That is the best how to video i have ever seen. The detail. The speed, the explanation of each step. I am new to car rebuilds and watched more than my fair share trying to learn and this was absolutely brilliant
Very helpful video and certainly made the job easier on my 2017 A3. A couple of notes that might be useful to others after doing the job today. *I replaced the rubber o-rings with a repair kit 5Q0898400A from AUDI for £15 (includes the o-rings and new clamps. Admittedly I only wanted the new o-rings out of this set as the originals were definitely flattened off when I removed the pipes). **I found I needed to remove the passenger side centre console bracket as it limits movement of the lower heater matrix pipe (it's one 8mm nut to remove it). ***I removed the 4 10mm nuts at the rear of the console (instead of the 2 8mm) which means the whole rear assembly comes out instead of splitting the end off. ****I fitted a FEBI Bilstein unit (No. 108187) (about £90) and noticed that it has thicker water channels than the OE Valeo so hopefully less prone to clogging.
Absolutely spot on video! Clear and easy to follow, made the job a piece of cake. Little things like showing how each cable unfastens saved several minutes of fiddling about, possibly snapping some fittings and sore finger tips! Garage quoted thick end of £1000 to sort the heating out, did the whole job for under £75 (new matrix, interior trim removal tools and radio removal tools) and a couple hours time and now the heating working perfectly. Thanks very much for this video 👍
Thanks for the video. After quotes between 750 and 1,500 this gave me the confidence to replace my clogged heater core myself. I went with the Febi Bilstein 108187 and did drain the coolant system as the coolant was very dirty. Make sure you get the lower hose connected properly with the clamp, I did not pay attention when doing up the clamp and the hose was not seated correctly. The first test run filled the footwell with coolant. I also removed the grey center console bracket which obstucts working at the lower heater core hose. Its just a single 8mm bolt holding it in place, just pull back the carpet to reveal it. All good now and nice warm car again for the winter.
Hi, excellent video really clear and helpful. Have got to replace mine on my 2014 audi a3 , this video has given me the confidence to change it my self,as the garage quotes were very expensive to say the least. Many thanks Darren.😊
Can i ask your advice. I have a 1.4 tfsi A3 8v 14 plate. Had front end light impact. Did a/c condensor and all fluid drained as when i got from copart the coolant temp sensor was popped out of its housing. Not sure if impact dislodged or some one did this as lazy way to drain. I replaced slam, rad, water cooler and ac condenser as fan was fine. Refilled and it holds and runs up to 90 but no heat at all. Fans kick in and off seem ok but after sitting and seeing if self bleeds as many suggest still no heat but after like 45 mins starts like chuffing from back of engine, its not a tap sounds like air chuff chuff chuff to me. Have also had the coolant bottle inlet feed pipe off and doesnt seem to be flow back in but if look at liquid in bowel can see it moving and sucking in as needed. No leaks and holds so not sure if matrix or maybe auxiliary pump? Any help greatly appreciated. Merry Xmas & New Year to all🎉
@@Takedown717 Hi mate. Run the engine up to temp and put the heaters on hot. Then reach down the back of engine and feel the heater pipes to see if both are hot. If they are then it could either be blocked matrix or an issue with the servo motors on the heater box assembly. You would need a tester to check the fault memory of the AC to see if the servo is playing up. When the coolant has been drained they should really be refilled using a Vacuum tester though some people have been successful filling the conventional way, I have only ever vac filled personally after fully draining the system.
Really appreciate the video it seems straight forward with a bit of fetling but to some Audi specialists you need to be a trained astronaut and have a very large bank account lol thanks again bud
Thanks. Some notes. S Tronic owners, you need to put the car into D. After you remove the leather gaitor there is a yellow tab under the top right foam (this can come lose or break so be gentle) Press this tab to the left, press the button on gearknob and pull it down into D. You don't need to remove arm rest seperately - just take the 4 main bolts off and it will come with centre console. You can remove the plastic arm to give you extra room for the bottom pipe - single bolt under the carpet. Check you have seated the bottom pipes together with the bracket properly.. Very fiddly.
My blowers are luke warm on my s3 8v even with engine temp at 100c and coolant water at 98c , would this be the heater matrix blocked? The pipes into the firewall are red hot in and out
@@macca2760. Have the fault memory of the AC unit checked first as it could be a temperature mixing flap servo playing up (which should store a fault code). Otherwise it is likely the matrix is blocked.
