heat seems to not work well

[queenie]

my 2000 beetle seems that the heat isn't blowing out very hot air . wondering how to fix that? two people told me maybe a new thermostat? how much would that cost to fix?
it seems like it isnt as hot as like my mom's car. her's is 5 yrs newer. but anyways i guess my heat is ok. phew.. fine for now.

[IndyTom]

Originally Posted by queenie

my 2000 beetle seems that the heat isn't blowing out very hot air . wondering how to fix that? two people told me maybe a new thermostat? how much would that cost to fix?

Depends on what engine you have. On the 2.0 engine it takes about 30-40 minutes to swap out a Thermostat. On the 1.8t it is a major undertaking and can take up to 3 hours. One shop wanted to charge me 300 bucks to change the thermostat in a 1.8 and I told them no way.
That said it is very unlikely that your thermostat would cause the heater not to work well. Other causes could be the heater core itself or not the right mix of coolant. Is your blower motor working? How old is your "Green" Coolant temp sensor?

You could try and flush the radiator and see if that helps. If the heater core is bad or clogged it is going to be about $200 in parts and 6 hours for Labor since the entire dash has to be taken apart to get to it.

[queenie]

Depends on what engine you have. On the 2.0 engine it takes about 30-40 minutes to swap out a Thermostat. On the 1.8t it is a major undertaking and can take up to 3 hours. One shop wanted to charge me 300 bucks to change the thermostat in a 1.8 and I told them no way.
That said it is very unlikely that your thermostat would cause the heater not to work well. Other causes could be the heater core itself or not the right mix of coolant. Is your blower motor working? How old is your "Green" Coolant temp sensor?

You could try and flush the radiator and see if that helps. If the heater core is bad or clogged it is going to be about $200 in parts and 6 hours for Labor since the entire dash has to be taken apart to get to it.

reply:

I have a 1.8 ? turbo... oh so the thermostat wont make the heat any better? so what could make it work better? or does it just take a long time to heat up the car ? the other day it took like 20 min or more until the blower turned on. (first time it didnt wanna work). i just replaced the crank shaft sensor and the temp. sensor rescently. i had starting issues and the temp sensor seemed to have fixed that problem.I have no idea about the coolant. i was going to get a coolant flush and they kinda said they dont think i need it? would that actually help? any other suggestions?

[IndyTom]

Originally Posted by queenie

Depends on what engine you have. On the 2.0 engine it takes about 30-40 minutes to swap out a Thermostat. On the 1.8t it is a major undertaking and can take up to 3 hours. One shop wanted to charge me 300 bucks to change the thermostat in a 1.8 and I told them no way.
That said it is very unlikely that your thermostat would cause the heater not to work well. Other causes could be the heater core itself or not the right mix of coolant. Is your blower motor working? How old is your "Green" Coolant temp sensor?

You could try and flush the radiator and see if that helps. If the heater core is bad or clogged it is going to be about $200 in parts and 6 hours for Labor since the entire dash has to be taken apart to get to it.

reply:

I have a 1.8 ? turbo... oh so the thermostat wont make the heat any better? so what could make it work better? or does it just take a long time to heat up the car ? the other day it took like 20 min or more until the blower turned on. (first time it didnt wanna work). i just replaced the crank shaft sensor and the temp. sensor rescently. i had starting issues and the temp sensor seemed to have fixed that problem.I have no idea about the coolant. i was going to get a coolant flush and they kinda said they dont think i need it? would that actually help? any other suggestions?

On the 1.8 Turbo like you and I have the thermostat is well tucked away and replacing it is very labor intensive that is why they charge 200-300 Dollars to replace a 10 Dollar part.
On the regular 2.0 it is a lot easier.
Could the thermostat be the cause of your heat not working properly? Maybe, but unlikely since there would be other symptoms. If the thermostat would be stuck open or closed for that matter the engine would overheat since there is not enough time for the radiator to cool the coolant mix. If it were stuck closed you would know it since all sorts of warning lights would come on. So you can change the thermostat and pray it will help your issue but the more likely culprit is your "heater core". It is most likely clogged where the coolant doesn't flow through it. You can try and have the coolant system flushed, perhaps it will unclog the obstruction, perhaps not. It just depends on how bad the heater core is. Do you have a specialized VW/Audi Euro shop in your area besides the dealer? Perhaps they can hook it up to a Vag com and diagnose it for you before you spend a lot of money on repairs and still not get it fixed.
Parts including the heater core and coolant will run about 200 bucks but the labor is the expensive part of this. 5-6 hours is what shops will charge to replace a heater core in a New Beetle.

