My son and I changed the heater core in his 2013 Jetta GLI basically by following your video. Thank you so much. Sliding it out was a tight fit, and your comments to take your time and be patient were germaine. My son never uses aftermarket parts, and your experience solidified his view on that. Once the heater was out, it took a lot more lung power to blow air through the coolant path than the new replacement. Naturally, the heat came right back on!
In 2019 I bought a heater core from Summit Racing and had no problems with leaks. At the time I didn't want antifreeze all over the floor so I removed the filter from my shop vac and put the hose in the reservoir. Not even a drop in the car so that worked good. I also made a stick to hold the top pipe out of the way while removing and installing the heater cores. Made the job a lot easier.
Excellent advise on coolant. This rule applies to ALL cars. Even though the different manufacturers will have a "universal" coolant, do not use it. Read the owner's manual and read the bottle label. With my VW Rabbit, I wanted to upgrade to a newer, improved coolant which is also rated for my engine but I found out that even in this case, I should not do it. These coolants are different colors for a reason. My mechanic has a professional coolant flushing machine that pushed the old coolant out with the new coolant. The machine has two chambers, one is empty to receive the old coolant and the other chamber is filled with the new coolant. I watched the chambers and the color of the coolant in each. It worked perfectly without introducing any air into the system. I normally change my coolant every 30K miles by draining the radiator hose and refilling the reservoir with the engine cold. (No, this does not change the entire system's coolant but at 30K mile intervals, it does keep the coolant "new enough". I've been doing this to all of my cars for over 50 years with no damage to any of them.) I always squeeze the radiator hose to "burp" it after filling the system, before closing the cap on the reservoir and starting the engine. After driving the car long enough to completely heat the engine, I park it and let the engine cool completely. Then I top off as needed. It usually needs about an inch more in the reservoir.
I did this repair/replace just under three years ago. I bought it used in Miami where you rarely use a heater but moved to Texas before Miami’s short winter. North and central north Texas actually have an a winter. I found Inhad bought a 2012 Jetta with a plugged heater core. It had been like that so long and collected so much gunk that back-flushing it did not work. I bought a factory one with my brother’s AutoNation discount. Fast forward to the next winter and no heat again. I back-flushed it and it cleared it up. Put a magnet on the black grainy peces that came out and it didn’t pick them up. Thought it might be aluminum but was too dark. Upon sticking my hands inside a hose carrying coolant I found the inside wall crumbling into those same looking little bits. This last winter had heat but noticed not full heat. Did the back-flush and only a little came out. I guess the hose lost as much as it was going to lose. It was hard to get the heater core back in. I tested the old one by trying to put it in and had the same difficulty. Remember it was not aftermarket. Crappy hoses if you have to use the factory coolant but now that’s all I will use. Maybe that helped stop further hose deterioration. Car has other issues but at least kudos to VW for not requiring dash removal for this.
Awesome video. I have a 2014 vw jetta that just suddenly had 3 out of 4 vents push out cool air whilst one (far left driver side) vent push out proper warm air. I made the big mistake of just adding a premixed 50/50 purple to my jetta when the original was pink. I think this task seems easy and knowing volkswagens, any mechanic would charge $600 minimum to get this kind of work done in days time. Any suggestions on properly flushing your coolant and preparing for it?
In any case just add LOTS of distilled water over 3 or 4 days. About 10 gallons a day. You slowly pour the room temp distilled water into the return reservoir when the car is warmed up for about 5 or 6 min. Take off the return line(top of reservoir on the right side top) and hook that up to a longer hose that goes into a bucket. If you're trying to do it the right way without introducing minerals to the system, that's about it outside of expensive flush equipment. Just run it for 30min or so each day between those flushes. If you have a similar model to this one with the CBPA 2.0 and the water continues to look brown and murky, might be time to replace the oil cooler block. The square aluminum piece on the front of the engine in between the block and the oil filter. They are known to fail and slowly start pushing oil into the system and quickly cause clogs like in my case. I'm on my third one at 200k.
So what was the Cause of the heater only blowing warm out of one vent my VW 15 Jetta is doing the same thing I’m only getting heat out of one vent by the drivers door
So the entire dash doesn’t need to come out huh 🤔.. every mechanic and dealer said the whole dash needs to be taken out. Might give this one a try on my own
What I found out is that shops using Alldata have the wrong times and procedure associated with this heater core. I confirmed with VW that you don't need to pull the dash as this guy has clearly shown.
I have the same problem on my 2014 Passat with 30k. No mixing of antifreeze but somthing else is causing it? VW just extended warranty so It will be covered however no VW cores are available at this time. The dealer says there was 256 on back order so most likley wont be able to get one for a month.
Bought my 14 Jetta in 2017. Replaced heater core that year, under warranty. Had to replace again in 2019. Having some issues again, shop I called said it's probably heater core. I asked why I've had to replace it every other year!? She says its a common problem in the vw bc of bad design! Are you familiar with this? This is an expensive repair to do every other year and would like to prevent it.
You can pay the dealer or a more affordable reputable mechanic to do a flush once a year. Seems like overkill but honestly, your cooling system and gaskets will see a much longer life as a result. Head and intake gaskets can run well into the 1500 mark to repair so what's 150 bucks a year in maintenance? Mine has 200k and finally got a clogged heater core due to a failing oil cooler pushing oil into my coolant... FYI, pay to have that part replaced when you decide to do an oil change and flush at the same time. Then it's only 30min labor plus the part that costs 35~60 bucks. Doing that at thre same time will save you roughly 300+ bucks. Well worth it. It's not the BEST design but hey, this is a cheap heater core job compared to the majority out there.
Wish i would have this this video before attempting to put in that after market core in (placed a metal box outside the car to lay on but still a back breaker of a job )once i installed the core couldnt get the clamps to hold the pipes to the core just like you said took it back to AZ then sucked it up and got the oem core Just love that top core cover screw I put the screw thru the end of a piece of masking tape to hold it while getting it in place How the hell did you get under the dash wearing all those clothes Hope this helps others
Now why would Prestone advertise "UNIVERSAL ALL MAKES AND MODELS WORKS WITH ANY FLUID COLORS" if it causes such havoc on these volkswagens! Ugh I can't stand false advertising really need to start sueing these companies!
Hi i have 2014 jetta 2.0 gas automatic My car heater is working very much low dont know what is problem? Please advise only one vent blowing hot low air rest off all is cold air freezing
2014 VW GLI - 274,500 miles. I changed my heater core first at 120K. Then when I went for a coolant change at 160K dealer changed heater core/waterpump/thermostat/radiator under discounted warranty after my car started overheating. I'm now about to replace my 5th heater core. It's so retarded and frustrating. I think the dealers and my mechanics used tap water. I'm using distilled water this time. I'm using a Niessens aftermarket this time.
The VW heater cores have 4 chambers to you wont be able to flush to the extent you will be satisfied with full heat. Give it a try though it wont hurt to try.
Tried to clean out my oem core after it was plugged solid while it did slightly open up knew i was better off with new one the video guy is right about the aftermarket clamps couldnt get mine to hold just yanked it out out and got my money back and got the oem core so glad i did
There’s always a slime or film buildup. Coolant/antifreeze is petroleum based and lubricates whatever System it’s in! If you don’t have a film or slime buildup in the system, something is very wrong!!!
