Heater Core 1997 Passat VR6

Yep its a big job - but not that difficult. You definately need to replace the core - its blown. You should have the repair manual but there are some DIY guides on VW Vortex for Golfs and heres a link for the Passat. You have to remove the dash and several other items to get at the core. Removing the physical unit can take a couple of dif approaches. In either case plan on spending at least the entire day. The hardest part is not taking out the dash but removing the crossbeam if you go this route. Just did my GTI VR6 and I have a manual so I knew what bolts and screws to remove. Taking the dash out only took about 1/2 hour the rest took about 4 or 5 hours. The hardest part for me was removing the crossbeam and the shear bolts holding the steering column to the crossbeam - the steel was extremely hard to drill out. Watch out for the electrical connections when doing this you can really mess things up if you pull one or break a connector - or forget to replug a ground wire. You'll need several tools aside from the standard metric set - including a

22mm for the steering wheel (i think its this size - have to check), a large torx driver to get the crossbeam out, cobalt bit to remove the sheer bolts and a 10mm deep socket for the removal of the dash and crossbeam nuts.

Heres the link. Just walked someone through it and he finished in about a day and 1/2.

I am the guy that Stephen helped. I may not have completed this job without his help. Thanks!!!

My advice is that you definitely need to clear your weekend. I did the job over a period of 2.5 days which allowed me to take some 'head-cooling' breaks. I may have spent 16 hours. I had not taken apart anything in the dash before doing this job... not even the radio so everything was new to me.

Stephens car is different from the Passats so I never found any cross brace or the need for the torx drives that he mentions. The steering wheel nut on my car was 24mm and the only socket I found at the hardware store was 25mm... it was too big. However, I did NOT take the steering wheel off.

I found the stearing column shear bolts easy to remove. I purchased easy-outs and a long .25in drill bit. for some reason it was referred to as an aircraft bit or some similar name. In any case the longer-than-standard bit is necessary because your drill will not fit up into the dash. One one side the shear bolt popped out as I was drilling the .25in dia pilot hole. On the other side I used the easy-out (#3 size If I remember correctly).

Remember to order new shear bolts from your dealer today so you have them when you put your car back together!

If you do not have a digital camera, borrow one. Take one digital picture for _every_ connector and if your camera allows you to take a voice note with each picture that would be another aid. I did not think of this til I was done. Obviously then if you follow your pictures backward you can reconnect in the proper order. A laptop computer is also helpful in order to display the pictures nicely.

Another tentative suggestion I have is to use Stabilant-22 when you put your car back together. There is an old VW service bulletin about this product. The only reason I tentatively suggest this is that I had some electrical bugs when I finished my job...even though I did everything correctly and nicely as far as I know. I once used stabilant-22 on my ABS harness and it made my warning light go away for a few months (probably by increasing current flow just past some threshold).

I have read about one person who did not disconnect the dash but rather turned it inside the car- I assume leaving the wiring harness connected on the fuse-panel side. It is something to consider if you want to risk swinging your dash around with wires still connected. I can tell you it is a terrible job to get the dash wiring harness connected back to the fuse box so this shorcut may be worth the effort.

I have a very bad chemical smell in my car this week with my new heater core. It made me wonder if I should have left on the foam that was around the edges (3 sides) of the heater core. The old heater core had foam on the edges although not exactly the same type so I left this on when I installed it. I assumed it was required for a seal or for vibration damping. I also assume this foam is now outgassing like crazy. Maybe this will diminish over the next few days... I hope so!

btw, have you tried contacting VWOA about this failure? In my opinion they should be doing this for you. I have my own reasons for not taking this approach and I also regret not trying to do this.

If I think of more items I will post again.

Mark

Stephen Tim> Yep its a big job - but not that difficult. You definately need to replace

I replaced the heater core on my car and yes, the smell lasted abouth a month.

Are you the original owner? I got VWOA to cover all parts and labor when the heater core failed in my 95 Passat at 10 years/100K miles. Might be worth a try.

Are you the original owner? I got VWOA to cover all parts and labor when the heater core failed in my 95 Passat at 10 years/100K miles. Might be worth a try.

Found a better product than Stabilant, called DeoxIT. Works on every electrical connection. I used it on all sockets and connectors and worked with amazing results. best of all it is available in a variety of applicators. I found most convenient the pen and mini-spray. I found this post and others on there forum

have lots of info on their website I bought themini-sprays and pen at Radio Shack.

How do you know this product is better? You did not site any tests or research or comparisons that you did.

I think the products are completely different animals. DeoxIT appears to be a contact cleaner. Perhaps I should have used a contact cleaner in addition to the Stabilant product. I only used the Stabilant-22 because of the VW tech. bulletin.

snipped-for-privacy@aol.com wrote:

I think you're in the tiny minority, calling Deoxit better than Stabilant. Caig used to have a product called Cramolin that was a truly great contact cleaner-lubricant-antioxidant, but they quit selling that. Nowadays, Caig seems to have gone the Monster Cable route, marketing over-priced, over-hyped products as something they are not, in "audiophile" stores and other bastions of hocus-pocus horseshit.

I still hoard a can of Cramolin red that I bought back in the early '80s. I understand that it's still available from its manufacturer in Germany, but I haven't seen it here in the States for ages.

Deoxit has been around for years in the electronics industry, and it is very good on oxidized contacts. Their deoxit gold has less of the de-oxygenating agent, but adds protective agents.

I am no expert on these, and I don't even know what Stabilant does. Is it a protective grease?

I understand that Caig spends a lot of money on testing and development on existing and new products. A friend of mine works at a large communications company and Caig did extensive testing for material compatibility. So I go with companies that back and test even if the product costs a bit more. Considering the products provide thousands of applications, i don't mind spending 3 to 4 cents to fix a problem. Beats spending hundreds replacing equipment. I have a Treo 650 that would not charge or transfer data via communications cable. I brought it back to Cingular 3 times and they could not fix it - said to re-load software. I tried, that and did not work. Then I found my trusty Deoxit spray and pen and a couple of squirts and WORKS perfectly now. Could have saved the cost of the Deoxit products in gas alone going to Cingular repair store. My Deoxit products make a world of a difference on my audio equipment also. besides everything sounding clearer, connecting the Monster and other cables now fit like a glove - I don't have to force them on. The Deoxit ProGold makes the insertion smooth as silk. Food for thought. Mike

I guess I shouldn't sound so harsh -- Caig products work, but I'm always dismayed when any company changes its product line-up, gets rid of a favorite product and replaces it with something that doesn't work as well, and then goes mass-market with lots of advertising hype. As I said, it smacks too much of the Bose-Monster Cable marketing hocus-pocus, making people think they're getting something that's worth the money, but is not. Stabilant is pretty highly-regarded in the industry, as Cramolin formerly was.

Was wondering how you could say the deoxIT products are expensive. I think the Stabilant is a rip off and it is so hard to apply and re-apply. Deoxit is a bargin compared to Stabilant Mike