QuestionMy 1994 VW golf heater only blows air on the highest setting. Level 1 and 2 are the same as off. I took it to the mechanic, but he wanted to replace the whole heater for £400. Do you have a less expensive way of fixing this? I have to have the heat on high and the windows down in the winter to keep from baking.
AnswerYou can do this yourself if you are willing to spend the time.
Your fan motor is on its way out. The heater fan is also the cool air fan so it works year round. The bushings have worn and the rotor is now rubbing on the stator.(Paperweight thingy)
See if you can find an autowrecker with VW and a cross reference as to what years will fit. Being that it is an electrical part see that it is tested there or what the return policy is. I am fortunate that I got a 90 day exchange if it don't work. If you are really lucky, you'll get to take it out yourself and learn everything on the way.
OK , hope you got some tools. Flat blade screwdriver7" or longer,phillips screwdriver too, 10mm/13mm open end wrench like the one supplied with every VW will be sufficient if you don't got sockets. FIRST DISCONNECT THE BATTERY
1). Drain the rad(at least a gallon).
2). Under the hood, look up where the wiper trough is--take off the protective black plastic shield that prevents rainwater from dripping straight down onto the fan motor. With that off, you should now see the motor(possibly under a plastic screen that is bolted down. That is what we are after.
3). Go into the car and remove the drivers seat(so much easier to do this job if this is out of the way. Passengers side, it would be easier if you took it out as well.
Pull out the vent tubes (that run from heater box to the sides of the car over your legs)from both sides and toss them in the back seat for now
4). To get the fan motor out you gotta remove the heater core and everything comes into the car. We gotta disconnect the control cables. On the bottom of the heater in the centre near the hump you will see a black lever with a cable loop on it. If you move the adjuster that is for vent or floor you will see this lever move. That's its purpose, so we don't want to break it. Slide the cable off the nib on the lever. Thats now free. To get to the second cable you first gotta do other stuff. Before you leave find a block of wood that you can put on the hump and it fits up snug to the heater box without breaking off that lever. It just has to sit there for now.
5.) Back into the engine compartment. On the drivers side, you will see 2 heater hoses coming out of the firewall and connected to engine plumbing with hose clamps. Loosen the hose clamps and seperate the hoses so that just a short section of hose comes out of the firewall. Be sure not to damage that black plastic "shutoff valve" as that wire is connected to the other lever to allow the coolant to flow into the heater core. Leave that wire connected as is.
6.) In the trough in front of the fan you will see the reostat which controls the speed of the fan. The rheostat will come out with the fan as a unit. Now with your wrench or socket and undo the 4- 10mm bolts that holds down the plastic leaf screen if you got it - otherwise it holds the heater box in place under the dash. These bolts are about 2" long. As you are in the process of removing the last one you may notice the fan starting to drop down. While this is our end goal you've got no control outside the car. Make sure that block is snugly under the heater box on the inside.
(You are going to need the same equipment to put it back.) Once you got all those bolts out and the heater hoses are just hoses(no inserts) go to the inside.
7.)As you sit yourself on the drivers side grab the heater box, and remove the spacer block from underneath. Carefully let the whole thing come down(remember that lever) and give it a bit of a twist away from the gas pedal (as that is where the heater hoses have to pull out thru the firewall. You may have to swing the lower portion into the passenger side as you lower it. Once the heater hoses clear, put your hand behind the heater box and feel for a cable. This is the one that went to the lever--you got to pull it up as you lower the heater box. The other cable may be held onto the side with a clip but it goes directly to the dash lever from the shut off valve.. You should find some electrical wiring (3 I believe) that need to be disconnected at a junction box held in place with some foam.They connect the rheostat to the dash switch
8). You should now be able to pull down the whole heater box into the passenger side away from the dash.
Happy days:)
9). Fan motor ain't free yet. You have to split the heater box shell. Done by removing those 1" long black clips that hold the halves together(6 I think). Then the halves come apart and you will see the heater core and the control flaps and how the motor is held in place on rubber mounts.
While this sounds like a big job, which it is lengthy, that is why I would rather you take a practice run on a unit at the autowreckers first to see the fun in case you break things.
I did this job only once as I had the same problem as you, I still got that motor on the shelf 2 years ago so I am reciting this from memory.
Do the reverse and you are fini.
--- Now, I don't believe things change if they are a decent design so I described this as what I experienced in the 80's cars --- You might want to check with a library book to see if there is any changes like maybe the fan motor can come out the top...
