VW Heater Core Replacement - 1993-1998 VW Jetta and Golf
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- čas přidán 8. 01. 2014
- For an older car, losing a heater core is probably a game-changer because of the high price of getting it repaired. Almost all of the cost is labor. This video shows how to replace the heater core in a 1994 VW Jetta. It's not a job for the timid but it can be done! This video is much more complete than the Bentley manual that totally leaves you hanging after getting the dashboard out!
5 years later and this video is still helping people, thanks for the step by step!
Thank you for your very kind comments! Best of luck!
6years and I will use it too 😅
@@arnowossmann4551 I started to see my breath, I suppose its time for me to do it as well :P
A couple of tips, from someone who just did this job (thanks to this video!)
When you get to the part where you're removing the dash retaining nuts under the windshield (in the engine compartment), take the extra time to completely remove the shrouds, and remove the wipers and motor assembly. It will make it quite a bit easier to remove the 2 nuts on the driver's side, but mostly because it will save you a ton of headaches when you try to put those nuts back on during reassembly.
On the A/C line, there's a clamp right behind the passenger side headlight. If you remove this clamp, you will have enough play in the A/C lines so that you don't have to disconnect them at the firewall. That saves a ton of hassle.
Other than that, be careful, be patient, and most importantly, keep your fasteners sorted!
You can work around them if you are prepared for a few scratches on you hand and you have a cool CV coupling in your socket set. Just like in the video.
Alan McRae, thanks for making this video. I just did the heater core on my 98 Jetta TDI this weekend and this video was essential to getting it done without any issue. I appreciate you posting this.
Alan thanks so so so much I followed your video step by step. 13 hours later I took the heater core out and put the new one in. Thanks so much you saved me 1000.00
Thanks! I love seeing comments like this. They make me happy I went to the trouble of recording it!!!!!!
Just wanted to really say thank you for the video, after every A3 owners nightmare afternoon of steaming vents, it was an amazing help. I don't have a Bentley for our A3, your video saved me from getting the book for now, I replaced the core on the A2 and this one is much more involved, I can't believe how much more stuff needs pulled. HUGE HUGE Thank You! The heater core has to be the most chaotic of parts to replace, and to be able to see it through on a model not worked on before was priceless.
10 years later and very helpful !! Thanks!!
Thanks!! Hope you can keep your "vintage" vw going!
Just got done with mine today! I'm only 18 with little experience with hands on with cars but I did it. Thank you
Very cool!!! Congratulations! Any wisdom to add here after your job?
Good video. Thank you for taking the time to film this. My wife's 97 Jetta just broke right at that same fitting.
Wow, this has been a tremendous help. I watched it twice and what i thought was an impossible became a possibility... Thanx again
9 years later and this video is still helping vw owners step by step!! Cheers!!
One thing to note: The gates in the airbox that move to shift from ac to heat, from defrost to face to feet, and from heat to no heat, have holes in them covered by thin foam which has rotted off. Cover these holes while you have the airbox open and off. I use HVAC aluminum tape. Do both sides. Leakage through the holes is very annoying.
Thanks for taking the time to document this for us. What a chore!
I have a 1998 VW Cabrio and you said each step for me. I'm so glad for you telling me about the air bag ( battery disconnect ) and them 2 bolt with no head to them ( I had to chisel out ). Without this video....I'm 100% I wouldn't have disconnected the battery first air bag probably exploded in my face and I would have got over frustrated trying to take them 2 bolts out and gave up. Thanks a billion great video
+Amazing Cuts Thanks for your comments!!!
Tip of the hat Alan. You're a LOT more patient and ambitious than most Golf III owners. I wouldn't have undertaken such a project. You did some major surgery
+J. Effingham Bellweather hahaha.... thanks so much!!!!
Great video, great knowledge Alan. Unfortunately my car has so many issues and is so old that I don't think that I want to do that much for it anymore. But never the less great job!
i just had to replace my heater core in my '97 golf vr6. Watched the video first to get an idea of what steps and where everything was at. Went without a hitch and the information was a real life saver. Thanks.
+Jim holt Thanks, Jim!
+Jim holt Buddy, how long did the job take you?
+Jamal Sardar A couple days, as I remember...
