Hi! Im having some issues with no heat at the right side of the car. The passenger is not getting any heat at all. I have done some diagnostics myself but without any luck to get the heat above 18 degrees. 

 

What I have done:
- Checked coolant, Operating normal. 

- Checked hoses to firewall both warm. 

- Checked flaps - Working OK. 

- Checked codes - Only wrong code is - A/C Compressor First run in issue.

- Done the "Climate trick" 

- Removed + Battery for 1 minute - No luck. 

 

* Right side fan is constantly blowing. *

 

I have no idea what else can be wrong. Can it be a sensor or something? 

Thanks in Advanced. 

When you checked the coolant, did you just check the level, or did you actually look inside.

 

My first thoughts is that the silica bag in the tank may have burst and clogged your heater matrix.

 

Have checked inside could not find anything. Just pure liquid. Hmm. Could it be fixed with bleeding the system do u think?

Hi mate, did you have any joy with this? My '68 plate Octavia is having similar problems, gradually getting worse. Cheers!

If your car has Silicat, it will say on the expansion tank "Mit Silikat", if its a later model 67 plate onwards I believe, maybe earlier, they have a different design and doesn't say "Mit Silikat" on the tank.

 

Have a look through this thread.

 

Unfortunately if the Silicate bag has burst, its and expensive fix. 

Edited 29 April, 20215 yr by FrankNicklin

18 hours ago, Wul71 said:

Hi mate, did you have any joy with this? My '68 plate Octavia is having similar problems, gradually getting worse. Cheers!

 

Thats not good news for a 68 Plate car. Any warranty left.

No mate, 6 months out. Cars done 80,000 miles. Looks like my matrix is blocked due to sand like crap in the coolant coming from that godforsaken silica bag. Changed the expansion bottle, cut the bag out the old bottle, no rips or holes on it but fine grains come off it when placed between fingers, bag also looked kinda burnt and brown. Coolant system has never been split until I changed expansion bottle yesterday. 

 

I thought all cars of this age didn’t have the silIcate bag fitted. As mentioned my 67 plate doesn’t have one. Does your expansion tank have “MIT Silikat” on it.

After having read a few posts now on this Silica Bag issue, i have just been out to my 68 plate VRS and fished it out.

 

It wasnt split but i would rather not run the risk.

 

I had to bend over the front retaining peg, but then it came out with ease.

3 hours ago, FrankNicklin said:

I thought all cars of this age didn’t have the silIcate bag fitted. As mentioned my 67 plate doesn’t have one. Does your expansion tank have “MIT Silikat” on it.

Yes.

8 minutes ago, Wul71 said:

Yes.

 

Strange don't understand at all why some would and some wouldn't especially given the different ages of the vehicles. Pre 67 had one, mine doesn't, but a 68 plate does.

8 minutes ago, FrankNicklin said:

 

Strange don't understand at all why some would and some wouldn't especially given the different ages of the vehicles. Pre 67 had one, mine doesn't, but a 68 plate does.

It might be engine or variant specific. It would be interesting to compare your car to the ops car.

This is my expansion tank. No mention of "Mit Silikat" on it. 1.4TSI SEL

 

My tank on the vRS

53 minutes ago, Pagan-Image said:

After having read a few posts now on this Silica Bag issue, i have just been out to my 68 plate VRS and fished it out.

 

It wasnt split but i would rather not run the risk.

 

I had to bend over the front retaining peg, but then it came out with ease.

There was no way to take the bag out my old expansion bottle without taking the tank off and then cutting the bottle open, there was 2 chambers in it, the one when you open the cap and pour the coolant in and the outer chamber of the bottle where the bag was clipped in,  it was clipped on to the tanks wall. When looking into the tank with the cap off the coolant was clean but the outer chamber where the bag lived had alot of sandy grime in it. It's good you got the bag out your tank.

5 minutes ago, Pagan-Image said:

My tank on the vRS

 

Yours looks identical to mine bar the top left plastic bit and obviously the wording on the side.

 

Does anyone know what the Silicate is supposed to do other than cause major problems if the bag splits.

From what i have read, it 'tops up' the coating in the alloy internals to stop them corroding, making a maintenance free cooling system (No such thing IMHO), but if you change the coolant every 5 years this shouldn't be an issue anyway.

7 minutes ago, Pagan-Image said:

My tank on the vRS

 

Tried to upload a photo there but don't think it worked sorry.

Let's try again. This is the silica bag in the bottle when I cut it open -

Here is the bag outside the bottle -

Im glad i had the other kind  

It's blocked my heater matrix, a 2 and a half year old car! Never had any hassle with my old 13 plate MK3, after 220,000 miles i didnt even notice if that had the Mit Silicat expansion bottle as never had any bother with it😭

Has anyone fixed this problem? I removed the silicon bag (not burst) and have fitted,

 

new timing belt and waterpump

coolant pump c (fault code P26F800) stuck

flushed system

new matrix

new coolant

 

new matrix blocked after a day.

 

So, I wonder if the same topic applies to any business with faulty stepper motors or so?

 

This year has been a really quiet one for our Octavia, but yesterday was an hour+ ride in approx -5 to -8 degree Celsius outside.

I though nothing of it (left hand driver side), but my girlfriend complained about cold air (right hand side).

 

It is a bit too new for me these cars to have any mechanical knowledge, but it seemed coolant temp and oil temp was reasonably good.

Seeing heat on one side, I suspect more a "distribution issue" for the heater. Any thoughts anyone?