Making coolant last for life, but have to replace the heater matrix instead. The design apprentice must have thought he was on to a winner here when they introduced that STOOPID idea!

Thank you for this. Going to have to do mine now. Just noticed it at the first cold snap this year.

Thanks for the video. Had the same problem and this was a good how to for me to do the work myself and happy to report I have heating again! Cheers

really helpful a common problem my Cordoba my friend's Leon and Golf are all suffering a luke warm matrix

Nice to see you back Tom

Brilliant video. Well explained. Thank you very much for sharing your time and knowlegde.

Thanks just had to do this on my Audi a3 great help 👍🏼

I've got a 2013 1.6tdi leon that has this problem. Thank you for the video. Its given me the confidence to get the job done. Garage want £400. They have already had £170 off me for cleaning the old matrix which worked for 2 days... so I don't think il let them do it. Thanks for video Thank you

Thanks for this, I have a Mk7 Golf and have this exact same issue. Good to know what is causing it. Much appreciated mate 👍

Great video. Thanks for posting

Thanks for the video, I have a 2015 golf GTD with the coolant reservoir tank that says “with silicate”. My question is, I’ve still got about a year and a half of approved used warranty from VW so I was wondering if it’s worth leaving it in at least until the warranty is up?

Great video, thank you very much for sharing

My 57 leon sport is doing this. Garage replaced thermostat, car getting to temp no problems 👍 Needed the blowers fixed too (& resistor) because they had failed All working fine now, other than no hot air anywhere 🤷‍♂️ They didn’t seem that interested in the heater matrix even though I had suggested it I’ll ask again Can you access it from foot well on all Leon types? Mines a 1.6 sport Many thanks,

Thanks for the video and yes what a stupid idea from great engineers. I have the same problem with a 2015 Polo. Now I can fix it myself. Just wish i could flush the silicon crystals out of the existing unit. Oh well, no gain without pain.

Thank you this is really helpful. My 2013 Seat Leon FR 184 is pissing coolant out of the bottle occasionally and the heaters aren't particularly hot in the car so this sounds like the culprit!

With this issue were both pipes hot when connected to the heater matrix? I have this issue but both pipes are hot which would assume it’s not blocked or only partially ?

Thanks mate. Mines doing the same now annoyingly…

Thanks for sharing 👍

Took my bag out yesterday & it was still intact thank goodness, but i think my heater support pump is messing about so im not gettin heat when the cars parked , it only gets hot heat when im driving .

It looks like the deionizer resin we used to use at work. Probably there in case owners use tap water for top ups instead of the deionized water that they specify. I suppose its better than having your coolant dissolve internal parts of your engine!

Thanks for all the advice. Eventually managed to get both the inlet and outlet pipes off and what an absolute pain they were too as there was very little room to get to the spring clamps to remove them. Flushed out the heater matrix and all's back to normal again 🙂 Decided to replace the spring clamps with jubilee clips to make removing them a lot easier with a long handled screwdriver should i need to remove them again.😀

I couldn't get the 2 clips to seat properly on the new matrix due to the lack of room so they leaked I cut the 2 pipes and fitted them to the matrix on the bench a lot better and easier.refitted the matrix to its holster I then joined the 2 pipes with flexi heater hose and jubilee clips...happy days red hot 🥵 heater now

Anyone who has a silica bag in the tank should remove it which is easy enough to do with a pair of long nosed pliers being careful not to split the bag

What could you expect the cost to be for new heater matrix and labour

It’s for the chemical reaction.. you can take it out and switch to g12 evo coolant instead

I have 2.0 2016 skoda superb i noticed no heat in cabin during cold spell last week coolant level was spot on but noticed it was looking very dirty would be 2yrs old in February (coolant) didnt know about these bags till i started reading up on .Got a new header tank without the bag.put that on car was taken to garage to change coolant but was told waste of time u til it is flushed or matrix changed

Hi mate I’ve got an Audi a3 8v 2014 with the exact same issue. Can you do mine for me, obviously for a cost. All garages are saying they need to take the dash out and it’s horribly expensive

It's just VAG's way of giving their customers the Landy heater experience......

