I'm Fffffffeeeezing!

Thanks for those thoughts Andrew.
What’s your view on the warm air in the intake duct, is that normal?

Hi, I have certainly not looked into this. I would not expect hot air to come out of the air inlet. I'm assuming that the blower fan is working correctly and air is coming our of the vents in side the car? In reciurculation mode the outside air vent is blocked and no air can come in or out. In normal mode, the fan should suck air though the inlet and into the car.

Also and to answer your question about the water pump...this is actually quite interesting as the water pump was changed with the cam belt 3 months ago and it was straight after that work that the heating issue began.

That certainly is an interesting coincidence. Something that should always be considered is that a new part isn't necessarily good by definition. Thus, even newly replaced parts should still be considered as potentially faulty when troubleshooting.

Given that you are having coolant problems which started immediately after work had been done on the coolant system (changing the water pump) does seem give strength to the two being connected. The new pump may be defective when supplied of may have been damaged during fitting.

Coolant would have been lost when changing the pump and so you could have air locks but the mecanic should have purged the system afterwards. You also have done this yourself, but the problems persist.

regards

Andrew
 
Going back to the air inlet point - the internal vents were open and I tried the fan speed on all levels. I didn’t have it on recirculation mode.
So, like I said before, it mystifies me that holding my hand in the inlet area is warm, even hot at times mixed with cold?

The more I think about it, the more I think it must be linked in some way to the water pump, it’s too much of a coincidence.
Excuse my poor knowledge, but how would the failure of the water pump mean that there is absolutely no warmth coming through the heating?
 
Also and to answer your question about the water pump...this is actually quite interesting as the water pump was changed with the cam belt 3 months ago and it was straight after that work that the heating issue began.
Your last few word says it all.

On the air lock theme, clutching at straws, I remember some Audi manual somewhere states jack up the near side front. This of course raises the coolant tank more and might induce bubbles to rise to the new higher highest point. Desperate I know.

New water pump next????

Andy
 
When changing the water pump it is easy to get air locks, so if it was fine before then I would suggest that may be what happened. But you have tried releasing the air lock without success.

Steve B
Is removing air locks something for the novice to attempt?
 
You have already tried this, by leaving the cap off.

I am not sure that there is much else you can try, other than bearing with it, many air locks free themselves off in the end.

Just check the level in the header tank, keep it just under the maximum and keep checking it and topping it up as necessary, if it gets low it will continue to move the air around the system. Are you using the lines on the expansion tank to check the level?

Steve B
 
You have already tried this, by leaving the cap off.

I am not sure that there is much else you can try, other than bearing with it, many air locks free themselves off in the end.

Just check the level in the header tank, keep it just under the maximum and keep checking it and topping it up as necessary, if it gets low it will continue to move the air around the system. Are you using the lines on the expansion tank to check the level?

Steve B
Yes, using the lines on the tank. It’s a new bottle so quite clear to read
 
...........

The coolant level was constantly changing, it never went lower than the minimum level but would go up to Max and then beyond and overflow, it would then drain back to the min level again. This repeated in a cycle.

..........

Still thinking about your problem.

Over what time period did this cycle occur?

Slightly odd but my logical mind says if coolant is lost in the overflow part of the cycle then surely it must drain back to a level UNDER minimum. Probably just a small loss that makes reading the minimum level look the same. Presumably you have to keep having to top up the coolant - how much?

Andy
 
Still thinking about your problem.

Over what time period did this cycle occur?

Slightly odd but my logical mind says if coolant is lost in the overflow part of the cycle then surely it must drain back to a level UNDER minimum. Probably just a small loss that makes reading the minimum level look the same. Presumably you have to keep having to top up the coolant - how much?

Andy
Is there any way to upload a video to here? I took a short clip (14 seconds) on my phone.
 
Is there any way to upload a video to here? I took a short clip (14 seconds) on my phone.
Just tried to upload a ten second test video made on my iPad by 'Attach Files' but as I expected it failed with file too large. My guess is you will have upload to a third party hosting website and then post the URL, but as i have zero experience of this I will have to pass, sorry. Anybody?

Andy
 
Just tried to upload a ten second test video made on my iPad by 'Attach Files' but as I expected it failed with file too large. My guess is you will have upload to a third party hosting website and then post the URL, but as i have zero experience of this I will have to pass, sorry. Anybody?

Andy
Adding it to you tube is an option. Not too difficult, you tube gives you the link and the forum can connect to that.

