Wonder if the forum software will rotate this one, which is with electrical connector (pink thing in previous one ^) unplugged, and pollen filter slot in more normal orientation...

Edit, yep it's spun that one too. D'oh.

Edited 8 October, 20169 yr by Wino

Last attempt, this time in the car (Polo) to show the position relative to the pollen filter (with filter cover on this time):

 

Yay! orientated as I wanted...

 

Edited 8 October, 20169 yr by Wino

Thanks Wino for the pictures, that does make sense and give me a lot more confidence in changing it.

 

So if I remove the front of the glove box and the side panel next to it and look for the pink plug, I am in the right area, that will get me started.

 

I think what I will do is remove the current V68 and see if there is a part number on that, and go from there. I suppose it is not working anyway, there is no harm in removing it and trying to source a decent replacement.

 

Will be a few days before my day off, but with all your help Wino, I feel I should be able to sort it.

 

Thanks again.

 

Martin

Many thanks for the final picture, that really does make it nice and clear.

 

Martin

Couldn't be certain that the plug will be the same colour on Fabia, but position will be. It's easier to see on the Polo, not sure whether the centre console bit around gearstick/handbrake has to come out on Fabia, in order to remove the trim that wraps around the base of the heater box? Someone will know.

This is the Polo how-to thread. Doubt the trim removal early parts are the same.

 

http://www.uk-polos.net/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=52145

Edited 8 October, 20169 yr by Wino

The pictures have really helped though, just need to crack on now.

 

Can I just confirm it is a V68 temperature flap motor I am looking for, I will then get it down to the right model and year, I may even call the main dealer and price it up.

Yep, that's the one.

 

By the way, have you checked that the coolant hoses going through from engine bay are both hot?

I did check the pipes in the engine bay this morning after my drive to work and the top one was very hot but the bottom was cool.

 

I did look into this last year, as part of the process of trying to get heat, so I took it to a local garage and had the radiator flushed and new coolant, it was warmer for a while but dropped off again.

 

I also spent a long time trying to burp the tank and removed many air bubbles, tried again this morning and there were no bubble as all.

Hmm. I'll run up the missus's car in a bit to compare, but that doesn't sound right.

Thanks for all the help Wino, I think you were one of a few who tried to help me last year.

 

I thought having a cool bottom pipe did not sound right but thought getting the system flushed would help, it did a bit but not for long.

 

I thought originally I might have a blocked heater matrix but did not go much further with this as I thought the garage would have said something when it was flushed.

Here's a couple of pics showing temps of the outside of the two hoses on her 1.2, after a few minutes of running. they tracked each other within a degree for the first few minutes, then diverged a little after a while, but still close:

 

Driver's side, "matrix inlet" hose  (laser spot pointing at hose)

Other one "matrix outlet"

 

Trouble with flushing is that the matrix consists of probably a dozen or more thin tubes, all in parallel, so just because some coolant gets through when you flush it (or the whole system) you can't know how many of these little 'sub-pipes' are actually blocked within the matrix.  Is there any known history of 'leak-fix' type stuff having been added to the cooling system?

 

I seriously would suggest putting the V68 purchasing firmly on hold at this point.

No history of leaks that I know of, I have had the car 2.5 years.

 

The top pipe is very hot, cannot touch it for long when I have driven to work but the bottom pipe is cool at best.

 

I will look into this more then before buying the motor, from the start I wondered if it was more a problem with the matrix ect.

 

I have to go out now, but I think I need to have a word with the garage that service the car for me, not the same garage that flushed it last time and see if they could look into this more, I wonder if there is something that could be added to help clear the matrix or whole system and then change the coolant again.

Thinking about it, when the coolant was changed last time, it went from a sandy colour to pink which I know was right but now it is no longer pink and is a sandy colour again.

 

I wonder if there is still crap in the matrix, and as you say, if there are lots of small pipes, it could be stuck, very interesting and maybe easier to solve, I hope.

The investigative hacksaw came out, and it wasn't exactly as I thought. Not little round pipes but thin flat pipes; eleven in, eleven out. More surface area for heat transfer I spose.

 

A divider in the middle of the front end separating inward flowing and outward flowing sub-pipes:

 

All pooled together at the other end:

 

And a plan view:

 

 

It does sound like your cooling system has some debris of some sort in it, which may well have blocked some of these narrow pathways.  The other possibility is that the water pump isn't pumping as much as it should, but I think you'd probably see general overheating of the engine if that was happening? 

