issues. Obviously it didn't, however the coolant I got out of the pipes at the core was clean! So I'm not worried of any deposits left in.

 

Hope this helps 

[ian.f]

So I’ve just spoken to the garage. They’re not able to find anything specifically wrong. They advised that it’s probably a stuck thermostat, or the heater core. 
So I think I’m going to have a go at doing the heater core, as that’s where the majority of the issues seem to get resolved. 

Does anyone have the part number for the core please? I’d like to check before I buy a replacement and strip it all down!

Thanks

[squish14]

1 hour ago, ian.f said:

So I’ve just spoken to the garage. They’re not able to find anything specifically wrong. They advised that it’s probably a stuck thermostat, or the heater core. 
So I think I’m going to have a go at doing the heater core, as that’s where the majority of the issues seem to get resolved. 

Does anyone have the part number for the core please? I’d like to check before I buy a replacement and strip it all down!

Thanks

Yeah that's the exact same scenario I had from the 1st 2 garage mate. 

 

I've posted a screenshot further up the chat of the Heatercore I bought on Autodoc.com.

 

[ian.f]

1 hour ago, squish14 said:

Yeah that's the exact same scenario I had from the 1st 2 garage mate. 

 

I've posted a screenshot further up the chat of the Heatercore I bought on Autodoc.com.

 

Sounds promising then; I’ll buy tonight. 
The number on your order (727210) is for OEM part number 8w0898037, which is the same number I found…so that’s good. Can’t seem to find one from the UK though, so Germany it is!!

How long did yours take to arrive?

[squish14]

1 minute ago, ian.f said:

Sounds promising then; I’ll buy tonight. 
The number on your order (727210) is for OEM part number 8w0898037, which is the same number I found…so that’s good. Can’t seem to find one from the UK though, so Germany it is!!

How long did yours take to arrive?

Yeah I could not find one anywhere in the UK, I tried GSF, Eurocarparts and CEF and no one stocks them 🤷‍♂️.

 

Autodoc is abit hit and miss, I've had stuff turn up in 2 days before. But being this time of year I think it took about 5 days.

[ian.f]

9 minutes ago, squish14 said:

Yeah I could not find one anywhere in the UK, I tried GSF, Eurocarparts and CEF and no one stocks them 🤷‍♂️.

 

Autodoc is abit hit and miss, I've had stuff turn up in 2 days before. But being this time of year I think it took about 5 days.

Yeah I’ve had the same with them. We’ll see. 
 

Just planning through the job and as far as I can see it’s: glove box out, blower motor out, side cover off, pipes undone, cover off, and then it’ll slide out. 
Was that your experience?

[squish14]

11 minutes ago, ian.f said:

Yeah I’ve had the same with them. We’ll see. 
 

Just planning through the job and as far as I can see it’s: glove box out, blower motor out, side cover off, pipes undone, cover off, and then it’ll slide out. 
Was that your experience?

Yeah exactly that, the only extra thing I did was disconnect the battery because of unplugging the air bags from the glove box ( probably just me being over cautious) and also I did clamp the inlet pipes coming in the bulk head from the engine side. Just to hold any visual fluid... again right or wrong I've no idea!!! 

 

Other than that just a lot of screws! 

[ian.f]

Just now, squish14 said:

Yeah exactly that, the only extra thing I did was disconnect the battery because of unplugging the air bags from the glove box ( probably just me being over cautious) and also I did clamp the inlet pipes coming in the bulk head from the engine side. Just to hold any visual fluid... again right or wrong I've no idea!!! 

 

Other than that just a lot of screws! 

Sweet, thanks. 

I’m going to flush the coolant as well. If the core is blocked or damaged by the coolant that’s in there (silica bag broken or whatever) then I don’t want the new one getting clogged up quickly. 
So I’ll flush it out and then change the core whilst the system is empty. 

[Magnet]

Worth trying Parts in Motion. 
Kind regards,

Gareth.