Steve B
 
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I did our cam belt on Thursday and also changed the water pump. One observation was that with the drivers side front wheel removed and that corner on an axle stand to do the work I could see that this could cause an air lock when refilling as the new coolant would effectively need to go up hill in parts of the cooling system. So I did not fill the system until the car was back on its wheels and sitting level. I have no air locks once I filled the header tank.
I wonder if your mechanic filled the system before levelling the car and created an air lock?

But, surely if you leave the cap off for long enough and give it some revs the air will come out eventually?
 
That shouldn't be doing that!!!

It is difficult to say what it is doing, the initial thought is that it is a head gasket problem, but the coolant looks so clean (but you have recently replaced it, so that would be why it is clean. If it was due to a head gasket failure you would be experiencing more symptoms than a cold heater matrix. It would surely be overheating and to me that looks like it IS boiling over. Leaving the cap off lowers the boiling point due to the reduction in pressure, but leaving the cap off would not do that.

If the head gasket was gone, it could easily be letting in gases and causing lots of air locks. But as I say, the symptoms would include some or all of the following

Oily residue in the water
Water in the oil (making it creamy)
Overheating
Poor running
Loss of coolant.

Are you having some of thes other symptoms?

A local garage may well have a kit that can detect a head gasket problem.

Steve B
 
That shouldn't be doing that!!!

It is difficult to say what it is doing, the initial thought is that it is a head gasket problem, but the coolant looks so clean (but you have recently replaced it, so that would be why it is clean. If it was due to a head gasket failure you would be experiencing more symptoms than a cold heater matrix. It would surely be overheating and to me that looks like it IS boiling over. Leaving the cap off lowers the boiling point due to the reduction in pressure, but leaving the cap off would not do that.

If the head gasket was gone, it could easily be letting in gases and causing lots of air locks. But as I say, the symptoms would include some or all of the following

Oily residue in the water
Water in the oil (making it creamy)
Overheating
Poor running
Loss of coolant.

Are you having some of thes other symptoms?

A local garage may well have a kit that can detect a head gasket problem.

Steve B
It’s interesting that you say all that Steve, that’s the what the auto electrician said after he did his investigative work and found the expansion tank had a cracked cap and the bottle was quite mucky. I didn’t see the old one so hard to comment.
That was done about 4 weeks ago though and as you say, the coolant is crystal clear still with no sign of anything fouling it.
I can’t tick any of your list of 5.
I think I’m going to ring my local garage who did the cam belt and water pump and ask him to have a look for me. He’s a very good guy and has been very helpful with other things.
 
That sounds like a plan.

It does therefore sound a little like a failed water pump which would be strange if he replaced it???

Steve B
 
It just occurred to me, when you are running it with the cap off the coolant needs to be cold, not already hot.

Running it cold allows the water and air to circulate and so releases the air.

If you do it on a hot engine the lower pressure and high temperatures could cause boiling.

Did you run with the cap off when the engine was cold?

Steve B
 
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Good luck at the garage, prime suspect seems to be the new water pump, too much of a coincidence for the head gasket to fail at the same time, although you could ask the garage, as Steve probably alluded to, to perform a quick sniffer/block test (not infallible) on the coolant for peace of mind.


Andy
 
Steve, I actually started the car up cold and removed the cap. I then left in running to warm up and it was when it was fully warmed up and reading 90 on the gauge that I took the video. The liquid was less active when colder which supports what you say about doing this when everything is cold.

Andy, I think you’re right that it does seem a big coincidence. That said, it was a genuine Audi kit for the cam belt and pump which would be unusual to fail?
 
It looks like it became too hot while running with the cap off for a bit longer than is necessary. As soon as the water boiled like that it will have introduced more air. In fact quite a lot of air.

If you haven’t already done this I would refill it and repeat the process but stop before it get fully hit. Then drive around for about 15 minutes, let it go cold again and repeat one more time.

Sorry this is dragging on a bit for you but remote diagnostics like this can take time.

But this last trial is the final thing to test before you get the mechanic to do any dissassembling etc.

I am assuming that you heard the fan cut in too it certainly should have.

Steve B

Steve B
 
Spoke to the garage who can't get me in for another 2 weeks!
I said to him that I'd found that the flaps appear to be opening as they should. He asked about the one in the drivers side footwell. I said I didn't think there was one there?
Aren't they all on the passenger side?
One thing he did say is that although the motor is working and appears to be opening and closing, it might be that something has either blocked the flap or snapped it? Is that possible
 
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