 

If it were my car I'd drain the coolant, then disconnect the normal hoses from the matrix; get a spare couple of bits of 20mm coolant hose, connect one bit to a garden hosepipe somehow, and hook that up to one of the matrix connections at the firewall, then another bit to the other connection and collect what comes out into a big bowl. Turn the hose up to a high flow to force water as hard as possible against the 'in' ends of those narrow 'slot-tubes' and see what comes out of the other bit of hose. Run the hose for a good while that way, then swap the connections over and run it through the other way.

Edited 8 October, 20169 yr by Wino

You can watch the live temperatures given by the various sensors in the HVAC module measuring blocks. Have a look if they all seem plausible. TBH, given that it has moving parts and the same cheap plastic potentiometer as the recirculation flap motor, I'd be surprised if the V68 wasn't your problem.

 

Plus 1 and VCDS is saying that.

 

And to add to that, I know that that flap motor being faulty can also lead to a very hot interior, after all it is it that either directs the incoming air over the heater matrix or not.

 

Edit:- maybe I should have read the rest of this thread - sorry, I'd agree with making sure that there was water flowing through that matrix first though - and having a warm/hot outlet would prove that was the case.

 

Another edit, I'd be curious to find out why this has happened, I've owned two VWs from new for over 13 years each with no coolant issues.

Edited 8 October, 20169 yr by rum4mo

Plus 1 and VCDS is saying that.

 

And to add to that, I know that that flap motor being faulty can also lead to a very hot interior, after all it is it that either directs the incoming air over the heater matrix or not.

But see later on where we luckily establish that the matrix doesn't seem to be flowing much hot water...The problem here is lack of heat, not excess.

Check the thermostat, they're not very reliable.

But see later on where we luckily establish that the matrix doesn't seem to be flowing much hot water...The problem here is lack of heat, not excess.

 

Yup, I tried reading all the posts after submitting my last post initially, maybe I should have done that first!  I did edit my posting though, but too late!

I'm back now, I did not expect you to dissect a matrix for me, but seeing it helps me a lot, so thanks.

 

I felt when I first looked into this, I thought  the matrix may be blocked, it was suggested at one point last year to replace the matrix altogether, but I thought that may be to difficult.

 

I was hoping asking the garage to flush it for me, telling them of my issues, would help clear it, but maybe I should have tried to do it for myself, as I could keep going until I was happy.

 

The car goes straight to 90 and sticks there rock solid, so I presume the thermostat is ok.

 

Where I live it would be difficult to put a hose together to flush it, so I will have to look into how I can get this done, and I will keep flushing until it runs clear.

 

I will also to look into if there is anything I can add to the water to help remove crud.

 

Thanks for all the help though, to everybody, plenty for me to think about, gone from flap motors to hosepipes.

 

Martin

Very last question, everybody has been more than helpful.

 

If I can get to somewhere with hosepipe, could I just flush the heater matrix by removing the two pipe from the bulkhead?

 

I do feel this is where there is a blockage and I thought I should concentrate on that first.

 

If I can do that, and remove, what I hope will be some crud, and then top up the system, I can then see if it improves things.

 

If it does, I was then thinking of flushing the whole system with something like Holts and then put new coolant in.

 

 

Thanks 

Flushing (just) the matrix via the connections at the bulkhead/firewall was exactly what I was trying to describe in the last bit of post #39.

Thanks Wino, I think I have taken up enough of your weekend.

 

I think I will flush the matrix first then and see if that improves things.

 

Now looking into the price of a flexible garden hose long enough to reach the car.

 

It will be mid winter by the time I sort this :-)

 

Thanks again.

Flush it back to front first (right pipe then left)

 

Try and capture the water coming out and have a look

Thanks badger89, I think that is what I am going to do and run it until I see clear water.

I had a look at dinnertime and I am a little worried I won't get the clips off the two black pipes near the bulkhead.

I have had a quote for £95, to get it done by a mobile mechanic, I thought that way I can see what is being done. I am just waiting confirmation the price is for everything I have asked for, flush the matrix and back flushing it and then a flush of the coolant and new coolant to go in.

I know it's not the cheapest option but if it get the car as I want it, it's cheaper that buying a new car.

Martin

Final update I hope.

I decided to take my car to my normal garage and ask them to flush the matrix for me. I felt they would be able to sort it quicker and better than I could.

Net result is after a very good and intense flushing including a stream pipe, I have lots of heat, in fact it's too warm ????????

Lots of crap came out and like I thought there is every chance some sort of radiator sealant had been used in the past.

I had it flushed last year at another garage and I asked them to flush the matrix as well, I thought they had but obviously not.

Thanks for all the help but most of all thanks to Wino for all the help and advice you gave have me, including disecting a matrix. If you had not asked about the pipes being warm, I would have replaced the flap motor.

I feel confident the issue is sorted only because I know lots of rubbish came out of the matrix.

Watch us have a mild winter now.

Martin