Brother! Thank you! Bought a 2K Cabrio (500.00) for my kid's High School car, blown heater core. This was tremendously helpful! MK3.5 videos are in short supply. These cars are different from the Golfs/Jettas of the same era. You saved my bacon.
Hahaha!!! Thank so much!!! You've got the "right stuff" to do this job my friend!!!
They’re not different from the perspective of the heater core and dash…
very helpful thank you! just pulled the heater core out of my 95 golf thanks to this video. took about 4.5 hours to get it out and will be putting it back in tomorrow.
Thanks!!!!
and congratulations!!
Good job Alain, because of your post I can replace the heater coil in a VW GTI VR6. Again thanks Alain!!! 2 thumbs up for you man.
Thanks for putting in the time to record this! Very helpful and i'm happy to not be leaking coolant anymore :)
Thanks so much!
Yessir thank you very much just bought this 1998 bright yellow golf gti and it didn't have a heater core in it and this video is really helpful with the step by step
Holy crap you must have patients to make this video. I'm going to tackle my core this weekend. I've watched your video twice now, and I feel pretty good about it.
Thanks again for taking the time to make this helpful video!
Thanks, Greg!!! You can do it!!!!!!!
The nuts at 27:28 and 27:38 in the video are hard to remove because they are often rusted, so you may want to spray some penetrant on them early in the job to allow them to free up. When I removed one of the nuts, the stud came with it...which was ok because i was able to screw the stud back in when putting everything back together.
Nice work man! Very helpful. Thanks for taking the time to film this!
Thanks sp much!
Thnx so much! Couldn't have done it w/out this vid! 2 things I wanna add, the ground wire you cut and resoldered to finally remove dash, there's a 10 mm nut you can ezly remove to remove that ground wire, it bolts a tan ground junction, just follow the flat copper ground wire that you cut, remove junction and then ground wire. Also, my heater box door foam is missing, I now realize I need to remove dash and heater box again to reline with new foam, I'll use metal tape to attach.. my heat doesn't work so well because door doesn't seal from lack of foam (all disintegrated w time). I did do a quick fix and wrap a plastic bread bag around fresh air intake(under plastic of windshield wipers on pass side), I attached plastic bag with a piece of copper wire. Now I have good heat as long as I push air circulation button on dash-(lite on) so no hot fresh air heat until I reline the heater box door. It also keeps fumes out of inside of car since I need to replace valve cover gasket and oil is smoking lol, that's next thing I do but car is basically on road and working! Your vid is awesome! thanx!
+notorious Thank you very much about the info. on the group wire!!!! I also like your temp. fixes!!!
Ufff looks like a lot more work then the 07 Lincoln navigator I did lol. Awesome video, definitely will help when I tackle this job. 👍👍
Alan, thanks so much for taking the time to make this video!!!
Thank you!
Right on man!! Just picked up a few VW's and one golf has it all done and the kid gave up. This will definitely help with the install!! Cheers!!!!!
Thanks!!!!!!
thank you man I have a VW mk3 and tomorrow morning I will replace the heater core for my car this video helps me so much
You can do it!!!! Good luck with everything!
Great Video!Thanks for posting it;the HC on my 97 Golf just makes my car look like a sauna..Just put a new clutch, water pump, thermostat and belts 2 days ago and then a day latter I saw coolant vapors coming through the vents...😁The "the good"news is that coolant level is normal and there is no leak on the car floor... Good car but super crazy design...
Alan McRae, great job so far., its been almost 5 years since mine popped on my 96 supercharged VR6 GTI, and your video is leading me to fixing it on my own. i am not faint of heart, i build 1000+ hp drag race VW/Audis in my spare time, but i really didnt want to do this job. and still part of me almost thinks the 800 plus bucks the quoted price to do would have maybe been worth it. i ripped one of the RCA off the stereo right out of the gate, very discouraging. but the car has a big stereo in it so its just gotta be fixed is all.
again, thanks for taking the time to detail this. i have the Bentley manual but never felt the need to actually look at it.
and i love how not-a-mechanic you appear to be and yet still tackled this job. the Boston accent is a plus :-)
hahaha!!! Thank you! And I don't think the Bentley Manual will even tell you how to do this!