Thank you for making this video, very clear and easy to follow the process. My daughter has already spent quite a bit of money trying to diagnose a coolant loss and no heat problem without success even though she has used 2 separate audi accredited specialists. Are you JL Autos in Tamworth?
Did you have the problem of intermittent heat in and off, my a3 is very intermittent and I’ve flushed the core a couple of times to no avail, temp gauge can’t sometimes go up also? Thank you
Hi, the only symptom I had was a lack of heat output from the heaters initially. I did try and flush the cooling system and found the heating did come back at full heat for a short while but then went again. At this point I replaced the heater matrix. However, if yours takes a long time to reach 90degrees or doesn't reach 90degrees then you could have a thermostat issue. The thermostat on the 2.0 TDi is under the inlet manifold on the passenger side of the engine. I did try and replace mine without removing the inlet but ended up removing it because the thermostat housing was seriously stuck on the O-ring.
@@jlautos5425sorry I meant to write the heating can go up sometimes over 90, and after it does this the matrix bangs as though it’s blocked, going to change the Matrix at the weekend and see if that sorts it. Thanks for the reply
Did this the other day but have def not put it back together quite right as still losing a lot of fluid (and the carpet is very damp). Going to take it apart again tomorrow when I have time, and hope that replacing the o rings will help. Had a bit of bother getting the clamps sorted on the heater matrix pipes, anyone got any advice on sorting this? I do now have heating but if I still have the loosing coolant problem, does anyone have advice on what might still be going wrong?
Did you not fit new clips and O rings? Some folk say you have to, I guess it isn’t essential? I’m gonna be tackling this job and apparently my valeo matrix doesn’t come with any clips or o rings
If you haven’t already started the matrix replacement then I would suggest it would be wise to order a set in advance. However, this was my own car and I only realised about the seals after it was stripped down. I took extra care when removing and installing the pipes and gave the o-rings a good check over before rebuilding and they were ok to reuse.
@@matthewking5193 Mine didn't take long at all mate, but I did clamp the heater matrix hoses in the engine bay so didn't drain the complete cooling system. I would run it up to temp stationary with the cabin heaters on full, as soon as you get temperature in the cabin heaters you can turn them off as they will make the engine take longer to warm up. Then allow it to run until you can see/hear the radiator fan cut in. Then take it for a drive, take a couple litres of premixed coolant with you in a bottle just incase it purges some air out mid drive and needs a top up
Does it usually do it just after first start up? Sounds like you could have a slight air lock present. You can try taking it for a drive, allow the engine to reach operating temperature , heaters set to hot and then keep the engine rpm high. (Around 3,000rpm for a diesel or around 4,000rpm for a petrol). The increased engine speed makes the water pump spin faster and hence push the coolant around faster. This could dislodge the air lock. You would then need to wait until it has cooled down before topping up your coolant.
Yes usually on start up but continues to slush heater on the left is boiling the drivers is hot but not as hot as the passenger. Il try the high Revs thanks. Are these self bleeding
Hi this was so helpful for me! Fixed my heater! How do you get rid of the airbag light that you said would go on if keys left in? My uncle didn’t listen and left them in so now have a warning light on!!
Hi! Glad it helped. You will need a diagnostic machine to clear the fault entry from the airbag system. A local garage should be able to clear this for you, likely for a small fee.
Hi mate, I should imagine it will be similar as the matrix will be the same and fitted to the same location on the car. Yours may not have the auxiliary heater but I'm not sure.
A big thanks to JL Autos, I have changed the matrix and I now have full heat, can’t believe how easy it was using this video 😁. The old heater was completely clogged. The only thing I’m worried about is that I never changed the coolant, which I plan on doing at the weekend, will this now clog the new heater? Also can I just remove expansion cap and run car to remove any airlocks? Thanks
I have gone to 2 shops because my ac is not blowing cold air and leaking refrigerant (not coolant) on my s3. They both have said it needs a new heater core. This just doesn't make sense to me because the heater core holds coolant not refrigerant.
Hi Reading your description I would agree that it won’t be the heater core (as you correctly say, it holds coolant not refrigerant) It could be the Evaporator which is next to the heater core, though in my experience they rarely fail. Have you had a heater core replacement recently and maybe the evaporator was damaged during this? The 8V chassis are very common for the AC condensers to leak, I have had to replace mine because of this. The condenser is fitted at the front of the vehicle near the radiator.
@@jlautos5425 Before. There is a clear problem there (probably a leak), as my coolant level is constantly getting low and coilant vapours are blown through the air vents, but my heating works well and there is no moisture on the carpets...
