Insulation blowing out of vents

jettajim

Veteran Member
Joined
May 31, 2000
Location
near Houston
TDI
'14 Golf 6-spd, '12 Passat gasser:(
Hi all,

I read the several threads about this topic a while ago. I remember people asking if there's another way to get to the vents without removing the dash.

I have a few questions:


  1. Is there another way
  2. With all of the insulation done blowing out of the vents, does this mean my recirc is no longer functioning. In the past after I turned on the recirc, I could hear it working--I could hear the doors closing and it sounded as if the fan speed was increased. Now, I don't hear anything.
  3. What parts do I need to replace once I'm in? Do they come from one of our suppliers on this site or do I have to get the parts from the dealer
  4. If I need to remove the entire dash, I guess I should change the heater core. I don't have climatronic--do I have to open the AC system?
Thanks for the help.
 

jessabug

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 30, 2012
Location
Cary, NC
TDI
Hubby's 2001 Jetta TDI, '84 IDI turbo diesel Jetta
What car is this in?

My NB had the foam blowing out of the vents. Just a result of age. I never touched the blend door (which is where the foam is coming from) since my heat and AC worked well enough regardless. But from what I understand, you pretty much have to take the dash apart to get to the blend door and fix it properly.

This how-to is for a NB so the dash assembly will be different if not a NB, but its really just replacing the foam on the blend door: http://newbeetle.org/forums/questions-issues-concerns-problems-new-beetle/41973-blend-door-diy.html
 

tleader

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 10, 2008
Location
San Antonio, Texas
TDI
None
Really no other way. I just recently had to replace a leaking evaporator in my 2000 Jetta. The whole process wasn't really that difficult. I read a lot of threads about it being difficult, but I found it pretty easy and straight forward. While I was in there I recovered the blend doors and cleaned everything out. Whole process, including cleaning the bits and pieces, took maybe 4-5 hours.

Good luck.
 

scharpestguy

Active member
Joined
Jun 6, 2011
Location
Huntsville, TX
TDI
2001 Jetta TDI
JettaJim,

I have the same issue with my 2001 Jetta TDi 5 speed. Will you be doing this yourself? If so would you be interested in meeting up and tackling one together than tackle the other a following weekend? I would sure love a second set of hands, eyes, and two brains working on something like this.

I'm located up on Lake Livingston NE of Huntsville and have every tool I would imagine we would need or we could meet at your house.

Let me know and all the best,

Scharpe St Guy
 

jettajim

Veteran Member
Joined
May 31, 2000
Location
near Houston
TDI
'14 Golf 6-spd, '12 Passat gasser:(
Boy, thank you for the replies!!

Jessabug, It's in my '01 Jetta TDI 5 spd--I should have mentioned this

tleader, that's exactly what I wanted to hear. I knew it wasn't difficult but the last I read a while ago was how long it took. 4-5 hours is MUCH better than the 16 I read. I never saw the blend doors--how do you recover them? If I change the heater core, do I have to open the AC system--I don't have the climatronic system.

scharpestguy, that's a great idea but I'm not sure when I'll do this. I have all the tools also to tear my car apart and a garage with 12' ceilings. You know, if I plan on something and give a date, I'll do it. So, let me do some more research in all that I'll have to do and replace once inside and I'll let you know.

Thanks for the input!
 

tleader

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 10, 2008
Location
San Antonio, Texas
TDI
None
If your just going to change the heater core, you might be able to squeeze the core out from the top without removing the whole hvac box. Another problem you might run into when leaving it in the car is the metal clips that hold the two pieces together. There are a few clips on the backside which can be difficult to get at, but others have been able to get it done. I had to replace my evaporator, so removing the whole hvac box was my only choice, but once out, it made it so much easier.

The blend doors are inside the same section as the heater core. You will see the cables that control the doors coming from the bottom. I went to a hobby store and got some basic neoprene/rubber mats to recover the doors. You can also use the metal tape for a/c repair, there are many choices. Simply glued them on with contact cement, trimmed and they were good as new.