My Seat Leon is having this issue. Mechanic had a go a my flushing the system whilst they I had it in to do the clutch but clearly the matrix needs replacing. Just need to decide if I have a crack at it myself and save a few pennies or let the professional do it

Great vid man! Got same problem with 2014 Leon 1.6tdi. Got coolant overflow on reservoir. Last week garage changed waterpump and crankbelt, did t solved the problem. Read on forum that heater matrix possibly is the problem. How long does this job takes? And have you emptied the whole cooling system before changing the heater matrix?

Unbelievable that they would do that

Bought my r line passat 3 weeks ago, first thing i done was replace the bottle. Luckily my silica bag was intact but what a stupid design

Hello mate thank you for your advice I did everything like you said but still is plenty bubbles in cooling system 😔🤔

Thank you I have the same issue. I did replace the expansion tank because it leaked. But after replacing it I still have no heat.

My 2014 A3 has the same problem. I need to flush the matrix first before dismantling everything to change it. How do I do that and are the inlet and outlet pipes in the same position as they are in your video as they appear to be tricky to get to

Hi, I have a query please which is driving us insane! 🤯 so same platform but A3 TDI, only overheats and spews out coolant at motorway speed. Is okay locally for the most part. Thermostat, heater matrix, thermostat sensor, water pump, All been changed! No gunk in the oil, engine sounds fine. No smoke from exhaust. Just Perplexed as to what it is. Has been manually flushed and coolant added several times. Pressure tested, no leaks identified. Just spews out the coolant tank when it gets too hot 😑 any advice greatly appreciated pls 🙏

How do the feed pipes fit into the new matrix? I can’t quite see from the video are they just a push fit?

I think ive got this fault on my wifes A3 tdi, her heaters are cold on the drivers side. The car has dropped coolant twice in 2 weeks but cant see no obvious leaks from pipes but have noticed coolant or something around the neck of the cap, could this couse over pressure?

For any one with this reoccurring problem!!!!! I had my heater matrix replaced for the problem stated in the video in 2020. However the heating has been blowing nothing but cold for the past month. Thought it was the same problem so took my car to local independent VAG group specialist. Just got my car back. My heater matrix isn’t blocked like it was before and like alot of people on here are messaging. They suspect its the actual internal heater box. Whether the flaps inside are seized or the motors are knackered. Either way it is literally a full dashboard out job and advise around a 12-16 hour labour job. At £85+vat per hour labour plus parts its looking at £2k Looks like i’ll be driving with no heating for the foreseeable🤬😭

URGENT : my heater matrix is blocked too, and it s hard to find quick replacement for the matrix so i have to wait and look for a long period, do you think i can disable it completely in the meanwhile ? I mean disable it and connect the two pipes to let run the coolant freely. What do you think ?

Great video mate, what year is that Seat/VW?

hi there I have the same problem with my mk 7 Gtd what seems to happen as well as being only luke warm sometimes the expansion tank vents off with coolant I presume its the build up of pressure due to the blocked core have you heard of this cheers great video bud

Hey there. I’m having the same issue with my mk3 leon. I’ve contacted vw and mentioned about the recall on the water pump to which they’ve said “there is no recall”. How accurate is your resource in regards to this water pump recall? Thanks

If both pipes are hot is it still can be blocked ? Still no heating

Thanks for video that’s my issue by sounds of it What is an approx cost or labour hrs to have heater matrix changed I have octavia

Hey man, I got the same issue on a Seat Leon 2021, with a 1.5 eTSI engine, but the heat is not working on the driver side. The explanation I got from Seat is that they need to do a flushing clean of the entire engine cooling system. They will replace all the fluids afterwards.Should I worry for this happening again in the future? The car was brand new and I bought it from Oct 2021 and I had no other issues with it so far. Thanks!

I had the heater matrix replaced on my A3 (8v - 64 plate) and sorted the problem. That was 4 years ago. However I have the same problem again now. Any ideas why?

I have alot of pressure in expansion tank. No coolant loss though.

Thanks for that video. My bag just split in my Audi A3 2013.Just question is it safe to drive my car till is fixed??

Hi pal, my coolant overflows, and keeps leaking, and I’ve noticed my heater hardly works, and doesn’t warm up, could that potentially be the heater matrix, also what sort of labour am I looking at to resolve this issue

I have a problem with my Audi a6 c7 2.0tdi on a 65 plate. Blows cold on driver side including rear. Took it a garage as it was not giving any codes etc. My first thought is it’s the matrix clogged on one side hence drivers side receiving cold air. They seem to think it isn’t that and it’s a broken flap. It literally gives no heat at all. Was considering giving it a system flush but seeing this makes me wonder. Anyone else come across this fault with the same car ? Or any mechanics out there able to shed some light ?