Hi mate, my blowers blow cold when idle/stationary. When driving they blow warm as they should. Coolant level is fine, do you think this could be the heater matrix? But why would it work when driving.
Just changed mine today bud your heater core is clogged with sludgy shit , replace and your heat will be new again never mind people saying it’s flaps or blend door the same exact symptoms u have I had and can confirm this fixed mine I also flushed mine and got a bit of heat but replacing this solved it all
Thanks for the comment! 👍🏻 I got the replacement heater matrix from CarSpares LTD. Though it is worth checking other parts factors also like EuroCar Parts & GSF as they can have some deals going on their sites.
That is the best how to video i have ever seen. The detail. The speed, the explanation of each step. I am new to car rebuilds and watched more than my fair share trying to learn and this was absolutely brilliant
Very helpful video and certainly made the job easier on my 2017 A3. A couple of notes that might be useful to others after doing the job today. *I replaced the rubber o-rings with a repair kit 5Q0898400A from AUDI for £15 (includes the o-rings and new clamps. Admittedly I only wanted the new o-rings out of this set as the originals were definitely flattened off when I removed the pipes). **I found I needed to remove the passenger side centre console bracket as it limits movement of the lower heater matrix pipe (it's one 8mm nut to remove it). ***I removed the 4 10mm nuts at the rear of the console (instead of the 2 8mm) which means the whole rear assembly comes out instead of splitting the end off. ****I fitted a FEBI Bilstein unit (No. 108187) (about £90) and noticed that it has thicker water channels than the OE Valeo so hopefully less prone to clogging.
Thats great, glad it helped. Also some very useful information thanks for posting 👍
This is very helpful, I was on the fence with Valeo or Febi. I shall now order a Febi. Thank you!
Absolutely awesome. Wouldn't have attempted this, if not for this video. Thanks for posting it!
@@ChrisLineham-b7e Glad it helped! 👍🏻
Absolutely spot on video! Clear and easy to follow, made the job a piece of cake. Little things like showing how each cable unfastens saved several minutes of fiddling about, possibly snapping some fittings and sore finger tips! Garage quoted thick end of £1000 to sort the heating out, did the whole job for under £75 (new matrix, interior trim removal tools and radio removal tools) and a couple hours time and now the heating working perfectly. Thanks very much for this video 👍
Thanks for the video. After quotes between 750 and 1,500 this gave me the confidence to replace my clogged heater core myself. I went with the Febi Bilstein 108187 and did drain the coolant system as the coolant was very dirty.
Make sure you get the lower hose connected properly with the clamp, I did not pay attention when doing up the clamp and the hose was not seated correctly. The first test run filled the footwell with coolant.
I also removed the grey center console bracket which obstucts working at the lower heater core hose. Its just a single 8mm bolt holding it in place, just pull back the carpet to reveal it.
All good now and nice warm car again for the winter.
what a fantastic and helpful upload, thanks
Hi, excellent video really clear and helpful.
Have got to replace mine on my 2014 audi a3 , this video has given me the confidence to change it my self,as the garage quotes were very expensive to say the least. Many thanks Darren.😊
Legend for this video! Did this job on a mates car today, and went into it like I’d done it loads of times after watching this! 👌🏼👏👏
Fair play that was a billiant video, very well explained 👍🏻
Thanks mate. Hope it helped 👍
Thanks for making this! Great video.
Thankyou very much....Saved me time looking for all the bolts and clips.....Great video 😁😁😁😁
Thank you for making this video, you really helped us out 🙏
No worries! Glad it helped 👍🏻
Can i ask your advice. I have a 1.4 tfsi A3 8v 14 plate. Had front end light impact. Did a/c condensor and all fluid drained as when i got from copart the coolant temp sensor was popped out of its housing. Not sure if impact dislodged or some one did this as lazy way to drain.
I replaced slam, rad, water cooler and ac condenser as fan was fine. Refilled and it holds and runs up to 90 but no heat at all. Fans kick in and off seem ok but after sitting and seeing if self bleeds as many suggest still no heat but after like 45 mins starts like chuffing from back of engine, its not a tap sounds like air chuff chuff chuff to me. Have also had the coolant bottle inlet feed pipe off and doesnt seem to be flow back in but if look at liquid in bowel can see it moving and sucking in as needed. No leaks and holds so not sure if matrix or maybe auxiliary pump? Any help greatly appreciated.
