heat seems to not work well

[Oh Randi]

Originally Posted by MyOtherRidesAVette

Very possibly a bleand door issue. Read D2B's link.

As to the coolant mix, I'd say no. I remember reading, I believe, the factory recommend IS a little stronger than 50/50. Using a stronger mix than 50/50, simply lowers the freezing point and raises the boiling point. But after about 70/30 gains nothing as the numbers flatten out. It doesn't affect the operating temperature of the coolant system. That remains a constant, controled by the temperature rating of the thermostat. Slow the flow to heat it up, increase the flow to cool it down.

Is it possible you might have the wrong thermostat?

An engine running cooler than it is supposed to be can do damage. It's not like old school, when the cooler the better.

To my knowledge the thermostat has never been touched, so unless it came from the factory with the wrong one, probably not. The coolant isn't going anywhere, no overheating or anything. Just not very much heat inside the car. That's why I was wondering if it could be the blend door. I know spitting foam everywhere is a symptom, but I guess poor heating and cooling is too.

[ETBUG]

Try having your cabin filter replaced that helped me.I found a mouse nest in mine lol

[IndyTom]

Originally Posted by ETBUG

Try having your cabin filter replaced that helped me.I found a mouse nest in mine lol

I don't think a new cabin filter will help her heating issue
inside the car but it is always good to change it once every couple of years.

I still think it is either the heater core or perhaps the thermostat. Neither one of those two are easy to swap out in a 1.8T engine. Not sure exactally what this "Blend Door" is but I assume it has something to do with the direction the heat is directed like to the floor or to the vents or defrost?
I suppose it would effect the way the heat comes out but even if I set mine to defrost it still eventually gets pretty toasty in my Beetle. Those seat heaters work wonders as well too warm up the core. On a cold day they are perfect at level 3 or 4. At level 5 I can feel my buns start burning

[Dipstick]

Originally Posted by IndyTom

...... Not sure exactally what this "Blend Door" is but I assume it has something to do with the direction the heat is directed like to the floor or to the vents or defrost? .....

The Blend Door has to do with temperature, not air direction. Blend door opens to access the heater core. The air that passes through it is "blended" with the cooler air coming into the cabin.

You may have been thinking of mode control.

[newton27]

Now that the weather recently dipped cold here in Florida, I realize I have the "no heat" issue.

A/C is cold as ever.

Blue coolant light goes out after about ten minutes of driving, I don't think the cooling fans are running either. When I pull off from a stoplight, I smell "heat" you know what I mean?
[edit]Where should I start first?

[avbove38]

Originally Posted by newton27

Now that the weather recently dipped cold here in Florida, I realize I have the "no heat" issue.

A/C is cold as ever.

Blue coolant light goes out after about ten minutes of driving, I don't think the cooling fans are running either. When I pull off from a stoplight, I smell "heat" you know what I mean?
[edit]Where should I start first?

Having the same issue with heat. It worked fine before I changed the coolant. I flushed it and replaced it with the proper coolant, G12. The previous owner used green coolant. Air blows great, heat is mildly warm but not hot enough. My blue light does take a few minutes to go off also, but what is the correct time for it to go off? It was going off pretty quick before I changed the coolant so im not sure what is correct now.

[IndyTom]

Originally Posted by avbove38

Having the same issue with heat. It worked fine before I changed the coolant. I flushed it and replaced it with the proper coolant, G12. The previous owner used green coolant. Air blows great, heat is mildly warm but not hot enough. My blue light does take a few minutes to go off also, but what is the correct time for it to go off? It was going off pretty quick before I changed the coolant so im not sure what is correct now.

There is no set time for the Blue light to go off. It really depends on a many things. Like how cold the weather is outside, where the car was parked overnight (garage or outside), How you drive it when you get going. Mine usually turns off within the first 5 minutes of driving. Sometimes when it is really, really cold like today (7 degrees with windchills 10 below Zero Fahrenheit) then it will take a bit longer for the light to turn off. How is your coolant temperature when fully warmed up? It should be climbing to 195 to 200 degrees before the thermostat opens and it falls again. Could be a faulty thermostat or your blend door. Or perhaps the heater core itself.

[avbove38]

Originally Posted by IndyTom

There is no set time for the Blue light to go off. It really depends on a many things. Like how cold the weather is outside, where the car was parked overnight (garage or outside), How you drive it when you get going. Mine usually turns off within the first 5 minutes of driving. Sometimes when it is really, really cold like today (7 degrees with windchills 10 below Zero Fahrenheit) then it will take a bit longer for the light to turn off. How is your coolant temperature when fully warmed up? It should be climbing to 195 to 200 degrees before the thermostat opens and it falls again. Could be a faulty thermostat or your blend door. Or perhaps the heater core itself.

Im curious why it worked fine before the coolant flush. I also had to fix some wires behind the ac control panel as the previous owner did some rigging for some reason and the ac stopped working, also causes a wire to burn up pretty bad. Ive posted these pics on my new member post. I also replaced the fuse panel above the battery and fixed a wire that was cut from the pig tail going into the battery fuse box that controls the cooling fans. Since I did all this the heater doesnt get hot. So im not sure why all of a sudden this happened. everything else works fine. I live in florida so the coldest it gets is around 50 deg. not common to be too cold here for the car to take long to get warm.