Nice 1

How much would a job like this cost?

Do you have a video from start to finish

My 2012 Audi Q3 is not blowing air hot or cold at all. I can hear something happening behind the dash but I'm not getting anything. Do you have any idea what the problem / solution might be?

I have an Audi S3 2014 with same issue. Clogged heater Core/matrix. I was told i need to remove the entire dash to replace this. Does this sound right to you?

how hot should the pipes going to it be after the cars warm think i have the same issue

How do you bleed air from the heater matrix after replacement

On the TDI engines the heater core comes after the EGR cooler and if this is blocked the coolant boils in the EGR causing coolant to be lost out of the expansion tank! Then the useless VW service garages mis-diagnose it to be a leaking EGR cooler or faulty intercooler, or blown head gasket etc. After spending $$$$$ you then realise it's only the heater core! Fitting of an inline coolant filter would likely stop this problem or at least delay it for a good while.

How do you flush the whole coolant system after removing the bag? Would you just hook up a garden hose with the old heat core in place? How can I make sure the granular are flush out?

Great video but what I cant understand is why do the heaters go cold on one side and not both

Bought an octavia. First thing I did was take out the teabag. Wasn't split thank fuck.

I replaced my matrix but failed to flush the pipes from the bottle down to the heater and the same fault occurred again. granules still in the system contaminated the new matrix with no heating again...so now l am on to my 3rd matrix

2019 car here with 36000 miles. Looks like I am an early victim. Bag didn't look leaky but everything points to this issue

It’s been cold the last few days I have the 2L diesel the temperature gauge has not moved changed the temperature sensor still nothing the blower is lukewarm not hot but the gauge has not moved also put a new thermostat in still nothing

hi bud does loosing coolant mean blocked matrix same car as in video i have 2013

how to bleed cooling system after replaced matrix heater, I can hear bubbles in dashboard ?

Hi buddy. Where are you based? The same thing has happened to me in my 2013 (63) 2.0 150 Leon FR and I've had a diagnosis and quote for either £1100 or £1800 😱😭 it's freezing now and windows bearly demist

Hello sir! Do I have to clear the installation of antifreeze liquid before removing the heater matrix? How to do it? And after I complete the switch and add antifreeze liquid back, what are the VCDS steps to complete the operation?

Ah yes anything lifetime sealed by vw is bad such as the dsg 7 dry boxes. They would notoriously destroy clutches with as low as 20k miles on them, mine went at 60k, being a sealed for life box is no good

So for a mk7 the car is at temperature and no heat BUT the heat will eventually turn on 30 mins later..

Great video man! This is my model of car and year and same issue, although heat from passenger side and not as hot on the drivers. Was thinking of giving it a go myself. Only issue I think I might have is, how to flush out the system before fitting the new matrix. Can someone point me in the right direction or list the summary steps to do this?

They done this to sell heater cores no doubt,I changed my matrix and took that silicone teabag out flushed car a few times and on last flush noticed minute granules in bucket ,anyway put all the bits together and was getting heat again ,unfortunately some must of got left somewhere in the water channels somewhere and in a month my matrix blocked again ffs ,ordered a new one and will do flushes with the old one in place before I replace and make sure no granules are in coolant

That looked more like casting sand than silica granules.

A sign of this is a sound of water flowing behind the dash when the water pump is running. Sounds like air in a radiator. This is a sign the matrix is blocking and not flowing water correctly. Awful design

This is one of the worst cases I've seen to be honest Normally have good success flushing out the matrix !

Mine split in my Audi and new matrix + header tank £800 can I send the invoice to Audi for their shoddy “engineering”

I replaced the heater, removed the bag and replaced the collant. One year later it clogged up again. FML.

Just changed the header tank on my Skoda as the bag is within a 2 walled design so you can't pull it out. I'm sleeping soundly now but WHAT A STUPID DESIGN!

Any suggestions on how to get pipes off heater matrix from bulkhead to flushes water thr the silver pipes as mine looks blocked, any tips much appreciated bud 🫣