# 1998 A6 2.8, no heat



## sneedham6 (May 9, 2010)

Checked the inlet and outlet hoses to the heater core, both seemed hot enough. Would running a VAG-COM diagnosis tell me anything?

It's my dad's A6 and he knows the thermostat was replaced during the summer. Its now winter so he didnt know about the heat problem till now.

Thanks!


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## O_o (Nov 12, 2009)

sneedham6 said:


> Checked the inlet and outlet hoses to the heater core, both seemed hot enough. Would running a VAG-COM diagnosis tell me anything?


$10 says the core needs to be burped.


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## sneedham6 (May 9, 2010)

O_o said:


> $10 says the core needs to be burped.


Would you be able to provide a breif explanation? Is it basically running the car with radiator cap off?


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## Mtjade2010 (Dec 2, 2010)

Is your coolant level low? If you have to deal with anything under the dash (the heater unit there) it will be massive work.


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## Slimjimmn (Apr 8, 2006)

O_o said:


> $10 says the core needs to be burped.


if the hoses going in and out of the heater core are hot and there is no heat in the car then the heater core is plugged (or the heat flap in the air box is not moving to hot position)

if one was hot and the other cold than yes it probably has an air bubble in the system in which case you can go to the parts store, buy a large funnel, start the car with the resivour cap off put the funnel in the resivour and press down and fill the resivour up until the coolant is above the line of the resivour and it should fill the heater core. and the car needs to be at operating temp when you do this.


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## sneedham6 (May 9, 2010)

I actually wanted to ask; how hot should the inlet/outlet hoses be? While they feel hot, I can keep my finger on both hoses without fear of it getting too hot. Is that the right feeling for these hoses?


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## Slimjimmn (Apr 8, 2006)

using an infared thermometer I usualy get 140-180deg on those 5/16" hoses at the heater core when the engine is fully warmed up.
Sometimes a little lower on 1.8t engines, I dont know why


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## O_o (Nov 12, 2009)

sneedham6 said:


> Would you be able to provide a breif explanation? Is it basically running the car with radiator cap off?


Partially remove the core outlet hose and run the (cold) engine until coolant comes out. Some have a bleed port near the end of the hose, others you have to pull it almost off, and then sort of bend it so it's only off on one side.


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## sneedham6 (May 9, 2010)

Slimjimmn said:


> using an infared thermometer I usualy get 140-180deg on those 5/16" hoses at the heater core when the engine is fully warmed up.
> Sometimes a little lower on 1.8t engines, I dont know why


I'll see if I can find a cheap one; are you pretty much saying it should be too hot to touch comfortably?


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## O_o (Nov 12, 2009)

sneedham6 said:


> Checked the inlet and outlet hoses to the *heater core*, both seemed hot enough.


Forget what I said. For some reason, my brain processed this as the rad hoses.


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## sneedham6 (May 9, 2010)

So would the recommendations would be to burp the system?


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## Slimjimmn (Apr 8, 2006)

yes. the best way is to use a vacuum operated coolant evacuator but most people don't own an air compressor and a 160$ airlift lol so using the cheaper funnel pressed into the coolant resivour method usually works well for me at home.


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## sneedham6 (May 9, 2010)

Well I tried doing the funnel thing. Maybe I did it wrong but it didnt seem to work... 

-Started car, put heat on full blast. 
-Got a large funnel, pressed it down, put coolant in it. 
-As car warmed up, I did notice the coolant dropped 
-Went inside car, normal operating temp but no heat 
-Went back, took funnel out, still noticed a few bubbles appearing at top of reservoir 
-With radiator cap still off, tried touching inlet/outlet hoses and not hot at all compared to other radiator hoses 
-Upper radiator hose was hot so that would mean thermostat open? 


Any comments?


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## O_o (Nov 12, 2009)

If it's air in the core, partially removing the core outlet hose (rad cap on, fill at expansion reservoir) should work. If it's blocked with anything else, you'll need to remove the core and blow out whatever it is, or flush it with descaler.


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## sneedham6 (May 9, 2010)

O_o said:


> If it's air in the core, partially removing the core outlet hose (rad cap on, fill at expansion reservoir) should work. If it's blocked with anything else, you'll need to remove the core and blow out whatever it is, or flush it with descaler.


 I'll try the core outlet solution but the flushing wont be able to be done by myself till Spring; it's -35 degrees Celcius right now in Winnipeg so no water can reach the garage area. 

Tried talking to my local Audi dealership about this. The plan was for my dad to take my Protege5 for the day while I take his car in. Audi though doesnt want to unclog the heater core, they want $116 first for a diagnosis. 

 Winnipeg winters kill all my DIY projects....


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## O_o (Nov 12, 2009)

There must be at least one heated parking garage in Winterpeg...


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## Slimjimmn (Apr 8, 2006)

The upper AND lower hoses should be hot. The upper always gets hot. The lower one goes to the thermostat so if its cold when the engine is warmed up than the thermostat is not opening and no heat will get to the heater core. With the fluid filling with a funnel, the car needs to be warmed up properly THEN take the cap off the resivour and fill with a funnel. IF its not warmed up the thermostat wont be open and coolant flow wont be directed to the heater core. :thumbup:


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