Merry Xmas & New Year to all🎉
@@Takedown717 Hi mate. Run the engine up to temp and put the heaters on hot. Then reach down the back of engine and feel the heater pipes to see if both are hot. If they are then it could either be blocked matrix or an issue with the servo motors on the heater box assembly.
You would need a tester to check the fault memory of the AC to see if the servo is playing up.
When the coolant has been drained they should really be refilled using a Vacuum tester though some people have been successful filling the conventional way, I have only ever vac filled personally after fully draining the system.
Thanks for the great tutorial,did mine today with ease ❤
Really appreciate the video it seems straight forward with a bit of fetling but to some Audi specialists you need to be a trained astronaut and have a very large bank account lol thanks again bud
No worries. Happy it helped 👍🏻
Thank you for this video but 😢my heating still not working, can you please give me an idea what to look next
Great video and good idea with the bottle. I wouldn't have thought of that 😁
Out of interest, what hose clamps are you using? I've just got the cheap plastic type but not sure I trust them...
Thanks. Some notes. S Tronic owners, you need to put the car into D. After you remove the leather gaitor there is a yellow tab under the top right foam (this can come lose or break so be gentle) Press this tab to the left, press the button on gearknob and pull it down into D.
You don't need to remove arm rest seperately - just take the 4 main bolts off and it will come with centre console.
You can remove the plastic arm to give you extra room for the bottom pipe - single bolt under the carpet.
Check you have seated the bottom pipes together with the bracket properly.. Very fiddly.
SUPER VIDEO
BUT JUST MAKES THE JOB HARDER DOING VIDEO N DOING THE JOB
BUT THANK
VERY INFORMATIVE VIDEO
THUMBS UP 👍
In my a3 8v theres no ac coming out of the center vents, it should be the one behind the cluster right?
My blowers are luke warm on my s3 8v even with engine temp at 100c and coolant water at 98c , would this be the heater matrix blocked? The pipes into the firewall are red hot in and out
@@macca2760.
Have the fault memory of the AC unit checked first as it could be a temperature mixing flap servo playing up (which should store a fault code).
Otherwise it is likely the matrix is blocked.
Thank you for making this video, very clear and easy to follow the process. My daughter has already spent quite a bit of money trying to diagnose a coolant loss and no heat problem without success even though she has used 2 separate audi accredited specialists. Are you JL Autos in Tamworth?
Did you have the problem of intermittent heat in and off, my a3 is very intermittent and I’ve flushed the core a couple of times to no avail, temp gauge can’t sometimes go up also? Thank you
Hi, the only symptom I had was a lack of heat output from the heaters initially. I did try and flush the cooling system and found the heating did come back at full heat for a short while but then went again. At this point I replaced the heater matrix.
However, if yours takes a long time to reach 90degrees or doesn't reach 90degrees then you could have a thermostat issue. The thermostat on the 2.0 TDi is under the inlet manifold on the passenger side of the engine. I did try and replace mine without removing the inlet but ended up removing it because the thermostat housing was seriously stuck on the O-ring.
@@jlautos5425sorry I meant to write the heating can go up sometimes over 90, and after it does this the matrix bangs as though it’s blocked, going to change the Matrix at the weekend and see if that sorts it. Thanks for the reply
Had mine replaced after no heat at all, now I’ve got hot air passenger side and not so warm on drivers side, any ideas
What part of the UK are you from???
Did this the other day but have def not put it back together quite right as still losing a lot of fluid (and the carpet is very damp). Going to take it apart again tomorrow when I have time, and hope that replacing the o rings will help. Had a bit of bother getting the clamps sorted on the heater matrix pipes, anyone got any advice on sorting this?
I do now have heating but if I still have the loosing coolant problem, does anyone have advice on what might still be going wrong?
Did you manage to resolve this ? Would be very helpful to know.
Did you not fit new clips and O rings? Some folk say you have to, I guess it isn’t essential? I’m gonna be tackling this job and apparently my valeo matrix doesn’t come with any clips or o rings
If you haven’t already started the matrix replacement then I would suggest it would be wise to order a set in advance.
However, this was my own car and I only realised about the seals after it was stripped down.
I took extra care when removing and installing the pipes and gave the o-rings a good check over before rebuilding and they were ok to reuse.
Done the job. Thanks mate for the video. Did yours take a while to bleed up afterwards? Mine is taking ages but I’m not using a vacuum
@@matthewking5193 Mine didn't take long at all mate, but I did clamp the heater matrix hoses in the engine bay so didn't drain the complete cooling system.
