Heat not working

Just recently I noticed my heat no longer works in the car. I never use heat, except for some mornings when I need to defrost the windshield.


Any ideas on what would cause this?

The heater core is clogged. Common, TSB about it, the dealer will most likely replace it for free.

Other possibility is the little Chinese servo motor that runs the temp door is bad. That will be on you. OBD will reveal that.

Dang I wish I knew about that, my old 2011 JSW didnt have good heat for last 2 winters, barely kept me warm. She is long gone thru buyback with almost 300k miles RIP.


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The OP has a Passat, not a Jetta.

I know issue is the same. Clogged heater core.


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Right, but the TSB and the more well known issue is for the NMS Passat. It has a different HVAC system, different EGR system, and a different engine, that is evidently more prone to this problem. TSB clearly states "CKRA only", which is the TDI engine in the NMS Passats through 2014.

I bring this up to the OP because often if there is a TSB for something, even if you have to spoon feed it to the dealer personnel, you may have a better time of getting them to actually address the problem and in some cases get it covered under a warranty extension.

Gotcha, thanks for informative post. I also have NMS Passat. So far so good.


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If the core is clogged it should also have a check engine light for insufficient EGR cooling. The core is down stream of the EGR cooler and if the core is plugged, the cooler isn't flowing coolant. That makes a plugged core an emissions issue that VW is obligated to fix. Also, the EGR cooler is what is causing the plugging by cooking the coolant in to solid particles. Just had mine changed yesterday.

oilhammer said:

The heater core is clogged. Common, TSB about it, the dealer will most likely replace it for free.

Other possibility is the little Chinese servo motor that runs the temp door is bad. That will be on you. OBD will reveal that.

Click to expand...

Hmm, I do have a CEL light on my car, but the code was P203B. the dealer said they are going to change the Adblue tank for free via the emissions warranty.


Today while driving my coolant level/coolant temp light came on. The temp never went over the 190'ish it showed on the dash, so I just finished driving to work. Before I left I added a little bit of water and drove home. When I got home I added some coolant to it to level it off where it should be.

wsc said:

If the core is clogged it should also have a check engine light for insufficient EGR cooling. The core is down stream of the EGR cooler and if the core is plugged, the cooler isn't flowing coolant. That makes a plugged core an emissions issue that VW is obligated to fix. Also, the EGR cooler is what is causing the plugging by cooking the coolant in to solid particles. Just had mine changed yesterday.

Click to expand...

It depends on how far gone the heater core is, mine has been replaced twice (as soon as the heat stopped working) but no check engine light. It’s amazing how quick it goes from good heat to nothing on the passenger side.

I thought the issue was primarily 2013-14 passats, though not all of those years have the warranty extension.

Rep at my dealer said it isn’t covered on 2015 Passats, but he’s going to check if there is something he can do to get it covered under the emissions warranty. I’m doubtful he’ll be able to, but it would be nice. He said he has to take the dash off, so it’s a big job that would take 2-3 days, so if the emissions warranty doesn’t fix this then I’m driving without heat, lol. I can’t imagine what it’d cost to fix it.

Lol ouch. Been there with my Old 2011 JSW. Heat in the seat helped a lot lol


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Yeah, tell him the dash most certainly does not have to come off to replace the heater core. The core slides out through an access hole in the side of the HVAC case down by the pedal area.

Now, if one of the Chinese mode door motors is bad, then...





Although the dash comes out pretty easy on these. But as I said, you do NOT have to do this to replace just the heater core.

Ugh why do VW have to buy parts from China? Thanks for the tip oilhammer. In future of my 2015 Passat to have similar issue. Hope not.


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Oh it is hardly just Volkswagen. Most everything that makes a newer (post bankruptcy) GM vehicle tick is Chinese. Everything from all the control stack modules in the dash to the transmission module inside the transmission. Chrysler has bearings inside every 6T42E transmission that are from China. The German Getrag manual gearbox in the Mustang is from China. Many aluminum wheels on GM and Ford products are made in China. The INA (German, part of Schaeffler Group) bearing in the Mexican-assembled Valeo (French) alternators in the US-assembled Hyundai (Korean) Sonatas are made in China. Guess which part in that global train fails first? GM actually sells a whole car built in China right here, the Buick Envision (which is essentially the same platform as the Chevy Equinox and GMC Terrain, both of which are assembled in Canada for this market).

What amazes me is how China has not shown up on Monroney sticker in new cars in any great numbers.

I was quoted roughly $800-$900 in parts and roughly 8 hours of labor at $130 an hour. So it'd cost around $2,000 to fix my heat!



I really wish I bought a certified VW Passat TDI. I also have a door handle acting up, and was quoted around $500 to get that fixed.

I love this car, but man, I really got me a money pit on my hands.

Any chance I can contact VWoA to try to get some help on this since it has been an issue on past models? I will try to find local TDI mechanics to see if someone else can do it for cheaper. Only problem is I like using my dealer, but man, $2,000 is a lot of money!