Golf MK7 7 1.6 blowing cold air.

Golf MK7 7 1.6 blowing cold air.

Author
Discussion

shxm.95

Original Poster:

13 posts

25 months

Friday 21st October 2022
quotequote all
Hi all, I’ve recently purchased a Golf MK7 1.6TDI which has 69K miles on it. I’ve had the vehicle for 6 to 7 weeks. Over the last couple weeks all of a sudden the car started blowing cold air even when the vents were turned to high heat. The car is still under warranty and I have gave it back to whom I purchased the vehicle from. Now they’ve changed the water pump, thermostat sensors they’ve had it flushed and added fresh coolant. They’ve also changed the cabin filter. The car runs warm when stood still or at low speeds, however as soon as I put my foot down to pick up speed it starts blowing out cold air?? It’s really becoming a pain in the back side as I’m paying for a car which hasn’t even been drove for the duration which I’ve had it. Can anyone please help me or give me any advice. It would be much appreciated. Thank you.

stevieturbo

17,535 posts

254 months

Friday 21st October 2022
quotequote all
seek legal advice if they are so inept they cannot diagnose.

But it really shouldn't be a hard diagnosis.....repair...maybe not so easy.

But I believe blocked heater cores are common from some silly silica bag they put into the cooling system from new

GreenV8S

30,487 posts

291 months

Friday 21st October 2022
quotequote all
shxm.95 said:
The car is still under warranty
If it was bought from a trader, exercise your rights to reject it. Note that there is a time limit for this, and the dealer might well try to fob you off until that time limit passes or you give up, but right now you do have that right.

shxm.95

Original Poster:

13 posts

25 months

Friday 21st October 2022
quotequote all
GreenV8S said:
shxm.95 said:
The car is still under warranty
If it was bought from a trader, exercise your rights to reject it. Note that there is a time limit for this, and the dealer might well try to fob you off until that time limit passes or you give up, but right now you do have that right.
It was bought from a trader, the 14 day cooling off period which I had has gone unfortunately. I don’t feel like they have tried fob me off, however, when the car has gone in for ‘repairs’ the time does seem to be very excessive. As stated above. I have to wait two weeks at a time I am self-employed which means I can’t work and with everything going up in this day and age. Unfortunately I’ve not had a chance to earn much because the car I have been given as a courtesy doesn’t have the relevant Insurance for me to carry out my work

shxm.95

Original Poster:

13 posts

25 months

Friday 21st October 2022
quotequote all
stevieturbo said:
seek legal advice if they are so inept they cannot diagnose.

But it really shouldn't be a hard diagnosis.....repair...maybe not so easy.

But I believe blocked heater cores are common from some silly silica bag they put into the cooling system from new
Thanks for reaching out. I have told them many times that it could be the heater matrix, although I am not a mechanic I have read on many forums like this one, that it is a common fault and as you have just said.. it could be the heater matrix.

In a sense, I am getting new parts changed which don’t need changing. However, it’s just a big inconvenience as I have to keep travelling back-and-forth taking my car and not having it for two weeks at a time.

I have literally just returned the car and they said they will get the heater matrix done. Do you have any idea as to how long they should roughly take?

catman

2,491 posts

182 months

Friday 21st October 2022
quotequote all
Dodgy thermostat probably.

shxm.95

Original Poster:

13 posts

25 months

Friday 21st October 2022
quotequote all
catman said:
Dodgy thermostat probably.
Had thermostat and thermostat sensors changed they’ve gave me receipts to show the work carried out.

gazza285

10,189 posts

215 months

Friday 21st October 2022
quotequote all
shxm.95 said:
It was bought from a trader, the 14 day cooling off period which I had has gone unfortunately.
This amused me, considering the problem.

shxm.95

Original Poster:

13 posts

25 months

Friday 21st October 2022
quotequote all
gazza285 said:
shxm.95 said:
It was bought from a trader, the 14 day cooling off period which I had has gone unfortunately.
This amused me, considering the problem.
I don’t get it? 😂

Skyrocket21

778 posts

49 months

Friday 21st October 2022
quotequote all
The coolant expansion bottle would have been fitted with a silica gel pack, which if it bursts, causes the heater matrix to become clogged.

If the engine is warming to normal temperature, you'll see it staying at 90 on the temperature gauge and it will stay there if the thermostat is operating correctly.

If the the heater works only on full setting and nothing else then it could be a stuck actuator which controls the temperature flap / mixer, 1K2907511C is the one I know, there could be an electric auxillary heater and an auxillary electric pump, which helps warm the air when the engine is cold.

Do not open the expansion cap if the engine is hot, expect pressure and it spilling boiling hot coolant.

GreenV8S

30,487 posts

291 months

Saturday 22nd October 2022
quotequote all
shxm.95 said:
It was bought from a trader, the 14 day cooling off period which I had has gone unfortunately.
What period are you referring to? You don't lose any legal rights after 14 days. Was it the trader telling you this? He is in the business of fobbing off complaining customers. Don't believe a word of it.

