Heat's baaaaack!! Maybe this time for good.....

[old guy]

At Idle!!

[sa_seahawker]

I hate you!!!

jk
I take it that's a heater core flush? What are you flushing it with?

I just swapped my core and before that, I have replaced water pump, thermostat, a couple of coolant reservoirs, couple of hoses, caps, CTSs and still have crap heat at idle. But I'm going to swap in another thermostat this weekend. If that doesn't work, I'm selling this turd! LoL.

[Dubsport Inc]

NICE WORK!

[old guy]

This time I just used a $5 bottle of Prestone Radiator flush, a submersible pump and a pair of pantyhose as a filter.

[Charles.waite]

Haha I was going to say that looks like a sump pump!

I've never had heat problems though.....

I do hear a bit of gugling from the heater core when I start my car up some mornings, but nothing I care enough about to crack the dash open to find out about. Though I might consider doing a flush just to freshen up the core a bit and make it more efficient.

[SlickFix]

[IMG] [/IMG]

[

Very nice, but why did you choose to do a heater core flush in the middle of what looks like an Elementary School playground?

[old guy]

That's my granddaughters play stuff sitting on the edge of the driveway for the winter.

[A4Dit]

Definitely one of the cleanest engine bays I've seen.

[KR_A4]

They still make pantyhose?

Nice work. Excellent pics.

What ratio of cleaner to water/coolant did you use?

[customa4]

Nice work! So did you pump the prestone through the top and just let it push itself through the heater core out the bottom outlet? After that I'm guessing maybe you flushed it all out with water?

[LordO]

Out of curiosity did you take temp readings before you cleaned the core or was it no heat whatsoever?

[old guy]

What ratio of cleaner to water/coolant did you use?

I heated 1.5 gallons of water in a large pot to the boiling point and dumped it into the pump bucket along with the 22 ounce bottle of Radiator flush.

Nice work! So did you pump the prestone through the top and just let it push itself through the heater core out the bottom outlet? After that I'm guessing maybe you flushed it all out with water?

Correct. I started out pumping into the upper (outlet) side of the heater core and let it circulate for around 15 minutes. Then I reversed the hoses where they connect to the core and pumped in the opposite direction for about 15 minutes. I repeated this cycle for around 2 hours. Then I disconnect the hose from the pump and used a garden hose to flush out the chemicals. I also reversed this several times and then used an air hose to blow the water out. Refilled the coolant, burped the system and got my heat back!

Out of curiosity did you take temp readings before you cleaned the core or was it no heat whatsoever?

I didn't take any readings but I'll put it this way, it takes me ~15 minutes to get to work and the other day when the ambient was 2°f I could still see my breath when I pulled up at work. Thank god for heated seats!!

[customa4]

Nice!! OG to the rescue again. I'm definitely doing this soon, my heat sucks and I don't have heated seats.

[old guy]

I'm definitely doing this soon, my heat sucks and I don't have heated seats.

There is another step that I should have taken a picture of. It's a really easy way to drain the coolant low enough to flush the heater core without getting underneath the car. I will update this thread with pics tomorrow on how to do it since I will be doing it again tomorrow. (Updated 2/1/14)

Prior to flushing the heater core today I removed my "new" coolant reservoir and replaced it with my nasty looking OEM one since the "new" one was leaking from the coolant level sensor plug. I repaired the leak and will be swapping reservoirs again tomorrow so I will use the opportunity to take some additional pics to show the procedure.

To do a heater core flush you need to remove 1.5 liters of coolant. You do this by removing the small coolant reservoir return hose that attaches to the top level of the reservoir. Then you place a bottle below the upper radiator return hose and insert the coolant reservoir return hose into the bottle. I used an old round 1.5L Pentosin G12 coolant bottle.



After you remove the coolant reservoir cap along with the Phillips head screw that secures the reservoir you tip the reservoir up at a 90° angle and hold it there until you drain 1.5L of coolant into the bottle.





Return the reservoir to its normal position. Or in my case, replace the reservoir. All purdy again!!



You also need to have something handy to plug off the lower heater core (supply) hose when you start the flush procedure. That's it. Then you can proceed to do a heater core flush. When you are finished all you need to do is reattach the lower heater core supply hose and slowly fill the reservoir until coolant starts to flow out of the upper heater core return hose.

Once coolant starts coming out of the upper hose you push it back onto the metal nipple leaving the bleeder hole exposed. When fluid starts coming out of the bleeder hole push the hose fully in place and clamp it off. You will probably have to burp the bleeder hole as well as the upper hard pipe bleeder valve an additional time or two and then you can enjoy your new found heat!!

[jacobsen]

I did the same thing last year with zep brand drain cleaner for about 3 hours back and fourth. Then just to live life on the edge I cleared the system once again and circulated muriatic acid through. I wasn't having heat issues but I wanted to see if I could burn some crap out, get hotter heat and avoid a future problem. I got some bits of plastic and silicon/rubber and sand like sediment. I take care of my stuff too! Goes to show you gotta flush your system every once and a while, maybe every 2 years?

[Pothole]

Old Guy, I'm fighting with my heat also. I flushed it once with a garden hose but it didn't really do the trick. I have a pump I can borrow from work, but a new core is only $115 on ECS. It seems that if I'm gonna flush it for two hours why not take another hour or two and replace the core?
Do you think this continuing flushing game is worth it?

[old guy]

This will be the last time I flush it for sure. If it goes away again I will do a complete system flush and replace the core. For now flushing was a lot easier. I worked from home today and actually spent little time on the flush. It took about 20 minutes to set everything up and I went inside while the pump was running. Swapping flush direction required flipping a switch and swapping two hoses.

