Same here in Canada.Had core replaced and connector recall done yesterday, cost to me zero.
I think you might be onto something.Honestly I think the g12/13 can't take the heat from regens. It's breaking down and plugging, or reacting with the material the cooler is made out of/assembled with.
Several have posted with only dealer visits, dpf still in place, and have plugged cores.
Sent from my S-Off'ed HTC One...
My 2012 passat unfortunately had the clogged heater core issue. At first I thought it was going to be very costly or labor intensive to fix but after some research it turns out its not a dash out procedure on these cars and is actually relatively easy and cheap to do yourself. I did mine start to finish in about 3 hours.
Heater core PN: 561819031B
Seals and clamps PN: 561898380
Car was at 77,000 miles. Build date 04/12. Climatronic dual climate control. G12 coolant was the factory fill and had only been serviced with G12 until now. The core is clogged with thick white buildup. It may be white rather than the pink that some have reported because I flushed it before removal.
The core exposed. Remove the clamps and pull the lines apart. This was the hardest part. The manual tells you to loosen the 6mm screw that is in between the heater core lines under the hood. It is recessed in a hole between the coolant lines. It must aid in allowing you to move the lines off of the core. It was still tough to do even with it loosened. The bolt is somewhat hard to get to under the hood. I left the lines under the hood hooked up and just drained the coolant at my block heater because it was a lot easier than messing with the lines at the firewall. The pipes leading to the core stay attached and the connection is made where you see the clamps in the pictures. Make sure not to cut the new o rings when trying to reinstall the lines. I bent the lines on the old core to remove it but the new one took more patience as I didn't want to bend it much. The flanges on the pipes kept wanting to cut the o rings as I worked the heater core lines past each other. It would be wise to do a leak check with engine running before reinstalling the trim.
A tip to get the flanges fully seated on the heater core so you can install the clamps. I went under the hood and pushed firmly multiple times on the hose connections to try and seat the pipes onto the core. I also took a rubber mallet and small piece of wood and was able to catch the rib on the line to knock it into place. The lines in the car just don't seem to give a whole lot. Just be very careful not to use too much force when "forcing" things! The lines are just thin aluminum after all!
The core removed. It pulls straight out once the lines are off. I didn't get much coolant out of the lines after I drained the car. This catch can was plenty large enough. Cover the area with rags to catch any other spillage when pulling apart the lines.
Info note: the electric auxiliary heater grid sits directly in front of the heater core and slides out like the core.
Heat works great with the new core. Both sides are HOT on Hi setting and high blower. Decent heat starts being produced with the engine at 145 degrees
I was able to find the core for $74 and the seals for $14 although you could probably reuse the clamps and o rings if you had to. I purchased mine from ecs tuning.
It's right in the middle between the two lines in the rubber grommet. You can't see it easily and have to just stick the wrench in there and feel for engagement.Can you help me with the infamous 6mm bolt that holds the coolant lines to the firewall? I can't seem to find it so I can't get the heater-core to slide out. Any help is extremely appreciated.
Someone explained this in another post, somewhere in the several threads on this subject. It has to do with which part of the heater core plugs up first. As it happens, that's the part that's going to blow air to the passenger side. I think there may even be a diagram of the heater system posted as a pic somewhere.Also, i have re-read this thread 3 times. Does anyone know WHY the drivers side stays hot but the passenger side goes cold? Thanks!
It's frustrating to have a car with a sub-optimal heater in winter, that's for sure, and up where you live, double down! But in this, I think that time may be on your side. We were also subject to the nationwide back order. I originally went in before Christmas, but they had no heater cores, and gave me a date of 1/7. We went ahead and drove on a holiday vacation to VA despite the cold passenger footwell, with my wife having a couple of blankets over her legs, and all went well. Got a call when we were back East that they had gotten a core in for me, and I got the car in and had it replaced yesterday. This situation is so widespread, and, as you say, with months-long waits, that I can't help but think that VW is going to extend that 10/120 warranty to more vehicle. Keep hoping!<snip>
He also told me VW is back ordered on these parts for 2-3 months so even if i wanted to pay that amount, which i dont, he couldn't help me anyway for a few months, nor can the dealers in Milwaukee (My dealer is in Madison)!
<snip>
I tackled this project today. Took about 4 hours start to finish. Thanks to 767Wrench for the how to pictures. Some things I encountered...
Draining the coolant was done by disconnecting the radiator quick disconnectors on the middle and bottom passenger side hoses of the radiator after dropping the belly pan. I was able to drain out about a gallon and a half. Lots of reddish gritty sediment settled at the bottom of the bucket. I did two fill and flushes with 50/50 distilled water and G13 coolant. After the second flush, the coolant appeared clear of any solids. I left the system drained and tackled removing the core.
I loosened the 6mm clamp bolt for the heater tubes passing through the firewall using a nut driver with about 3/4 of the handle sawed off. It's really hard to see the recessed hole that the bolt lives in, but it's directly in between the inlet and outlet tubes. There was just enough room to fit my hand in there and loosen the bolt.
All the panels under the drivers side dash came out exactly as 767Wrench described. My sawed-off 6mm nut driver came in handy here. Now time to disconnect the core lines. You will need a 3mm allen wrench for the clamp screws. You bend them open and they come off away from the tubing. Pulling the lines apart was a bit of a bear. I had to bend the lower tube of the core as I pulled hard away from the lower engine supply tube. I quickly discovered a lot of the resistance was from the tight fit of the O-ring inside the joint. You just have to be patient. I'd say about a cup of coolant drained out once everything was opened up. Have a container or an old towel ready.