The time limits are:
  • You have 30 days to reject the car outright.
  • For problems reported after 30 days the seller is entitled to one attempt to repair or replace the faulty vehicle.
  • Problems reporting within six months will be assumed present at the time of sale unless proved otherwise. After six months the onus would be on you to prove the fault was pre-existing.
These rights come from the Consumer Rights Act 2015. Read up on it, decide what you want to do with the car and then assert your rights to achieve that.

catfishdb

242 posts

176 months

Saturday 22nd October 2022
quotequote all
Interesting.

I bought a Mk7 Golf R brand new from the dealer. 2017 MY.

The first winter I noticed exactly the same type of issue. When puttering around in the city you could have available full heat. Although, full heat only came on well after the temp. gauge sat at its operating temp. of 90 degrees for some time. You would need to drive around, from cold, for 12-15 minutes before the heat came on. And when I say came on, I don't mean the gradual warming of the heater that I was familiar with in previous ICE cars. The heat would blow cold for 12-15 minutes and then turn to full hot. As if you turned the controls from cold to hot after the car had been running for an hour. Nothing gradual about it.

Then, when on the highway the vents would be ice cold. The heat would fade away to cold only at speed. If you stopped at a rest-stop the heat would build again but then disappear once reentering the highway.

I could hear the dampers opening and closing when switching through the various foot, dash, windscreen icons.

If not for the heated seats Mrs.C would have been more unhappy.

Dealer could never solve the problem after 3 visits to have it repaired.

Eventually sold the car. At 38,000 kms.

Arthur

stevieturbo

17,535 posts

254 months

Saturday 22nd October 2022
quotequote all
How completely and utterly incompetent must any garage be that they cannot diagnose a faulty heater ?

Like holy f***....that is just unbelievable. Something as simple !

the heater matrix either is hot or cold...it either has hot water flowing, or it does not. And it either has air moving through it, or not.

Even the dumbest mechanic should be able to diagnose it.

shxm.95

Original Poster:

13 posts

25 months

Saturday 22nd October 2022
quotequote all
GreenV8S said:
shxm.95 said:
It was bought from a trader, the 14 day cooling off period which I had has gone unfortunately.
What period are you referring to? You don't lose any legal rights after 14 days. Was it the trader telling you this? He is in the business of fobbing off complaining customers. Don't believe a word of it.

The time limits are:
  • You have 30 days to reject the car outright.
  • For problems reported after 30 days the seller is entitled to one attempt to repair or replace the faulty vehicle.
  • Problems reporting within six months will be assumed present at the time of sale unless proved otherwise. After six months the onus would be on you to prove the fault was pre-existing.
These rights come from the Consumer Rights Act 2015. Read up on it, decide what you want to do with the car and then assert your rights to achieve that.
Sorry I forgot the mention, it’s on HP finance. So I thought initially they gave me a 14 days cooling off period whereby if I didn’t want the car I could return it. I thought you were referring to that. They have definitely had more than one attempt to repair the job. This is my 3rd time giving my car back to them. But I will definitely take a look into it, thank you for letting me know. I just received a phone call from them claiming the car is working perfectly fine and blowing hot air. I explained the situation say it does but only when at low speeds but they said the problem has been fixed so I will check on Monday, if it isn’t fixed then I will definitely be looming into my rights and seeing what we can do about it. Appreciate the information.

shxm.95

Original Poster:

13 posts

25 months

Saturday 22nd October 2022
quotequote all
Skyrocket21 said:
The coolant expansion bottle would have been fitted with a silica gel pack, which if it bursts, causes the heater matrix to become clogged.

If the engine is warming to normal temperature, you'll see it staying at 90 on the temperature gauge and it will stay there if the thermostat is operating correctly.

If the the heater works only on full setting and nothing else then it could be a stuck actuator which controls the temperature flap / mixer, 1K2907511C is the one I know, there could be an electric auxillary heater and an auxillary electric pump, which helps warm the air when the engine is cold.

Do not open the expansion cap if the engine is hot, expect pressure and it spilling boiling hot coolant.
The temperature gauge stays at 90° and the thermostat is working fine. However it is just the heater which blows out cold air when turned up to 6 and the heat on temperature. They’ve said they’ve sorted it but I will have to go take a look Monday and see.

shxm.95

Original Poster:

13 posts

25 months

Saturday 22nd October 2022
quotequote all
catfishdb said:
Interesting.

I bought a Mk7 Golf R brand new from the dealer. 2017 MY.

The first winter I noticed exactly the same type of issue. When puttering around in the city you could have available full heat. Although, full heat only came on well after the temp. gauge sat at its operating temp. of 90 degrees for some time. You would need to drive around, from cold, for 12-15 minutes before the heat came on. And when I say came on, I don't mean the gradual warming of the heater that I was familiar with in previous ICE cars. The heat would blow cold for 12-15 minutes and then turn to full hot. As if you turned the controls from cold to hot after the car had been running for an hour. Nothing gradual about it.