We'll see how it goes....

[viceprp]

#22 of pantyhose.

I keeeeeeeeed. I have to do this to my sisters car.

[old guy]

#22 of pantyhose.

I keeeeeeeeed. I have to do this to my sisters car.

LOL. Clearly visible in the third pic. They are zip tied around the return hose.

[zamflip]

Nice! Glad to hear that you got heat back! I just air compressor'd the heater core system... warm a bit but still gotta do some burp thingy. If nothing, then i ll def go with your routine!

[EURO_DOLL]

Awesome job OG

My heat SUCKS on idle this winter and I can't figure out for the life of me what's causing it. Im fixing a coolant leak tomorrow - so this may be my next course of action.


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[old guy]

Updated the draining descriptions in post #14 with some pics for clarification.

Cheers!

[walky_talky20]

Nice pictures, Fletcher. For some reason, I always find myself halfway through, with greasy hands and and no camera before I think of snapping pics.

I did some core-flushing myself recently. Not on the B5, but a friends Pontiac Grand Prix (I *know*). Car had zero heat at idle and only a whisper of heat while driving. 3 minutes in both directions with the BLAST-VAC, and the heat will now ROAST you out. I love that little tool.

Fletcher, if you have trouble again, I'd be happy to let you borrow the BLAST-VAC to see if it would fix your heat for good.

[old guy]

Thanks for the offer Keith! I remember seeing your posts on using the Blast-Vac. I even Googled it and contemplated purchasing one. This last loss of heat was rather baffling. I just helped it out a month or so ago with a quick flush but it apparently needed a little more than that. I'm not sure what precipitated it to go away so quickly. It seemed to happen in less than a week. By Thursday I was fed up so I decided to give it another whack Friday. Since i already had the materials laying around I repeated the process but flushed for a lot longer.

We shall see.....

[n7plus1]

thanks for the update fletch. my heat returned to normal if you had noticed my update in my thread. i turkey basted some coolant out of my res and added in more pure g12 i had leftover from years back. i think my mix was too much water and something got frozen somewhere. I noticed there are bits of dark sandy material in the coolant res when i was sucking it up, the overall color of the coolant was fine. not orange or brown.

[DoubleATO]

What do you think about this? Brand new heater core for 54 bucks. Found it on ebay. The only difference is that it has plastic sides. Thoughts?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/AUDI-A4-Base...p2054897.l4275

[sa_seahawker]

What do you think about this? Brand new heater core for 54 bucks. Found it on ebay. The only difference is that it has plastic sides. Thoughts?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/AUDI-A4-Base...p2054897.l4275

If you are having problems with a coolant system with oem parts, then knock-off parts will be an all-out Greek tragedy. HCs only cost $100-$150 or so. Don't go cheap. But do make sure you get a new HC gasket/clamp set.

[ajdre]

Thanks for the tip OG - I did mine last sunday after freezing all winter. Used a bilge pump from a boat with quick test wires to power it. coming out at 170 now!!!


http://s1227.photobucket.com/user/Da...22091.mp4.html

[JEENYUS]

nice! just in time for summer!

[customa4]

LOL I'm just gonna freeze my ass off for whats left of winter... Maybe come spring time I'll get this done. Heated seats are working wonders for now, just gotta bring some gloves for the stupid aftermarket shifter and dress a little warmer.

[iamshayan]

LOL I'm just gonna freeze my ass off for whats left of winter... Maybe come spring time I'll get this done. Heated seats are working wonders for now, just gotta bring some gloves for the stupid aftermarket shifter and dress a little warmer.

buys luxury car... luxuries break.

[JEENYUS]

buys luxury car... luxuries break.

lol

[customa4]

buys luxury car... luxuries break.

Yupp, seems like that's what's going on in this thread... Same as most threads here on Audizine...

[OttawaWill]

OG, two years later, how's the heat been?
My wife took my car the other day, well what happened to be the morning after the coldest night so far this year and needless to say she was less than impressed with the performance, or lack there of the a4s heating system. I've still got the desperate voicemail saved as it's somewhat cute.
My car had only got 140000 km's on it and it does have descent heat but a hc flush may be of some benefit.


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[old guy]

It was fine at first but slowly began to deteriorate. Then by this past October it was pretty much useless. But I attributed that to my cracked head that was pumping air into the cooling system. I replace the head and did a complete system flush. I also did a separate flush on the heater core.

Even after the flush the heat was only OK. I really didn’t want to go into another winter with marginal heat so I went ahead and replaced the heater core. The heat is now working properly. Probably better than it has been since the first time I flushed the heater core back in 2010.

[OttawaWill]

I may do complete flush when I replace the rear flange as well as a hc for the rest of the season and plan to replace the core in the summer.

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[ufkenedy]

Having same issues. This comes in handy thanks

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[old guy]

Having same issues. This comes in handy thanks

Here's some general information that may be of some use: Clicky click®

[EuroxS4]

I know mercedes sells citric acid for their heater core issues. Its a powder. Normally you boil water mix in the acid then cycle through the heater core. its supposed to eat up the calcium deposits and scale inside the heater core. Also flushing in both directions helps to loosen and get a good majority of the debris out of the heater core. Hope it all works out!

Worst case scenario heater core replacement,they are easy in that car. Just make sure to flush the whole cooling system with water as build up of various debris on the insides of the coolant pipes and hoses can clog a brad new heater core.

[wafi ahmed]

I have no heat at idle issue after timing belt replacement. I just find out today that the coolant that coming out of upper heater core hose is normal water temperature but the lower one is so hot I can’t even touch for so long.


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