The core was very tight pulling out of the heater duct. As you slide in the new core, you have to push the engine supply lines forward to make room for the lines of the new core to pass by. I used a 12 inch piece of 2 inch diameter wooden doweling to do this, which worked well. Push forward with the dowel as you GENTLY pull back on the core tubing to get the tubing connections aligned. Once the tubing was aligned, I used 767Wrench's technique of placing the edge of my dowel against the lip on the core tube, and lightly tapping the dowel with a mallet. This quickly popped the tubing ends together with lip of the core tube flush with the supply tube. The gasket kit comes with new clamps, and they go on just like they came off.
I then filled the radiator with coolant, and took it for a test drive. No leaks and lots of heat once again!
I can help with the last question.....after just replacing the heater core on my '15 65K mile TDI SEL.
I also struggled to reach the 6mm firewall screw to enable some play to the connecter pipes to the heater core. I found that if the air intake duct to the turbo housing was removed access was easy. Various vacuum hoses and electrical plugs need to be removed. The intake attaches to the turbo housing with a single easily accessible T30. The intake then rotates past the flanges after removing the front clamp.
The upper hose is then removed by releasing the wire latch on the right with a screwdriver. It then takes quite a bit of force to pull it off. Likewise to replace it with a light hammer.
I turned my '13 TDI SEL back to VW with 103K since the heater core was clogged. I had to replace the adBlue heater on that one and expect to also perform that on the '15 some day.
Where is located block heater that you drained coolant?My 2012 passat unfortunately had the clogged heater core issue. At first I thought it was going to be very costly or labor intensive to fix but after some research it turns out its not a dash out procedure on these cars and is actually relatively easy and cheap to do yourself. I did mine start to finish in about 3 hours.
Heater core PN: 561819031B
Seals and clamps PN: 561898380
Car was at 77,000 miles. Build date 04/12. Climatronic dual climate control. G12 coolant was the factory fill and had only been serviced with G12 until now. The core is clogged with thick white buildup. It may be white rather than the pink that some have reported because I flushed it before removal.
Buildup on the inside of the tank
Buildup inside the tubes. We scraped some of it away before this pic to see what it was.
Discoloration of the lines compared to new
A few pics of the removal. The trim has one torx screw and then drops straight down and out
The storage compartment is removed to access screws for the under dash panel. I just pushed in on the sides to get the tabs past and then it rotates down and comes out. It took some force but I didn't see another way to remove it easily.
The under dash panel has a few screws to remove it. The data link connector needs removed. There are 3 clips on it to depress from the back side. The foot vent can be removed after the panel it has a few torx screws.
This panel covers the heater core. 4 screws remove it
The core exposed. Remove the clamps and pull the lines apart. This was the hardest part. The manual tells you to loosen the 6mm screw that is in between the heater core lines under the hood. It is recessed in a hole between the coolant lines. It must aid in allowing you to move the lines off of the core. It was still tough to do even with it loosened. The bolt is somewhat hard to get to under the hood. I left the lines under the hood hooked up and just drained the coolant at my block heater because it was a lot easier than messing with the lines at the firewall. The pipes leading to the core stay attached and the connection is made where you see the clamps in the pictures. Make sure not to cut the new o rings when trying to reinstall the lines. I bent the lines on the old core to remove it but the new one took more patience as I didn't want to bend it much. The flanges on the pipes kept wanting to cut the o rings as I worked the heater core lines past each other. It would be wise to do a leak check with engine running before reinstalling the trim.
A tip to get the flanges fully seated on the heater core so you can install the clamps. I went under the hood and pushed firmly multiple times on the hose connections to try and seat the pipes onto the core. I also took a rubber mallet and small piece of wood and was able to catch the rib on the line to knock it into place. The lines in the car just don't seem to give a whole lot. Just be very careful not to use too much force when "forcing" things! The lines are just thin aluminum after all!
The core removed. It pulls straight out once the lines are off. I didn't get much coolant out of the lines after I drained the car. This catch can was plenty large enough. Cover the area with rags to catch any other spillage when pulling apart the lines.
Info note: the electric auxiliary heater grid sits directly in front of the heater core and slides out like the core.
Heat works great with the new core. Both sides are HOT on Hi setting and high blower. Decent heat starts being produced with the engine at 145 degrees
I was able to find the core for $74 and the seals for $14 although you could probably reuse the clamps and o rings if you had to. I purchased mine from ecs tuning.
I personally didn’t. I just changed it from inside but you need to be patient to remove and putting everything back. It worked for me. Good luck!How the fudge am I supposed to get to the 6mm bolt in the engine compartment?
I have everything apart, except the heater core clamps, and that is the last thing I was going to do before pulling the core. I can't even get my arm back in there to get to the thing. I can see it but I can't touch it.
I'm going to be exceptionally upset if one bolt means the bride taking her car to the dealer. They estimated it at $900!
I'm very tempted to do that. If I'm understanding correctly, I should be able to shoehorn (gently bend) the new core into place?I personally didn’t. I just changed it from inside but you need to be patient to remove and putting everything back. It worked for me. Good luck!
I'm very tempted to do that. If I'm understanding correctly, I should be able to shoehorn (gently bend) the new core into place?
The only reason I haven't tried that and break the pipes I' out the $900 for a new core, plus towing, and any other parts that may be wrecked.
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Big help for you there is patience. I was able to change that without any damage at all. I was driving car for two days without putting that black plastic cover just to make sure there is no leak. My heat now in the car is fabulous!