How long ago was your Timing Belt and Waterpump replaced?
The water pump could be another culprit. How many miles on the car and when was the last timing belt / water pump service?

[2004NBTURBOS]

I am gonna throw this out there...take it with a grain off salt.
I have read a lot of posts about the blend door, being stuck or not opening all the way.
Sorry thats all I got. Not much help, I know.
But as stated earlier, if it was the thermostat, you would have bigger problems. To check thermostat, start the car from cold. The top hose should have no pressure in it till the thermostat opens. You can usually tell by squeezing hose. Keep a eye on this hose as the car heats up. When the thermostat opens you should feel the hose become pressurized and get hot to the touch.

" note, I am not a mechanic, just a lover of anything mechanical"

[MyOtherRidesAVette]

You haven't completed your information in the User CP or at least haven't done it in such a fashion that your location and any information on your Bug is displayed in the top right of your post. You are no doubt experiencing colder temps right now. Perhaps sub-freezing depending on your location.

I hate to disagree with Tom but a failed thermostat can easily cause your problem. Here is a godd read on thermostat basics.
What does the thermostat do and what typically... — Yahoo! Autos
Your's could easily be a case of the thermostat sticking or stuck open. Without the thermostat closing and restricting the flow of coolant, allowing it to come to operating temp, it can run cold, take a long time to heat up, and thus the slow heating. Since you can't visually inspect the flow of coolant in the raditaor (no radiator cap) the operation of the thermostat can only be checked by coolant temp. You don't mention how long the "blue" coolant temp light is staying on when you start the car from cold. Normal time could be as much as ten minutes.

A failing water pump can cause a reduced flow of coolant, resulting in a hot running, not cold running situation, and there are enough monitoring indicators in place to monitor low coolant level, but again a low coolant level will generally return a hot running, not cold running situation.

That your blower takes 20 minutes to come on is also a red flag. You also could have a "blend door" issue. Do some thread searching. This is problematic to the NB. And as said, you could have a heater core water flow issue, possibly as simple as a kinked or restricted heater core supply line.

Gotta' get to the shop, but I'll try to address this further this evening.

MORAV

[queenie]

i got the car used from a dealership that probably got it as a trade in. do not know when the timing belt and water pump has been done. i think i got about 109,000 miles .. hopefully it just takes awhile to warm up and will work fine. as i live in minnesota! i will get a coolant flush in 2.5 weeks as i dont know what has been done to the car and how long.

[janitz]

When you're saying the blower doesn't come on for 20 minutes, do you mean that when you turn on the cabin fan to start blowing warm (or cold) air that it actually doesn't come on?

I don't have a 1.8T, so maybe I'm just not familiar with that engine, but on my TDI the blower motor is located within the dash behind the glove box. I've had to replace that myself when it failed.

Have you heard any grinding noise lately when turning on the air, once it does start? When my blower went a few years ago, it ground coffee a few times, didn't want to start, did start, and then never came on again.

[IndyTom]

Originally Posted by queenie

i got the car used from a dealership that probably got it as a trade in. do not know when the timing belt and water pump has been done. i think i got about 109,000 miles .. hopefully it just takes awhile to warm up and will work fine. as i live in minnesota! i will get a coolant flush in 2.5 weeks as i dont know what has been done to the car and how long.

OOOOH, OOOOH.... You could be sitting on a ticking time bomb if the timing belt service hasn't been done. I believe it should have been done at 100k miles. A lot of timing belt/Water pumps have failed way before then. If yours hasn't been serviced then it is way overdue!! When that timing belt goes your valves and pistons will collide and have some internal fireworks and you don't even want to know what that is gonna cost. Also the stock water pump had plastic impellers which with age did break up and then get lodged in your cooling system. Check with your dealer where you bought the car to see if they have a service record of them or another dealer performing the timing belt service which normally includes a Timing belt, accessory belt, water pump, new pulley and tensioner, thermostat and thermostat housing and also cam seals if needed. This is a very important service which should not be overlooked. Now if you are handy you can probably do it yourself and just get the parts which will run about 250 bucks. The dealer charges around 1000-1100 to perform this service but check around there are shops that will do it for 500-750 dollars including all parts and labor.
The timing belt service really should be performed every 75k miles on the 1.8 engine. Some have gone 100k miles but they were playing with fire. I wouldn't worry about the coolant flush since that will be part of the timing belt service.
If it hasn't been done on that car put that as your number one priority!!