Then, when on the highway the vents would be ice cold. The heat would fade away to cold only at speed. If you stopped at a rest-stop the heat would build again but then disappear once reentering the highway.

I could hear the dampers opening and closing when switching through the various foot, dash, windscreen icons.

If not for the heated seats Mrs.C would have been more unhappy.

Dealer could never solve the problem after 3 visits to have it repaired.

Eventually sold the car. At 38,000 kms.

Arthur
Hi, when you had your R was it blowing out hot heat? As mine blows out a mild lukewarm heat. It doesn’t get hot at all. When driving on the motorway it just blows out cold air it doesn’t even got back to being lukewarm after that. I can hear the dampers opening but for some reason it just doesn’t warm. I’m glad you managed to sell your car. Unfortunately for me I’ve purchased it on HP finance so I’m not too sure where I stand with regards to being able to give the car back as I’ve had the car for nearly 2 months now.

shxm.95

Original Poster:

13 posts

25 months

Saturday 22nd October 2022
quotequote all
stevieturbo said:
How completely and utterly incompetent must any garage be that they cannot diagnose a faulty heater ?

Like holy f***....that is just unbelievable. Something as simple !

the heater matrix either is hot or cold...it either has hot water flowing, or it does not. And it either has air moving through it, or not.

Even the dumbest mechanic should be able to diagnose it.
Trust me mate it’s doing my absolute nut in. The heater matrix is cold but now they’re adamant that it’s bowing out hot air when I know damn well it isn’t. It’s blowing out cold air. I think because they’ve spent x amount of money on the vehicle trying to sort it out they don’t want to sort the heater matrix out as it’s a big job.

stevieturbo

17,535 posts

254 months

Saturday 22nd October 2022
quotequote all
shxm.95 said:
Trust me mate it’s doing my absolute nut in. The heater matrix is cold but now they’re adamant that it’s bowing out hot air when I know damn well it isn’t. It’s blowing out cold air. I think because they’ve spent x amount of money on the vehicle trying to sort it out they don’t want to sort the heater matrix out as it’s a big job.
Simple, ask them what temperature it is blowing vs what manufacturer says it should be.

People can have opinions as to what is hot or not, there will be no ambiguity with actual data.

And equally, what temperature is the engine actually operating at, and what temp is in/out of the heater core.

catfishdb

242 posts

176 months

Saturday 22nd October 2022
quotequote all
shxm.95 said:
catfishdb said:
Interesting.

I bought a Mk7 Golf R brand new from the dealer. 2017 MY.

The first winter I noticed exactly the same type of issue. When puttering around in the city you could have available full heat. Although, full heat only came on well after the temp. gauge sat at its operating temp. of 90 degrees for some time. You would need to drive around, from cold, for 12-15 minutes before the heat came on. And when I say came on, I don't mean the gradual warming of the heater that I was familiar with in previous ICE cars. The heat would blow cold for 12-15 minutes and then turn to full hot. As if you turned the controls from cold to hot after the car had been running for an hour. Nothing gradual about it.

Then, when on the highway the vents would be ice cold. The heat would fade away to cold only at speed. If you stopped at a rest-stop the heat would build again but then disappear once reentering the highway.

I could hear the dampers opening and closing when switching through the various foot, dash, windscreen icons.

If not for the heated seats Mrs.C would have been more unhappy.

Dealer could never solve the problem after 3 visits to have it repaired.

Eventually sold the car. At 38,000 kms.

Arthur
Hi, when you had your R was it blowing out hot heat? As mine blows out a mild lukewarm heat. It doesn’t get hot at all. When driving on the motorway it just blows out cold air it doesn’t even got back to being lukewarm after that. I can hear the dampers opening but for some reason it just doesn’t warm. I’m glad you managed to sell your car. Unfortunately for me I’ve purchased it on HP finance so I’m not too sure where I stand with regards to being able to give the car back as I’ve had the car for nearly 2 months now.
Our R would get up to 90 degree within 5-8 minutes...even when it was minus 20 outside. But the vents would blow ice cold. You could hear the dampers open and close when you switched from cold to hot to recirculate .... they appeared to work as requested but the temp would never alter from cold. Then after a typical 12-15 minutes the vents would immediately go from full cold to full heat. As if we altered a setting on the dash at that moment but in reality haven't touched the controls for 10 minutes.

But the heat was only available at city speeds. Once on the highway the heat would diminish to nothing and only cold would come through the vents. Upon exiting the highway the heat would slowly resume but never at full heat again. Somewhat warm but not full heat.

Truly annoying.

I briefly read through some "features" of the engine and from what I could gather is that there is a valve near the back, close to the starter, from what I remember, that would short-circuit the water tighter around the cylinders to get the engine temp up quickly to keep emissions down. I could be wrong but I was thinking the fault might be there somehow.

Got too fed up to completely resolve the situation.

Arthur