heater core replaced now new problem

dak503

Active member
Joined
Oct 20, 2013
Location
northern nj
TDI
2013 passat se
first i would like thank everyone on this forum. without the valuable info here. i would still be driving around without heat. so i had my heater core replaced. now the heat is great. but i noticed the air flow on the lower setting was very low. so i tried the ac nothing just hot air. i ran a scan and got this. 1 Fault Found:
9473905 - Motor for Temperature Flap
B108F 71 [009] - Actuator stuck
so back to the dealer. to see what happened when they changed the heater core. so i would advise everyone to check to make sure everything works before you leave the service department.
dave
 

nord

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 5, 2010
Location
Southern Tier NY
TDI
All turned back to VW. Now a 2017 Hundai Tuscon. Not a single squalk in 10k miles.
They failed to seat the core. Actuator arm interference as a result. Been there. Done that.
 

dak503

Active member
Joined
Oct 20, 2013
Location
northern nj
TDI
2013 passat se
thanks nord dropping it off tonite. lets see what they say. when i called and told them what the fault was. they said it probably was the cabin filter interfering with the actuator arm.
 

nord

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 5, 2010
Location
Southern Tier NY
TDI
All turned back to VW. Now a 2017 Hundai Tuscon. Not a single squalk in 10k miles.
And their reply is exactly why our cars NEVER go back to the dealer, except under very rare circumstances.

The filter resides on the passenger side and does not interfere with the blend door. On the other hand, the heater core must slide ALL the way into position. Otherwise the blend door actuator will hang.

As I shared, I've been there. I wasn't happy with myself.
 

dak503

Active member
Joined
Oct 20, 2013
Location
northern nj
TDI
2013 passat se
dealer just called my car is ready. they said my actuators needed to be reset. they lost their memory. nord your reason sounds a lot more likely. i going to inquire some more when i pick up my car.
 

VeeDubTDI

Wanderluster, Traveler, TDIClub Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 2, 2000
Location
Springfield, VA
TDI
‘18 Tesla Model 3D+, ‘14 Cadillac ELR, ‘13 Fiat 500e
dealer just called my car is ready. they said my actuators needed to be reset. they lost their memory. nord your reason sounds a lot more likely. i going to inquire some more when i pick up my car.
They'd much rather tell you that than tell you that the tech installed the part incorrectly the first time.
 

bustNfuel

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 7, 2002
Location
Raleigh, NC
TDI
Sold: 13 Passat SEL TDI
Same thing happened to me. After picking it up from getting the heater core changed, I was hearing popping noises when I went from cold to hot and back.
I was told they had to 'reset the actuators'. I thought, sure. So long as it's fixed.

Also a large pool of antifreeze would appear under my Passat when it was parked. I knew I was smelling coolant, and figured it was residual from the swap so I didn't think about it until I noticed the coolant reservoir was almost empty. On the way back for the 2nd visit, I had the low coolant light come on after I'd filled it up and drove maybe 30 minutes. They had to keep it overnight to replace the connectors at the firewall.
I was informed those connectors were not utilized during the core change but they would not charge me for them. So they just happened to start leaking on their own..what a coincidence.
Then it took several drives to get the coolant level to settle down due to the air pockets in the system.
 

jrm

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 24, 2013
Location
Oregon
TDI
2013 Passat SE with nav (totaled)
My brother in law is a X service advisor for vw (luckily his best customer hired him for six digit income and got him the F out) and I asked him if they are honestly that dumb or do they just play stupid. He said they really don't know a thing and even avoid hireing knowledgeable advisors. I give each dealer 2 chances then never return and 3 of them have been very dishonest to me, I'm running out of VW dealers within a days drive of me :eek:
 

dak503

Active member
Joined
Oct 20, 2013
Location
northern nj
TDI
2013 passat se
the dealer i purchased my passat from was a vw and audi dealer. they were great. i never had a problem with the service. and i had free oil changes for life. my wife drives a A6 and my daughter has an A4. so it was one stop shopping. about a month or so ago. i stopped by to make an appt for the connector recall. and i was told they sold the vw portion of the dealership. so now im dealing with new dealership. not very impressed. the service guy i was dealing with didnt even come out of his office. to explain how this happened or apologize for me having to drop the car off twice. he just gave a halfassed wave and went back to his computer. so just grabbed my keys from the receptionist and left. i do the majority of work on my cars. so hopefully i wont see much of them. also going to check reviews and locations of other vw dealers in my area.
 

nord

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 5, 2010
Location
Southern Tier NY
TDI
All turned back to VW. Now a 2017 Hundai Tuscon. Not a single squalk in 10k miles.
Sad to say the problem is almost universal. I'm not sure there's anyone in particular to blame as much as our society in general. We shop for the best prices, dealers deal for the most profit, and many service departments hire for the lowest cost possible. It's a game we all play.

The results are pretty much predictable. Savy consumers, and there really aren't that many, walk away from a major purchase having done pretty well. That is IF any major purchase is really a good deal. Even if financing is involved the seller will be working on a fairly thin margin when dealing with a sharp customer. Then service departments... They're considered a profit center. Maybe more profitable than the sales department. How best to make the numbers required?

It comes down to philosophy. How best to make a buck? Is it best to push through as much service work as possible and accept mediocre (at best) results, or is it better to do high quality work and somehow be properly compensated?