Hope this helps a little. If there is anything else, please feel free to ask.
 

aja8888

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Dec 25, 2007
Location
Texas..RETIRED 12/31/17
TDI
Out of TDI's
If your just going to change the heater core, you might be able to squeeze the core out from the top without removing the whole hvac box. Another problem you might run into when leaving it in the car is the metal clips that hold the two pieces together. There are a few clips on the backside which can be difficult to get at, but others have been able to get it done. I had to replace my evaporator, so removing the whole hvac box was my only choice, but once out, it made it so much easier.

The blend doors are inside the same section as the heater core. You will see the cables that control the doors coming from the bottom. I went to a hobby store and got some basic neoprene/rubber mats to recover the doors. You can also use the metal tape for a/c repair, there are many choices. Simply glued them on with contact cement, trimmed and they were good as new.

Hope this helps a little. If there is anything else, please feel free to ask.
I am facing this job (heater core, blend door fix) on the 2000 Jetta. Do you have a write up in the dash removal process? Also, did you change the core and if you did, what core did you buy?

Thanks,

Tony
 

tleader

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 10, 2008
Location
San Antonio, Texas
TDI
None
I don't have a write-up, but there are several good ones floating around either here or on vortex. Do a google search and they should come up.

As for the heater core, mine looked almost brand new when I pulled it out for inspection. I'm not sure if one of the previous owners might have changed it or had it changed. Only had to buy an evaporator. Here is a pic of my evaporator.





Also, here is what the car looked with the dash pulled.

 

aja8888

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Dec 25, 2007
Location
Texas..RETIRED 12/31/17
TDI
Out of TDI's
Interesting, you left the steering wheel and air bag in place? The one write up on Vortex says pull both. Did you have any trouble getting the dash past the steering wheel?
 

Lightflyer1

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Sep 13, 2005
Location
Round Rock, Texas
TDI
2015 Beetle tdi dsg
Where was your cabin filter? Should have stopped most of that stuff. That must have smelled to high heaven with it turned on and blowing!
 

tleader

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 10, 2008
Location
San Antonio, Texas
TDI
None
I do have a cabin filter, but the guy I bought it from was a knucklehead. Most of that came from using the recirculate setting and have very dusting conditions with the windows down all the time. I live in south Texas and the dust down here is like baby powder. With the evap leaking, that dust stuck to the oil like glue on the evap.

As for the steering wheel, my car is a beater daily driver I bought for cheap and made mechanically sound. The middle of the dash below the steering wheel was cracked right in the center. I took advantage of that and it was able to slip around the steering column with little effort. I guess you could make a cut in the center and slip it around or pull the wheel and bag and do it the correct way. I just used the crack to my advantage. Once the bottom portion of the dash is back on and everything is bolted, it's never seen or doesn't effect the integrity of the dash. Your call on that one.
 

scharpestguy

Active member
Joined
Jun 6, 2011
Location
Huntsville, TX
TDI
2001 Jetta TDI
Tony,

Where in Texas are you? Maybe all three of us can get together and tackle this job on our cars. I'm open going to my garage or anyones garage and getting this job completed. I'm in no rush either but would very much enjoy doing as a team affair.

Scharpe St Guy
 

aja8888

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Dec 25, 2007
Location
Texas..RETIRED 12/31/17
TDI
Out of TDI's
I am in The Woodlands, just south of you. I have not placed an order for the heater core yet, but plan to get an OEM one on order from 1stVWParts.com ($133) tomorrow (1 week delivery time). I have a neighbor that is willing to help me with this job also.
 

jettajim

Veteran Member
Joined
May 31, 2000
Location
near Houston
TDI
'14 Golf 6-spd, '12 Passat gasser:(
You can also use the metal tape for a/c repair, there are many choices. Simply glued them on with contact cement, trimmed and they were good as new.