Just wanted to say thanks for this video, made undertaking this job a lot less of a mystery. It only took 4 days! And I only wound up with two mystery screws! Otherwise, everything seems to be operating normally!
Thanks for the report, powaz!
Just wrapped this up after about a few weeks, I finally have heat. The ground strap I had to cut in order to move the knee bar, when I had everything back to together I didnt have a battery at the moment so once I got one I didn't have any power to the blower motor. I took the center console controls out and removed my glove box and upper cover for air bags. There was a plug that was not connected when I put everything back together, I just traced wires from the blower resistor to find it. Also the brown cable from that is connected to the red blower motor connector I clipped it and made a lug connection to a metal part of the knee bar, it's basically a new ground. This guide helped me tremendously.
Congratulations!!!!! You now have major bragging rights... And thanks for the kind words!
The Bentley Manual is absolutely worthless when replacing a heater core. After watching your video, I was able to complete the job with a lot less frustration than if I had not watched the video. Thank you so much for the post and all the details.
BTW, I was able to do the job without discharging the AC system. I did remove the bolt in the engine compartment that retains one of the AC lines. This gave me enough wiggle room to get the heater core out.
This is a terrible job, but made doable thanks to your video.
Golf Owner
That's a great tip about the AC lines! Thanks for the nice comments- it makes doing a video worthwhile!!!!
wow great video this helped me decide to keep my car instead of spending a lot more to buy a different car
Thanks for the great video. Gotta do this job tomorrow, being able to see it done first is really going to make a difference I think.
Thanks!!! You can do it!
Great video Alan, still helping people after 7 years
Thanks so much!!!!
Viktor, i may still have an extra brand new heater core if you want it!
Already bought one from Bahn Brenner. Thanks for your offer! Wishing you the best from the great PNW 🤝
Thanks man.I have watched tons of videos about but this one is absolutelly the best.Cheers!
Hahaha... thanks!!!
@@amcrae1 Yes...those "oldt Cans" are still driven by some people :)
Really has helped me out, I'm two bolt away from pulling the knee bar all the way back, the two bolts under the steering column worked with a chisel and mine looked different on the head, but they didn't take a lot to unscrew with a small sledge hammer and chisel.
That's great!!!!!
Good video man. I used it to guide me through my 96 Karmann Edition Cabrio. Works perfect for that vehicle as well. Thank you again!
Thank you!!!!
Thanks for the video, it really helped me. When I had to replace my heater core. I had to remove the air ducting for the heated feet. in order to get more space on the bar. this allowed me, to get enough gap to get the heater core out. without removing the air conditioning valve.
+powcar91 Thanks for the tip!!!!
thank you very much for making this video, just what I needed.
THANKS!!!
dude thank you so much im doing this tomorrow and this helps so much giving this a like and subed
this video is worth its weight in gold, thank you so much sir, you helped me alot
Thank you!
Well done, just did my 1994 GTI very accurate info thank you for the video
Eric, thanks for letting me know!!!! :)
The video make my life easy, this process took me like 5 hours, thank you so much
Thank you!
You are so awsome with that video MANN! thanks helped me out totally,
+iky beantown1 Thanks for the comment!
Allen God bless you man thank you for all your help I am truly grateful for people like you who want to help others.
Thanks so much! Do have an old VW that you are going to tackle?
Yes sir it's a 2001 VW cabrio, plastic cracked at heater hose inlet, new heater core is in, just going back together now, thanks again for the step by step, blessing to you and you family.
thanks man your video is great perfectly explained thumb up!
