HELP - heater core replacement

[ian.f]

42 minutes ago, Magnet said:

Worth trying Parts in Motion. 
Kind regards,

Gareth. 

Great shout! They had one 👍

[Magnet]

Thanks Ian,

Perhaps you could do us a favour and Like the post and fill in your model and year on the profile. 

[Magnet]

Thanks Ian.

 

[Vytas]

16 hours 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

 

Here`s what the garage quoted me with part numbers.

[Magnet]

Thanks,

Could you confirm that the coolant temperature gauge reaches 90 within about 3 miles, and holds that reading for the rest of the journey? 
Sorry to point this out, but I guess the above quote will be plus VAT?? 
Kind regards,

Gareth. 

[ian.f]

1 hour ago, Vytas said:

 

Here`s what the garage quoted me with part numbers.

Thanks, that matches my part number also. 
 

22 minutes ago, Magnet said:

Thanks,

Could you confirm that the coolant temperature gauge reaches 90 within about 3 miles, and holds that reading for the rest of the journey? 
Sorry to point this out, but I guess the above quote will be plus VAT?? 
Kind regards,

Gareth. 

From my side, yes. I hit 90 pretty quickly…dependant on ambient temps. Stays at 90 constantly. 
When I did a core flush 6mnths ago, all the pipes were hot enough to the touch as well.

[Vytas]

4 hours ago, Magnet said:

Thanks,

Could you confirm that the coolant temperature gauge reaches 90 within about 3 miles, and holds that reading for the rest of the journey? 
Sorry to point this out, but I guess the above quote will be plus VAT?? 
Kind regards,

Gareth. 

Hi

Yes + VAT. The total was ~950 including the diagnostic 84£ charge.

[ian.f]

Looks like I won’t be sorting it out this weekend 🤦‍♂️

 

[ian.f]

Right, scratching my head now. 
So with a defective part received, I thought I’d dismantle it just to have a dry run. 

Took the car out to do the errands today and it was heating very well. I wouldn’t say hot, but certainly very warm. 

Still took it apart to see what’s going on. With the car running and temps showing 90degrees, both feeder pipes to the heater core were red hot. I couldn’t get to the whole core obviously, but the exposed metal parts were also red hot. 

So I have no idea what’s going on. The only thing I can think of is when the mechanic was investigating he inadvertently fixed it.

I’m going to have the coolant changed this week, hasn’t been done in a couple of years, so I’ll put some flush in it and then get it changed. 

🤷‍♂️

[Vytas]

4 minutes ago, ian.f said:

Right, scratching my head now. 
So with a defective part received, I thought I’d dismantle it just to have a dry run. 

Took the car out to do the errands today and it was heating very well. I wouldn’t say hot, but certainly very warm. 

Still took it apart to see what’s going on. With the car running and temps showing 90degrees, both feeder pipes to the heater core were red hot. I couldn’t get to the whole core obviously, but the exposed metal parts were also red hot. 

So I have no idea what’s going on. The only thing I can think of is when the mechanic was investigating he inadvertently fixed it.

I’m going to have the coolant changed this week, hasn’t been done in a couple of years, so I’ll put some flush in it and then get it changed. 

🤷‍♂️

Yes, the pipes are also hot on mine, but the bottom part of the core was cold to touch, as all the sediments apparently collect there. So the flow is still there it just doesn't get to the bottom part of the radiator.

[cliffcoggin]

1 hour ago, ian.f said:

So I have no idea what’s going on. The only thing I can think of is when the mechanic was investigating he inadvertently fixed it.

More likely he flushed out some sediment or removed some air.

I suggest you reverse flush the matrix alone, i.e. not the whole cooling system, with mains pressure water. You may be lucky to dislodge sediment and limescale enough to get the heating working again.

[squish14]

3 hours ago, ian.f said:

Right, scratching my head now. 
So with a defective part received, I thought I’d dismantle it just to have a dry run. 

Took the car out to do the errands today and it was heating very well. I wouldn’t say hot, but certainly very warm. 

Still took it apart to see what’s going on. With the car running and temps showing 90degrees, both feeder pipes to the heater core were red hot. I couldn’t get to the whole core obviously, but the exposed metal parts were also red hot. 

So I have no idea what’s going on. The only thing I can think of is when the mechanic was investigating he inadvertently fixed it.

I’m going to have the coolant changed this week, hasn’t been done in a couple of years, so I’ll put some flush in it and then get it changed. 

🤷‍♂️

I had the same thing everything was getting hot that I could reach and also had a flush. But none of it sorted the rear heating or it actually getting to "High" temp. After changing the core everything is working

[Sid2020]

Vw golf mk7 /7.5 suffer with blocked heater cores and it’s caused by a additive bag that be built into the coolant  reservoir bottle that bursts and clogs the heater matrix, common fix was to disconnect the 2 coolant pipes that go thru the bulk head and use a power wash in one hose to push the blockage back out the other pipe, takes abit of time but easier and cheaper then replacing the matrix radiator, hope this maybe of help 

[Christie365]

On 12/9/2024 at 9:47 AM, 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, just wondering what model your car is? I've got a 2016 A4 B9 2.0 tdi with heat problems and I'm leaning towards trying to flush the heater core first. The garage reckons the heater matrix needs renewed and quoting £330 for the part and 5-8 hours labour. Hoping a flush might do the trick. Glad you got yours sorted!

