2003 A4 1.8T Heater Problem ( NEED HELPP )
 

I just bought my first car 2 days ago. I have been looking for a car i want to keep for a long long time and i finally decided to buy this audi. It only has 140,000 Km. (70ish k miles) And im and idiot and didnt check the heater. I over looked it and found out it doesnt work well. When i rev the engine, sometimes it kinda heats up but when it goes back down to about 2k its cold. I went to two mechanics and they scared me with all these prices and crap.

Basically im wondering if anyone here knows what the problem is so i dont blow a grand on nothing. Is it clogged? is it the heater core. ahhhh.

One time it worked for about 5 mins and stopped.

SOS NEED HELPPP

I'm having the same problem..... help help!!!

I would check my coolant level and see if that's low. Try changing out the thermostat as well. Do you hear the blend door move as you change temp?

It's most likely one of two common problems:

1) A plugged heater core.

2) Air in the cooling system.

You both need to use the search function on this forum and search for "No heat" or "low heat".

What you'll end up doing is flushing out the heater core, and/or burping the cooling system to try to remove trapped air from the system.

Luckily for you guys, it's possible to change out the heater core on the B6 without taking out the entire dash. That's what you have to do on the B5.

If flushing the heater core and burping the system don't work, then you're going to want to google "Audi A4 B6 heater core DIY".

Good luck, fellas. This problem won't go away, so it's better to tackle it now before the real cold weather hits.

I appreciate the help. I guess i will try to flush out the heater core first. Is there any way i could do it at a Mr Lube? I think it is called an engine flush, is that the same thing?

No, this is not an engine flush. I'm not positive, but I think for an engine flush, these "quicky lube" places use a tool called the "Wallet Vac", which is used to fleece their customers of money for no real gain. :p

What I think you should do is take it to a reputable independent Audi mechanic, describe the problem and ask them to try a heater core flush.

It is possible to try this yourself, there are some DIY threads on this forum and other forums. Best to do a google search for "A4 B6 heater core DIY".

I tried(twice) to do the heater core flush myself, but I was never able to get all the crud out of it. So, in the end I took it to my Audi mechanic and he used compressed air and his magic SNO-BOL toilet bowl cleaner to get the job done. To me, getting that glorious heat back was worth the $75 he charged.

Alright i will give that a try then. I am a bit of a newbie when it comes to fixing my audi, i guess ill bring it to the mechanic. Im missing that sweet sweet heat haha.

Here is what I did to flush the heater core:

http://www.audiworld.com/tech/eng115.shtml

The other problem may be the HVAC motor assembly. There is a door that opens and shuts when you switch from AC to heater. I know that this has been discussed.. you may want to search

Yah i am a little worried it might be that motor. Its something that will run me about 900 bucks to fix. I found out that the longer i have my car running ( like driving around town ) and i turn my heat on, it gives me strong heat but it goes away after a few seconds. I have yet to flush my heater core but i was wondering if anyone knew about this problem before i flushed it.

I would flush the heater core regardless... I was surprised on how much gunk came out of my heater core, even though my coolant resevoir was pink. Good housekeeping I guess..