B5.5 heater blend door re-cover

Is this a good maintenance on these cars? I have my dash out now to replace the heater core and thought about my old issues with my B4's blend doors and the flying foam.

I have never seen a B5 do that, I don't even know who makes their HVAC cases. Which is strange, since the A2s, A3s, T4s, B3s, B4s, all have HVAC door foam issues.

You forgot A4s, too.

If I had the dash out I'd be tempted to at least poke at the foam and see if it's gone soft / gooey.

-J

Yeah I meant that it was a given that the A4s do it, thanks for the clarification... I won't even say they do it the most, it is just that those cars seem to be the ones that folks keep and drive the longest, so it seems like you see it the most.

I've owned and serviced a LOT of B5s, I have never seen a single one do it, which leads me to believe VAG chose an entirely different HVAC component supplier... they are different than the rest in that regard. The only other VAG products that use that type of HVAC are the bigger Audis and the Phaeton, I don't think any others do.

If the supplier used a better quality foam, that would be a nice plus for the B5 / 5.5! I'd think you would have seen one by now if they were as prone to failure...

Given that the oldest one is now 23 years old, I'd say that is correct.

Not the same set up. No need to do anything with the B5/B5.5

Thanks all. Just what I wanted to hear. Now to pull that dash out after dealing with 30 wiring connectors and the rest of the hardware. For sure all aluminum core going back. Those plastic heater hose fittings for sure rot.

I'm going to set a Guinness record for having my fingers crossed. 9 years ago I started to have condensation on my windshield and windows from an apparent pinhole leak in my heater core. A couple of months later, I made an appointment with MrChill to have my dash ripped to have the core replaced. A week before the appointment, it suddenly stopped. All we could guess is that the pinhole sealed itself. Since I already had the time scheduled, I had my Koni FSD's that had been sitting in the garage for a month, installed.

Fingers still crossed. The cars been off the road for 6 months now, but I'm about to get it back into the herd.

The blend doors on b5.5s are molded plastic. No foam. I just pulled a 2005 Wagon apart for its BHW and harness and that is what I found. I did a heater core to a 2001 V6 last fall and re-did the blend door foam. So, 2004 and up owners can rejoice!