[IndyTom]

Originally Posted by janitz

When you're saying the blower doesn't come on for 20 minutes, do you mean that when you turn on the cabin fan to start blowing warm (or cold) air that it actually doesn't come on?

I don't have a 1.8T, so maybe I'm just not familiar with that engine, but on my TDI the blower motor is located within the dash behind the glove box. I've had to replace that myself when it failed.

Have you heard any grinding noise lately when turning on the air, once it does start? When my blower went a few years ago, it ground coffee a few times, didn't want to start, did start, and then never came on again.

The fan comes on when you turn it on which I believe is the same in any of the beetles. It may not blow warm air until it warms up but when I hit my switch it starts blowing right away.

[janitz]

Originally Posted by IndyTom

The fan comes on when you turn it on which I believe is the same in any of the beetles. It may not blow warm air until it warms up but when I hit my switch it starts blowing right away.

Yar, which is why I'm a bit confused. First post he says no heat, but in a later post he says that the blower won't come on.

So is it no heat or no blower?

[IndyTom]

Originally Posted by janitz

Yar, which is why I'm a bit confused. First post he says no heat, but in a later post he says that the blower won't come on.

So is it no heat or no blower?

Maybe it's both

If he just got this car I would take it back to the dealer and have then deal with it. If the timing belt service hasn't been performed in over 100K miles it's just a matter of time before he will have much more serious problems than his heat not working.

[MyOtherRidesAVette]

And it's all just conjecture on our part, until we find out if it's taking 20 minutes for the system to produce heat or 20 minutes for the fresh air blower motor to start running!

[IndyTom]

Originally Posted by MyOtherRidesAVette

And it's all just conjecture on our part, until we find out if it's taking 20 minutes for the system to produce heat or 20 minutes for the fresh air blower motor to start running!

That's easy for you to say Matlock. The suspense is Killing me

[Oh Randi]

I don't mean to thread jack, but I also don't want to post another thread on the same issue. My car has always taken forever to heat up, as in I drive maybe 2 or 3 miles in 30 degree weather and the blue light goes off, normal. But the heat in the car doesn't want to work for at least 10 minutes. Also pretty normal for the 5 years I've owned the car. But what I think I've noticed this winter, it doesn't seem to get as hot. It's warm, but I seem to remember it used to get really freakin hot. I just drove from Oklahoma to Florida, 20 hours of driving at a time, and the heater never got super hot like it used to.

Could the blend door be the issue? My car spits foam at me when I switch to the windshield defroster, and it has done that over the years.

Improper mixture of coolant? I lost a bit a while back changing my coolant temp sensor and just poured in coolant, no water. It's been in my mind but I never got around to doing anything about it.

[Smileybug]

I'd lean more to the blend door. My NB got pretty warm in the winter but did spit out foam. Once I picked up my GTI, I realized just now warm my NB heat wasn't! Definitely a difference.

[Oh Randi]

I was dreading that. lol. I've just gotten in the habit of ducking every time I turn the defrost on. those pieces of foam always seem to go straight for my eyeballs.

[IndyTom]

Originally Posted by Oh Randi

I was dreading that. lol. I've just gotten in the habit of ducking every time I turn the defrost on. those pieces of foam always seem to go straight for my eyeballs.

Why is it spitting foam? I just came back from lunch with a friend and the heat even not all the way turned up was freakin' HOT. I had to turn the fan completely off or my shoes were going to melt to the pedals So far no foam or anything spraying out of my defrost.

[D2Beetle]

Originally Posted by IndyTom

Why is it spitting foam? I just came back from lunch with a friend and the heat even not all the way turned up was freakin' HOT. I had to turn the fan completely off or my shoes were going to melt to the pedals So far no foam or anything spraying out of my defrost.

Foam ... Blend Door issue.

Have you checked your thermostat?

[MyOtherRidesAVette]

Originally Posted by Oh Randi

Could the blend door be the issue? My car spits foam at me when I switch to the windshield defroster, and it has done that over the years.

Improper mixture of coolant? I lost a bit a while back changing my coolant temp sensor and just poured in coolant, no water. It's been in my mind but I never got around to doing anything about it.

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.