Heating problems need help!

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Dec 10, 2009 | 05:03 PM

a4turbo666

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Heating problems need help!

Hey,

I took my car (1.8t) into my local mechanic because my heater was not warming up unless it was on econ or ac, and the fan kept running well after my car was turned off which killed my battery. Also, the temperature gauge would not get warmed up unless econ or ac is set.

The mechanics checked the battery, alternator etc and they worked all fine. They told me it has to do with the relay switch or something with the ecu. They want me to go to the dealership and get a electrical diagnostic so that they can pin point what the problem is. Till then they suggested I take off the negative terminal at night so my car wont die.

Doing a search of the forum it looks like a control module or possibly a relay problem but the threads did not have basic information (I am not very mechanically inclined) so I would just like some conformation to what my problem could be and what I should have the mechanics check out.

Thanks in advance

Dec 10, 2009 | 06:37 PM

monty007

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Wondering if you recently had any work done own your cooloing system?? I had a similar problem and it was because i had done a coolant flush and there was an airpocket in my heater core. There is a great tech article that I followed to purge the system and everything worked out after that. Get your car to normal operating temps and then touch the heater core hoses. My outlet hose was room temperature.

Hope it is a simple fix.

Dec 10, 2009 | 09:06 PM

a4turbo666

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Thanks for the reply monty007, something i will checkout first. I have not gotten any cooling work done or had a coolant flush, however i was recommended to do so 6 months ago... (by a cheap oil change place though)

I don't know if this helps but a few days ago after shutting off my car i caught the fan still running for well over an hour. The battery was not dead so i was trying to figure out how to turn it off and the only easy way i found was to turn off the heater settings inside the car. So then later i figured i had an easy fix just remember to turn off the heat completely when parking so i did that and the next morning the car was not 100% dead but it also didn't turn over.

Dec 11, 2009 | 03:23 PM

a4turbo666

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Today after leaving my car parked for about 12 hours I tried to start it up and initially it looked like everything worked. The lights were not dim when i turned off the alarm and it did not seem like the battery was dead but then when i turned the ignition the car would not turn over like before. I waited for a couple min and tried again and the car turned over.

So that got me wondering could it possibly be something else maybe with the ignition? Or maybe spark plugs? I have no idea but it sounds like its struggling to turn over and just needs a little bit more juice to start. We have also been having some very cold weather here in Seattle, I don't know if that contributes to the problem.

To make sure it's a "something is draining my battery" problem, I decided to install a battery charger/maintainer to plug in at night. And if it starts up with no problems then I want to try the heater core flush tomorrow.

Quick question, I checked out the tech article and it was very detailed and seems easy enough for me, but is the location of the core the same for the B6 and B5 model?

Thanks

Dec 12, 2009 | 06:19 AM

monty007

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Hey

sounds very familiar to my situation. I was also having the fans running for a long time after turning off the car. What I figured out was my coolant was low and the car was trying to cool off what coolant was left in the system. I was also getting a check engine light because my coolant temperature sensor was fried.

So I replaced the sensor (which was an absolute bit$& by the way because you can't see what you are doing) and then filled up the coolant. Than is when I noticed that there no heat blowing due to the airpocket I had created when replacing the sensor.

I live in Vancouver and have been dealing with the same weather system that you are going through. Just try and do the heater core flush and see what happens. Make sure that you are very patient and take your time purging the hose withthelittle nipple when you have pressurized the system. I purged it about 10 times over about half an hour and it blows hotter than ever before. It was so nice to have heat for the first time in a while.

Good luck and post back to see if it word out. Hopefully you can get it done on Saturday as we are supposed to be getting dumped with snow on Sunday.

Dec 20, 2009 | 08:55 PM

a4turbo666

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Thanks for your all your help!

I been very busy and FINALLY have the week off to work on my car. What's crazy is the car has not been dying and from what I can tell the fan does not run randomly when the cars off. But that doesn't put my mind at ease at all. Something is not working right. The heater is still not hot so I am definitely going to do the flush. From your experience I should do that after I fix my sensor correct? Also, do you have a link for the temperature sensor by any chance?

What's even more crazy is my high beams now will stay on when my car is off... And that killed my battery the other day.... The only way to turn them off is to park my car with the lever in the high beam position. And whenever any of my lights are on (even just running lights) the high beams come on regardless the the lever position. The high beam logo kind of flutters on and off then just stay on is it a related problem or another relay?? Is it also normal for one problem to go away and another one to appear?

Any input would be much appreciated and thanks in advance