Hi

Anyone had a leak with their heater? The carpets in the passenger footwell are soaked and looking under the dash, the heater matix box is very wet. Water smells of anti-freeze. No leak in the engine bay and the sponge that surrounds the pipes in the bulkhead is soaking on the inside.

Have done a search but haven't found a 'how to do it', only people with similar problems.

Thanks!

that would be your heater matix! kinda like a second radiator which supplys the hot air to your air vents,

im not sure how easy it is to fix though but the matrix will need replacing, im a mechanic and from past experiance the matrix can cost from £100-£300 and fitting on most cars i have done have requiered the dash to be fully removed however this might be different on fabias

I previously had my heater matrix replaced. Was around £600 - 650 altogether, mostly labour, the part was probably about £150. Yep, the dash had to be stripped out so I let the main dealer sort it. A few niggles afterwards with creaks and things not put back right (not least the steering wheel not being centred) but all good in the end. Good luck. I'd have thought this needs doing asap so that you don't run low on engine coolant.

Thanks both - not what I wanted to hear, but what I expected!

I have a bit of time off in the next few days, so plan to have a good look under the dash before I commit to the garage!

a quick little tip for you if you can't afford the matrix just yet, at the bulk head you will find 2 coolant hoses going through you can disconnect the hoses and put a bit of pip connecting them together to blank the matrix out, you can drive like this for as long as you like but you won't have any heating so will be ok for this weather but not so good in winter as a customer at my old garage found out,

i would strongly advise you dont put any type of rad weld as this will do more damage than good