[squish14]

14 minutes ago, Christie365 said:

Hi Josh, just wondering what model your car is? I've got a 2016 A4 B9 2.0 tdi with heat problems and I'm leaning towards trying to flush the heater core first. The garage reckons the heater matrix needs renewed and quoting £330 for the part and 5-8 hours labour. Hoping a flush might do the trick. Glad you got yours sorted!

Hi Christie,

 

Yeah I've got the same, 2016 A4 B9 2.0 TDI. I had a garage do a flush, it didn't do much of anything at all interms of heat. However if you're planning on doing the heater core then I'd definitely get it flushed probably before doing so ( I stand to be corrected on this point ) that's just how I did mine and it's been fine ever since.

Interms of the matrix the actual matrix is fine, it seems a lot of garages qoute for this just incase the core doesn't sort the issue ( from what I can gather ). Did they run any diagnostic on the actuators to see if they can manually operate the interals flaps? Opening/closing? I only had one guy actually do this on diagnostic.

The core is between £60-£100 depending on brand, and it took me about 2hrs to do it. Was fairly simple... just a lot of screws in awkward places! 

 

[Christie365]

13 minutes ago, squish14 said:

Hi Christie,

 

Yeah I've got the same, 2016 A4 B9 2.0 TDI. I had a garage do a flush, it didn't do much of anything at all interms of heat. However if you're planning on doing the heater core then I'd definitely get it flushed probably before doing so ( I stand to be corrected on this point ) that's just how I did mine and it's been fine ever since.

Interms of the matrix the actual matrix is fine, it seems a lot of garages qoute for this just incase the core doesn't sort the issue ( from what I can gather ). Did they run any diagnostic on the actuators to see if they can manually operate the interals flaps? Opening/closing? I only had one guy actually do this on diagnostic.

The core is between £60-£100 depending on brand, and it took me about 2hrs to do it. Was fairly simple... just a lot of screws in awkward places! 

 

Thanks for the prompt response! I'm not sure if they did run any diagnostics on the actuators if I'm honest, didn't get a chance to speak directly to the mechanic. I appreciated your in-depth instructions you posted and was thinking about trying to replace it myself, but I'm not much of a mechanic so might see about another garage replacing the core.

Getting increasingly frustrated with having no heat, this morning the inside of the windscreen was frozen! I thought my heat was weak last winter but thought nothing of it, until this winter when I've had none.

[squish14]

I wish I had recorded it! Could maybe ask the garage if they could qoute to just change the core? 

 

Yeah I get what you mean with the ice in the windscreen! Absolute nightmare!!

 

Let me know how you get on with it, if you do deicide to try it your self ill be more than happy to help where I can

[Christie365]

A step to video would have been great!! So the first mechanic I asked said he’s done a few and not interested in tackling it as it’s just himself and can be a bit of a nightmare apparently. He said it’s due to the silica bag rupturing and blocking the core. Now, I have read about that and aware of it but I don’t think my car has a silica bag? Did yours Squish? Did any contaminants come out when you flushed yours? 

[squish14]

4 minutes ago, Christie365 said:

A step to video would have been great!! So the first mechanic I asked said he’s done a few and not interested in tackling it as it’s just himself and can be a bit of a nightmare apparently. He said it’s due to the silica bag rupturing and blocking the core. Now, I have read about that and aware of it but I don’t think my car has a silica bag? Did yours Squish? Did any contaminants come out when you flushed yours? 

That's correct I think it was either this yrs model or 2015 they started putting the silica bags in. So they all had them in. I obviously don't have one anymore but would of probably been the cause of the issue. 

The fins are to Narrow to have any contamination come out when you remove it, they are just a difference in weight due to them being blocked.

I'm by no means a mechanic, always sort of messed with bits and pieces motorbikes etc when I was younger, but if I'm being completely honest...it's not that bad of a job to do. Like I say, I did in in 2 hours. 

[ian.f]

evening all,

so I stripped mine down this weekend ready to install my new one…which was broken again 🤦‍♂️

putting it back together whilst I source another, I cannot for the life of me relocate the pipes in to the core. No amount of pushing will compress the washer enough that I can get the clips on. 

did anyone else struggle with this? Any tips greatly appreciated!!

[Sid2020]

Little bit of grease on the O rings helps, might be a locator on it to get the rotation correct 

[Sid2020]

Locator will be on the connector body if it has one, not inside near the O rings helps 

[ian.f]

52 minutes ago, Sid2020 said:

Little bit of grease on the O rings helps, might be a locator on it to get the rotation correct 

Hmmm good shout. So a bit of grease round the mouth on the core, then the o ring should slip in easier?

I can’t see any specific connection/connector/locator, but will check tomorrow. 

if I take the o ring out, the pipe sits in flush to the core and I can fit the connector…but it leaks badly…obviously!