Help!!!! I have an 1997AUDI A4 1.8SE and I have steam coming through my window demister vents, do I need a new heater matrix, if so does anyone know if this is an easy DIY job and how much would it cost??

 

Does the steam smell sweet?

 

It smells of coolant/antifreeze. I suppose it does smell sweet.

 

Yep you need a new heater core.

 

Do you know if it is a big job?

 

It's a big job but you can do it yourself. You'll need a manual to show you how to take everything apart. If you do it yourself, count on the job taking the whole day--the entire dash has to come out and some of the front interior.

 

I have fixed the problem with "Ce-Lit" cost 90pence I put it in my expansion tank, I admit it probably would have been better to repalce the matrix, but this seemed to work fine no problems.

 

were you using your aircon at the time?? this is normal depending on cabin and external temps

 

no it was when I put the temp to high, the cabin was flooded with steam and I could smell the coolant.

I bought this car at the auction for £1700 1.820v se (full leather interior) very nice looking car Full service History, It has ended up being a bit of a project car for me, lol. First of all I drove down the road and the oil light and bleeper went off!! pulled over Oil everywhere coming out of expansion tank, initial thoughts were headgasket. Before asuming it was the headgasket was advised to replace oil cooler which I did after flushing the system a few times with hot water and washing up liquid. This seemed to cure the problem apart from I was losing large amounts of water from the expansion tank, replaced the seal (that worked). Then realised the blower motor was broken so I put a second hand one on £20, then realised the heater matrix had a hole in it which I used ce-lit on, this seems to have worked. so far it's cost me £70. The exhaust needs some attention and the air bag light is on!!! What a car!!

 

well at least you got it at a reasonable price and that's probably why so I suppose you cant argue with that, at least you now have a very nice motor and exhaust isn't that expensive to replace if you look around I paid £150 for a complete catback genuine Audi system for mine it had to be modded to fit because apparently my 1993 80 16v cant get the original system so exhausts direct fitted a system from the 8v and there is a little more power since it has an inline expansion box as opposed 2 silencers which were under the rear passenger seat area, same pipe diameter and save me a few hundred £££