Recall Info

After 15 years, I don't think so. Mine blew in my old fox (in traffic, started smoking and shit ... scared the hell out of me), it was a bit of a pain to replace, but not too bad. Only problem I had, was putting the dash back on, I unintentionally disconnected the radiator fuse wires. Didn't notice it for a while, because I was almost never held up in traffic. Went to New Jersey though ... again, scared the hell out of me.

Cores should be available at junkyards, but be wary. Its hard to test them like that. Because of the effort required, its probably worth it to shell out for a new one.

I would have to say "Yes" if it is the original. "No", if it has already been done. You can find out by asking your local dealer to look up your cars VIN on the heater core recall.

Call your VW dealer and give them the VIN number to see if the recall is still open(not done yet)? If it is, then it'd FREE, otherwise you have to pay someone to replace it.

As others have pointed out, call the dealer with the VIN. My '86 jetta was covered when the heater core went ~2 years ago.

Craig

Did you have the original coolant (G11?blue?) coolant in your jetta or the green stuff? I'm curious because unless you are the original owner, it's hard to control what happens to a car that you buy used. :) If you did have the green stuff in it, I wonder if they would make a stink about it?

Green stuff, and I wasn't the original owner. 225,000 miles at the time, IIRC.

Craig