Unfortunately the solution seems to be quite predictable. Charge premium prices, use economy labor, and figure that most consumers won't know the difference. This is the reason that really good techs are seldom found at a dealership.

Of course there's yet another issue in the mix. We've raised a generation of men and women who will always consult a computer rather than using their brain. This is something I've dealt with for decades as I've always worked within the computer industry. The industry attempted to introduce the idea that flow charts and metering equipment could offset marginal techs. Just simply read and follow the charts. How could it fail?

I'd say a limited success overall. Given enough time and parts a marginal tech could get a system back on line... Maybe. Doing so often took time and often resulted in wasted components and excess expense. Unfortunately the tech in question seldom really understood what he or she was doing or how the system really worked for that matter.

Then there were the really good techs. These were the guys that took one look at a problem and somehow knew what it was and how to fix it. Quite often we had a problem resolved before the others had time to open their documentation and flow charts. Just as often we didn't stay with the company very long as our clients would hire us away or we'd get frustrated and go out on our own.

I found out early on that customers or clients weren't so much concerned with the hourly rate as they were with total cost. Hire a really good tech at $150.00 an hour (thirty years ago) and get the job done in an hour, or hire the drone at $60.00 an hour who might possibly get the same job done in the better part of a day. Why would a really good tech stay with a company which made no distinction in compensation between excellence and mediocrity?

So today the flat rate system. Supposedly this levels the field, but it doesn't. All it does is to encourage a tech to cut corners to save a bit of time. Take something as simple as an oil change. Use a cheaper blend of oil or perhaps "forget" to change a filter. Who will ever know? The vehicle will drive away and nobody will be the wiser, and who cares about a potential disaster 10,000 miles down the road?

And this is why nobody touches our vehicles, except family. It's cheaper in the long run to spend more and know that everything has been done properly. I figure when (and if) my car leaves me by the side of the road, I'll know why and who to blame. I realize that not everyone has this luxury but I need to point out that there are good techs out there. Find one, pay what he or she asks, and walk away happy. You may pay more per hour but you'll pay less overall and the job will have been done correctly.
 

Rico567

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jun 13, 2003
Location
Central IL
TDI
2013 Passat TDI SEL Premium (Turned in 7/7/18)
^^^^^^^^^

Post #10 above should be a sticky; some people should read it until they understand it.
 

dak503

Active member
Joined
Oct 20, 2013
Location
northern nj
TDI
2013 passat se
very well put. that's why i have a ross tech cable. i scanned my car and gave the dealer the fault code. so they knew i knew they screwed something up. i just expected more from the service director. the first time i brought the car in he went out of his way for me. he asked that i give him a good review on the survey. which i did i should have waited.i could understand him not discussing the car with me because he was busy with another customer. but me him and the receptionist were the only people there. i felt like he just didn't give a ****.
 

nord

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 5, 2010
Location
Southern Tier NY
TDI
All turned back to VW. Now a 2017 Hundai Tuscon. Not a single squalk in 10k miles.
In a more perfect world a service director would hold the position of Master Mechanic. He'd know of problems, potential problems, and fixes. Work would be delegated to capable wrench twisters and any problems would be directed back to him for discussion and a solution... IN A MORE PERFECT WORLD! But this is not the way of the world, is it?

Generally the Service Director will be a semi PR guy with limited understanding of the products he's lining up for service work. I long ago pretty much gave up trying to share what was wrong with my vehicle with such people as I obviously am just a peon and know nothing. Too bad they don't listen because not listening cost VW a new engine and then a replacement car and it didn't need to be.

As to rating service work, I tend not to be too hasty. I often get the impression that service departments really like good reviews and tend to ignore bad ones. Before I go further, allow me to give credit where it's due.

My '13 TDI lunched its turbo and was shut down before any serious damage had occurred. After VW screwed up with their Roadside Support I delivered the car to my dealer on our flatbed. (We had pushed the car on to the trailer to avoid starting the engine and causing further damage.) I informed the service department of exactly what was wrong and watched them start the car, drive it off the trailer, and proceed to lunch the engine. Very Sad! The good news is that my '13 was replaced with a '14 at no cost to me. The dealer sucked it up and did the right thing.

Then my younger son... His '13 also lunched a turbo. This one was handled correctly with no real damage being done past the usual turbo and associated plumbing. The problems came when we inspected their work. Oil spilled and not cleaned up. Belly pan missing fasteners. Overall an impression of rushed work and little care. These things we discovered when we placed the car on our own lift immediately after getting it home. We contacted the dealer and were impolitely informed that we must be mistaken as their techswere highly skilled professionals and we didn't know what we were talking about. We immediately dropped the pan, changed the oil and filter, and did a thorough inspection as there was no assurance that anything was correctly done.

So once again... Do the work yourself if at all possible. If not possible, then find a shop that will turn out premium work. Pay them what they ask and be happy. In the end their higher per hour price will cost less than incompetent service departments.
 

Mark_J

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 17, 2003
Location
Deer Park, Washington
TDI
2015 TDI Passat SEL Premium, 2017 Fiat Spider, 2017 Ford F350 6.7 Diesel crew cab PU, 2016 Harley Trike, 2016 Tesla Model X P90D (I know went to the dark side)
If it is not warranty work, I go to a local European repair shop in Bellingham Wa., and even though they are fairly expensive, they do very good work. The owner is a TDI Club member. I recommend them for any TDI work like timing belts, etc. Harmony Motor Works
 
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