The heater core blocked up for the 3rd time. Previous fix was to replace the heater core, the radiator, the engine oiler cooler, the tranny oil cooler, the EGR cooler, all the coolant related hoses and pipes and flush the engine at 60k miles. Now at 114k miles they are doing all that again plus replacing the engine. This is all covered up to 125k miles under a special powertrain warranty mandated by the government. Never pay for the heater core repair if you have a TDI.
After having the Greenville NC VW dealer service department flush and replace the coolant at 110K miles, I noticed that the heat was not working on the passenger side. It was hot air at the driver door, tepid over the radio, and cold at the passenger door. I looked up the symptoms on various forums and learned that it was the heater core that was partially blocked. I took it back to the dealer and asked them to look at it and they told me it was a heater control damper door that went bad. They wanted $1800 + to fix it. My wife told them someone would freeze for that price.
I found a video on Youtube showing how to replace the heater core. $110 for the core from VW and $35 for new coolant. Three (3) hours of my unskilled labor with my own tools and it was installed and the heat worked.
TA DA!!!!! $145 instead of $1800 for the wrong part and wasted labor. I was disgusted at the incompetence of the technicians and VW denying there was a problem with the Heater core design.
So in short, if you have heat on one side, there is a partially clogged heater core that can be replaced easily.
After researching on line this seems to be a very common problem, the service manager explained the problem like this: the heater core was breaking down an clogging up the outlet hence very little heat into the car. Paid a $150.00 for the diagnostic test and then told it would cost another $ 800+ to replace the unit.
I drive a lot of miles and if this problem occurs at 60,000 or less I would have to replace it every couple of years. I think that this is a very poor design VW should come up with a recall and replace this item with a Quality device.
You would think that with the diesel issue customer loyalty would play high on the list.
- hans- juergenca,
Santa Rosa, CA, US
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A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
The heater core blocked up for the 3rd time. Previous fix was to replace the heater core, the radiator, the engine oiler cooler, the tranny oil cooler, the EGR cooler, all the coolant related hoses and pipes and flush the engine at 60k miles. Now at 114k miles they are doing all that again plus replacing the engine. This is all covered up to 125k miles under a special powertrain warranty mandated by the government. Never pay for the heater core repair if you have a TDI.
- johnsypa, Wrightsville, US