A2 heater core - why such a big job if you have A/C?

Hello all,

Yesterday I found myself showering in a fine mist of boiled coolant, and today there's a puddle in the footwells. The Bentley manual describes a long but not mind-bending process for removing the dashboard and heater box, and swapping out the heater core for cars without A/C. For cars with A/C, they just say that you have to discharge the system and call your authorized VW repairperson. The dealer quotes 2-3 hours labour for a heater core if you don't have A/C, and 7 hours if you do.

My A/C doesn't work and never will. If I dove in there and tried to do it myself, what horrors will I encounter that are peculiar to air conditioned cars? The refrigerant circuit is completely separate from the coolant circuit, right? And the cores are the same for all cars. What on earth takes the pros an extra four hours?

Thanks Theo

Reply to
Theo
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Reply to
Regal53

The dealer here is optimistic that VW will honour the recall, which was North America-wide. The previous owner received a re-notification in 1999, so VW was keen to honour it 10 years after the car was born. I presume the fact that the heater core is ruptured will not affect their decision. Even if it wore out after 17 years and the end cap did not rupture, it seems to me that every car in the recall period was entitled to a new core. If the previous guy replaced it in 1999 when VW was willing to do it, then mine wouldn't have failed now. Either way, VW has to ante up a core for the car with my VIN.

Theo

Reply to
Theo

"Regal53" wrote

They would not fix my 88 VW Golf GL. VOA asked for my VIN number and refused to fix it and refused to give me a replacement to fix it myself.

I bought one off Ebay for about 30 bucks. I found a post out of many in these archives that did the trick and made it an easy job. (I looked in my hard drive for the post txt - can't find it) but the key inclusion in the post was to put your two feet up and pull the heater box out. I wish I could find this one post in the archives but it only took a few hours or so and went flawless for the first time doing it. All the other archive posts have conflicting information. The Golf did have A/C.

Harry

Reply to
Harry 1

The good news is VW heater cores are very consistent. The one in my 95 Passat failed at 9 years/100K miles, and VWOA covered all parts and labor. Owners of Passats as recent as 2000-2002 are now reporting heater core failures, some as low as at 60k miles.

You say "heater core failure" to VW and they understand what you are talking about...

Reply to
Keep on Plonkin'

The good news is VW heater cores are very consistent. The one in my 95 Passat failed at 9 years/100K miles, and VWOA covered all parts and labor. Owners of Passats as recent as 2000-2002 are now reporting heater core failures, some as low as at 60k miles.

You say "heater core failure" to VW and they understand what you are talking about...

Reply to
Keep on Plonkin'

recalls never expire!

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Lost In Space/Woodchuck

Reply to
Lambert Moonen

Reply to
Regal53

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