Thanks for showing your experience. There is no need to remove the dash pad separately. You can avoid pulling out the vent panels, speaker panels, steering wheel and both airbags, instruments, steering wheel, and loads of other stuff, including the dash pad and its many securing fasteners. Disconnect the negative battery terminal.(no need to short anything. This is a BAD idea for DIYers).You need only undo the 3 10mm nuts that secure the top of the dash to the firewall in the plenum chamber beneath the wiper mechs. Then undo the 2 13mm nuts that join the lower steering column and the steering rack (behind a cover). 2 more 13mm bolts secure the brake pedal bracket to the rear of the full width metal dash crossmember just below the steering column. Once you have done this all that remains are the 4 (2 at each door opening) torx bolts that secure the metal dash crossmember to the a pillars. remove the earth wire instead of cutting it. Remove the heater conrols and push through as shown in the video. Then out she comes! use stands to support the dash as you will not be removing the dash entirely, which is a lot of extra work. As you work the dash away from the firewall, disconnect the 2 wire connector for the passenger airbag. remove the 2 wire connector that goes to the door plug also on the passenger side. Undo the connector on the side of the heater box if needed on the drivers side. Work the dash out mostly on the passenger side, and use supports. I got mine out in 1 hour.
To get the heater box out,there are 2 more 10mm nuts to undo around the a/cond pipe collar and 2 more under the heat shield in the centre of the car (which you show in the engine bay). Some brackets and wiring covers can be removed in the engine bay to give the a/cond pipes more room to move without bending them too much so avoiding regassing. Put in your new core and refit heater box. refit dash, but pay special attention to locating the steering shaft ( I recommend at least 2 helpers for this part). Why does nobody mention removing all the sound deadening and carpets? this is very time consuming. They need to be thorougly rinsed and dried if you dont want your car smelling like damp coolant. This takes more time than the dash job! Do this first, so its all dry and ready to go back in when you finish the core and dash.
I wrote this in the comment section, also, but just wondering if you've seen the process you're describing, discussed anywhere else on the Internet? Thanks!
this also remove the seats to make it more comfortable while working, iu did remove the entire console ,just a few more screws, made for mopre room to work
Currently in the process of replacing the heater core in my 98 VR6 Jetta. It seems as though there are a few more necessary steps that not mentioned in this comment as I've removed everything described above and my dash is still in there rock solid.
thanks for the video I'm putting my dash back together now almost done it was my heater core after all
this video was incredibly helpful. thank you!!!
Thanks, Raheim!!!
Great Job with the video. I have to the same exact thing. This gives me a very good idea what I am getting into
Thanks, Angel!!!! Good luck!
Thanks mate! Greetings from Czech republic!
Thank you so much! It's amazing how the entire world is CONNECTED!!!!!!
Never go wrong on their own? I've had two Golf GTI MkIII and both broke their heater core on their own, flooding the passenger foot well with water... Anyhow, thank you so much for this DIY, it is a great video!!!
+thakrak ... yeah, they are full of it, those VW people. I had mine break on its own too. Right now I have 15 yr MK IV with the same problem.
Thanks!!! I was repeating what my VW friend told me! But sounds like you walked the walk!
Yeah mines out by itself too. I'm doing a bypass til it gets cooler and I feel like replacing it. Thanks for the video! Very helpful
its my second time since 5 years ago last was a golf 94 1.8 and today 93 vr6 2.8 i like that job MC certified 40 years experience good job my friend
thanks for the video. this is a piece of cake compared to the 98 Subaru outback I had. took 18 hrs to change the heater core in that one. I'll be back with how long it takes me to do this one. it's a 97 vw golf.
that's amazing... i had no idea Subarus were even worse!
Thank you very much, it helped me a lot. Good luck.
Thank you for the video, helped me quite alot
Thanks so much!!!
If this video helped Jesus imagine how much it helped the rest of us.. thanks for detailed and precise explanation without any procrastination. This really is the perfect diy video..miraculously.
Thanks so much!!! This procedure isn't described in ANY manual that i could ever find!
@@amcrae1 You've made a manual sir.
You are a fucking legend dude. Despite some camera issues you did a fantastic job of showing exactly what you were doing why and how. Excellent video.
LOL... thanks so much!!!
Great Video Shows Everything .. Thanks
Extremely helpful, i now have heat in my Jetta!!!!!
+Doug Sterner Doug, congratulations!!! And thanks for the comment!!!
Great video, thank you for the encouragement.
You are so welcome!
Great video! Mine was exactly the same. Take your time, do it in stages. Have courage to finish.
Yes!!!!
Can't thank you enough Alan!!
+Justin Seavey Thank you, Justin!