I would run it up to temp stationary with the cabin heaters on full, as soon as you get temperature in the cabin heaters you can turn them off as they will make the engine take longer to warm up. Then allow it to run until you can see/hear the radiator fan cut in. Then take it for a drive, take a couple litres of premixed coolant with you in a bottle just incase it purges some air out mid drive and needs a top up
@@jlautos5425hi mate thanks for getting back to me. Yes I did that in the end and it’s all good now. Many many thanks.
Swapped my matrix out but now makes a slushing sound in the dash could it be airlocked
Does it usually do it just after first start up?
Sounds like you could have a slight air lock present. You can try taking it for a drive, allow the engine to reach operating temperature , heaters set to hot and then keep the engine rpm high. (Around 3,000rpm for a diesel or around 4,000rpm for a petrol).
The increased engine speed makes the water pump spin faster and hence push the coolant around faster. This could dislodge the air lock. You would then need to wait until it has cooled down before topping up your coolant.
Yes usually on start up but continues to slush heater on the left is boiling the drivers is hot but not as hot as the passenger. Il try the high Revs thanks. Are these self bleeding
@@chriswright9720did u manage to fix this?
Your video is very helpful thank you
Hello nicely done .thanks 👍
Hi this was so helpful for me! Fixed my heater! How do you get rid of the airbag light that you said would go on if keys left in? My uncle didn’t listen and left them in so now have a warning light on!!
Hi! Glad it helped.
You will need a diagnostic machine to clear the fault entry from the airbag system. A local garage should be able to clear this for you, likely for a small fee.
Thank you! My uncle had one so cleared them for me! Again thank you for the video, saved me a lot of money😁but you made it look so easy🤣🤣
Hi, would it be same for an Audi S3 2016 . Thank you
Hi mate,
I should imagine it will be similar as the matrix will be the same and fitted to the same location on the car. Yours may not have the auxiliary heater but I'm not sure.
@@jlautos5425hi, many thanks for replying ,I was thinking about doing it myself as the cheapest quote I can get is £1500 .thanks again
A big thanks to JL Autos, I have changed the matrix and I now have full heat, can’t believe how easy it was using this video 😁.
The old heater was completely clogged.
The only thing I’m worried about is that I never changed the coolant, which I plan on doing at the weekend, will this now clog the new heater? Also can I just remove expansion cap and run car to remove any airlocks?
Thanks
I have gone to 2 shops because my ac is not blowing cold air and leaking refrigerant (not coolant) on my s3. They both have said it needs a new heater core. This just doesn't make sense to me because the heater core holds coolant not refrigerant.
Hi
Reading your description I would agree that it won’t be the heater core (as you correctly say, it holds coolant not refrigerant)
It could be the Evaporator which is next to the heater core, though in my experience they rarely fail. Have you had a heater core replacement recently and maybe the evaporator was damaged during this?
The 8V chassis are very common for the AC condensers to leak, I have had to replace mine because of this. The condenser is fitted at the front of the vehicle near the radiator.
Did anyone have vapours of coolant being blown in the cabin through the air vents?
Before or after the matrix was replaced?
@@jlautos5425 Before. There is a clear problem there (probably a leak), as my coolant level is constantly getting low and coilant vapours are blown through the air vents, but my heating works well and there is no moisture on the carpets...
Hi mate, my blowers blow cold when idle/stationary. When driving they blow warm as they should. Coolant level is fine, do you think this could be the heater matrix? But why would it work when driving.
Just changed mine today bud your heater core is clogged with sludgy shit , replace and your heat will be new again never mind people saying it’s flaps or blend door the same exact symptoms u have I had and can confirm this fixed mine I also flushed mine and got a bit of heat but replacing this solved it all
I may have same problem on my Audi… (( how much does it cost to replace the matrix? Or how can I contact you about this?
How long do you think it took in total mate
Nice clear instructions👍🏻Where did you source the heater matrix from?
Thanks for the comment! 👍🏻
I got the replacement heater matrix from CarSpares LTD.
Though it is worth checking other parts factors also like EuroCar Parts & GSF as they can have some deals going on their sites.
How much would you charge for this service, also where are you based
Thanks
JCT600 had replaced my cambelt and water pump and now my heater matrix is blocked now. They are trying to charge £1100 for this to be sorted….
Where are you based and how much would it cost for you to replace my heater matrix on audi s3
Funny you should mention this as I've just paid Audi for a cambelt and pump replacement and a week later my heater matrix gets blocked 🫣🤔
We’ll explain ******