Yesterday my (03 S) windshield kept mildly fogging up on the way to work. On the way home it was fogging up so bad that I had to wipe it every 5 minutes with a strong coolant smell. Im thinking its the heater core, but I still get constant heat blowing out. Could it be something else? Like an o ring? Its dark when I leave and when I get home so I haven't had a chance to attempt to find the unit yet. Is this a difficult repair? Garage wants over $400.

 

Did you do this yourself - was it hard or did ou have the shop do it?

 

11-15-2005, 07:39 AM
cristo



looking at the bentley manual, it doesn't look as bad as on some other cars.
(you should see what a mess it is to get to the heater core on a mkIII VW Cabrio!)
in the engine compartment:
drain coolant
remove air filter housing (MCS) or battery box (MC)
loosen or remove heater hose clamps, detach coolant hoses, blow air
through to clear coolant from core

under left side of dashboard:
swing down left lower dashboard trim
remove cover on l side of heating/ac housing
remove three mounting screws
carefully wriggle cover backward past throttle pedal assembly
remove heater core mounting screws
loosen coolant pipe clamps and disconnect pipes
installation is reverse of removal
seat heater core correctly
replace coolant pipe clamp sealing o-rings...coat new sealing rings
with antiseize paste
seat sealing rings and clamps correctly
fill and bleed cooling system and check for leaks

 

Been there, done that. It sucks doing it yourself. It took me most of the day but that was because I did not seat the two little seals properly and had a small drippy leak. I had to drain the system a second time to re-seat them. Take your time to do this right the first time. I employed the use of a dental mirror to get an eyeball on them. $400.00 for this job is not a bad deal. I asked my local shop and they wanted somewhere between $500 & $600. It's not a hard job and the core is relatively easy to get to but the screws for the little cover can be difficult to get back in. Especially the one in the back. That screw fell somewhere behind the unit. There it stays to this day.

I took the short cut of not removing the airbox allowing you to loosen the inlet/outlet hoses from the engine bay. Doing this may have helped me get those seals properly seated the first time. Or perhaps made it a little easier.

 

You have moisture inside the vehicle.... make sure you check for any water leaks before you just go and replace the heater core.

 

I'd think the strong coolant smell would be a pretty firm clue unless the smell is even stronger under the bonnet.

 

I was able to get the heater core pulled out to examine it in less than 15 minutes, it looks as if there is a leak around a seam, it started actually leaking when I pulled it out. Was really simple to get it out, it actually stopped leaking after I put it back in. I'll be picking up a new one this weekend.. Thinking the most time consumption will be draining the coolant from the car