I never had to disconnect the AC lines off. I was able to remove 6 clips off on the heater core ductwork, and separate it from the blower assembly. That gave me enough space to twist it and pull the heater core out. Also speaker cover up on the top, doesn't have to be removed.
muchas gracias muy instructivo , es bastante trabajo pero hay que hacerlo ...desde Chile Mis saludos , amigo
video helped me out a ton thanks
Thank you!!!
I'll just put another jacket on.
In that case, I'll guess that my video was instructive!!!!
a tip for the bolts at 33:00 cut a slit into the top of the bolt with a grinder or a metal saw and stick a flat head screwdriver into it ;)
Thanks!!!!!!
Thank you so much for the video.. it helped
thank you man it is very helpful I have the same problem with my jetta
+Oscar Ayala Thanks for the comment!!!
tanks this video is very good
same problem i have on my golf 3.......... thanx for video!!
You are the best dude,thank you very much
Thank you, Goran!
Video is helpful, it helped me decide not to fix it and instead purchased a power inverter and a heater. Looks like a lot of work, If I didn't drive the car everyday I would probably do it.
Thanks! I'm glad it helped in some way!!!!
Post again if you can let everyone know how your heater is working out. I would just be concerned if the alternator can keep up with it!!!
Alan McRae Heater is working okay, don't have it on that much, usually about a half hour, from work to home,I bought a 1000w inverter and run a 250 watt heater, only one I can find for now, doesn't put out a lot of heat but good enough for now, I just lay it on the passenger seat aimed at me. When inverter is on it reads battery level at 14 when fan is off, then goes to 12 when fan is on.My car is a 93 and it was just about to turn 3000,000 but instead it reset to 0, now I just had to replace the O ring in the oil cooler as it was leaking oil. But when I put it all back together I had antifreeze leaking as one of the hoses had a crack where the little clamp is on it, so I had to remove oil cooler to fix it as it's hard to get pliers to releases clamp on hose. I was thinking of bypassing the oil cooler and get a little pipe connected to the hoses. Do you think it would be okay to do that. My wife has a 90 jetta and has no oil cooler. Not sure if you would know but thought I'd ask. Thanks.
Nice video
+DIY Car LED Lights Mods Tuning Channel - VW Golf Thank you!
where do I connect the heater core hoses? I have the firewall end in I just don't know where the other end goes
Really helpfull video. Actually i am halfway trying to remove the evaporator box compartment only just to replce the evaporator without removing the dashboard but in vein even I' ve been told that the dash board need to be removed first by the air con specialist. Its seems i need to remove the dash now...
Looking at ur video i wonder and not confident that the aircon man can really remove the dash board without damaging any part and left few screw /nuts and bolts when fixing it back. I rather do it by myself guiding by ur vid.
But its really a messy and long hours job...
Thanx again bro....
97' Golf Mk3 owner.
BIG THANKS to DEWINDSURF who pointed out that you don't have to disconnect the air conditioning line.... if you just loosen clamps from the inside of the car...
Alan McRae
Im up to the metal shield
Alan McRae
Quick question,
I had a wierd smelling smome that comes from my vents that doesnt smell like burnt oil , is this smkoe/steam from yhr heater core?
Just did another heater core on a 96 jetta. Still had to disconnect ac!
very informative, thank you so much! but, my gauge cluster stopped working :( lol not sure what i did wrong
Good video!Is it the same procedure or similar on vw golf mk4?
God bless you man...
I feel like I'll find a note if I replace this from someone previous.
"Thank you! But, the princess is in another Castle."
LOL
Thanks for an amazing video ... I don't know if I'm scared to do it now or amazed that anyone could do this! My heater in my 95 Cabrio stopped working this winter, so either I don't drive when it's cold, or find an incredible amount of time to tackle this (not being mechanically inclined I'll guess it'll take me 10x longer than most ...). Awesome tips about the non-removable screws - I wonder if using a Dremel to create a slot would make them easier to remove?
+DJ Andreas Interesting idea about putting slots into the screws! Thanks for the kind words!!!! It takes some time to do this job but if you're persistent, I'll bet you can do it!!!
2021 and you saved me a lot of cussing (not that there wasn't still plenty LOL) TYVM
Thanks! It's doable but not easy!
@@amcrae1 I had to pull the windshield wiper control and turn signal control from the steering column, as well. Dash told me to kick rocks a few times LOL
Hello Alan! you really helping by showing us,but there same other people like me and who don't have enough time to do that where can we get intouch with you please.
Maybe if I can get business number so that we can talk
Would this be the same steps as a VR?
Haha was waiting for the funky bolts
Alan, good video. Question. How far in are the blend doors? Does the entire dashboard need to be removed to get to the blend doors? I need to tape up my blend doors due to no heat. Thanks.
hmmmm... I don't remember! It's been a while... but I think they are usually much more accessible than the heater core! If you give me the VIN# of your car, I might be able to get a diagram of them for you...
Alan McRae I'm thinking of doing this real soon. When you took those A/C lines off, did you have to extract the freon first or is it safe to just take those hex bolts in minute 28:08? Thanks!
Hi! In the case of my car the freon was already long gone, but it would have come out if it was there! There are a couple of people on this thread who posted that they didn't need to disconnect those lines! (I found it difficult to follow what they were saying). I'm gonna call a vw friend and ask again just for you!
@@amcrae1 That would be greatly appreciated. And thanks for the reply!
Just did one of these on my 97 jetta , but didnt need to take of my steering wheel . I wish I would have seen this video before though . would have made the job much easier!
Thanks! One of the biggest things is knowing where those hidden bolts are on the engine side of the firewall!!!
Great video!! I will be doing this. Did you have to extract R134a before disconnecting AC lines to the expansion valve?
No, because my AC was already dead!!!!
I guess it's probably a bit late for this info now, but I was able to get enough clearance without disconnecting the AC.
Thank you very much
Thanks! Hope it helps!
Excuse me but would this apply to MK4 jettas too? my ac isn't cooling the way it should, like it's choking on something would love to do this myself over the weekend!
I think this setup is pretty similar to the MK4 jettas!
Wow, awesome Alan. Mahalo for such a great thorough video! Did you find that you really had to undo the A/C lines to pull the heater box? How did you empty the freon? I don't want to mess with that part if I don't have to.
I think someone on here said that they did this without disconnecting the AC lines, but in my case and this old car...there was no freon to worry about!!!!
Alan McRae
ok. mahalo, Alan. I'll hope that I can work on it with the A/C lines!
Alan McRae Hi Alan. Almost done now with the heater core replacement in the Cabrio. I ended up loosening the clamps that held the A/C lines inside the engine compartment. That gave plenty of play to pull the heater box into the cabin and take out the heater core.
That's actually a great addition to the knowledge base on this video. THANKS!!!
Nice job! But what a pain in the butt to get to Farfagnugen my flat foot!
hahaha...it is really involved but not impossible!
This video is a godsend. I have everything dismantled/disconnected, and am ready to lift out the dash on my 96 Cabrio, but for the connection to the headlight switch component, which I can't figure out how to disconnect. Until I do, I can't remove the dash since I can't fit the component back through hole it fits in like I could with the blower component and can't lift the dash off and away as it will hang up on the connected wiring. My component looks identical to the one in frame 14:13 of your video. Basically the plug in is long/narrow with two sets of wire ports numbered 1-7 on one side and 8-15 on the other. It appears to have the two usual release clips/one at each end, but compressing them doesn't allow release of the connection. I don't want to force/break anything. Is there some trick/tool that I should be using???? I can send pics via email if anyone want's to see them/think it will help. I'm wondering if maybe mine is just jammed. If so, what would you suggest?
If you send me the image, I'll find out!!!
and THANKS for the nice words!
Thank you for share your experience, but it seems that VW thought that part will no require service at all, in my case the heater core input hoses remain intact but start to leak coolant in the inside , after waching these I think that my bypass solution will remain without having heating capabilities in my car. I hope VW noticed this and in next generations avoid this kind of punishment.
They sure didn't make it easy to replace!!! It WOULD be possible to simply bypass the heater core altogether and have no heat in the car... OR... you could extend the heater hoses somewhere else in the firewall and have the heater core, let's say, on the passenger floor. If you mount a little fan behind it... that would roughly work !!!
Do you have a video about reparing the fresh air falp?
The flap? I haven't done that..sorry!