Hope this helps a little. If there is anything else, please feel free to ask.
Thanks, that's what someone else suggested--the a/c metal tape.

Now I'm wondering if I should change the evap and the heater core. The car is almost 12 years old but the a/c is original and is cold.

Just last Friday when I thought all the insulation was gone, I turned the fan to 4 and a ton more came out. I used the shop-vac and fan set to 4 and did this for ~3 minutes. With all of this foam/insulation off the doors, does this mean that recirc is not functioning properly?

Thanks,
 

tleader

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 10, 2008
Location
San Antonio, Texas
TDI
None
The recirculate door does not have holes in it like the other two blend doors. The recirculate door is solid and only has the foam glued to both sides, so it will still work ok with no foam to seal it. The other two doors have large holes in the centers of both doors. Once the foam is gone on those, air can pass right through unrestricted.

If you find your a/c still works, but is not as cold, u can do a little trick by bypassing the heater core in the summer months. Since our car have no valve to the heater core, hot water is continuously circulating in the core. You can put a "u" shaped bypass under the hood on the on the hoses at the firewall and that will keep the hot water out of the core. I did it to an old MK3 I had and the a/c was really cold again without the mixing of hot air from the core.
 

jettajim

Veteran Member
Joined
May 31, 2000
Location
near Houston
TDI
'14 Golf 6-spd, '12 Passat gasser:(
I had time last night to read the Bentley. It doesn't show the 2 flapper doors so I assume they're inside the box. It shows the recirc servo so I think the recirc flap sits just below the cabin filter which I should be able to see from outside the car with the filter removed--I'll check it this weekend.

My main objective is to verify that the recirc flap is operating properly. I should be able to tell this by removing the filter, turn the ignition & fan on, and have someone in the car press the recirc button a few times. Will this work?

Now for the 2 blend flaps, I directed the flow to all positions and air flow goes to the correct places. So what's happening? If the recirc flap is functioning and the blend doors direct the flow to the proper areas, how is not having the foam that just blew out of the vents affecting anything???

Oldpoopie mentioned in a thread that there will not be any hot air. If that's the only negative with this issue, than I can live with that--here in Houston:)

Any info on the operation of the recirc flaps will be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks,
 

jettajim

Veteran Member
Joined
May 31, 2000
Location
near Houston
TDI
'14 Golf 6-spd, '12 Passat gasser:(
I don't like reading a car story w/o a finish so here's mine.

I removed the pollen filter to view the recirc door and to my relieve, the door was functioning and had no foam missing! So what this means is that the foam came from the blend doors and in my case in Houston, that's OK. And ultimately, I don't need to remove the dash.

As a side note: the pollen filter will never see any of the foam or collect any of it. The filter either sees fresh air from the outside or no air at all. It doesn't see any air when the recirc flap is closed. At least this is the airflow for a '01 Jetta.

Thanks for all the info.
 

csstevej

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 12, 2004
Location
north nj
TDI
2001 golf tdi 4 door auto now a manual, mine, 2000 golf 2 door M/T son's,daughters 98 NB non-TDI 2.0, 2003 TDI NB for next daughter, head repaired and on road,gluten for punishment got another tdi 2001NB,another yellow tdi NB
Just did this to my daughters 98 NB. Shortly after I bought the car chunks of foam came out as my son was playing with the controls. Not a difficult job, just time consuming. took me about 9 hours start to finish. My heater core looked brand new, while out I flushed it . I redid my doors with metal tape I got at Lowes paint dept rated to 250F.
I was able to unclip mine from the evaporator so I didn't have to pull the whole box out. Vortex has a nice write up with Pics. The one that took me awhile to find were the 2 nuts from the firewall side under the heat blanket that I missed reading the first time around.
 

jettajim

Veteran Member
Joined
May 31, 2000
Location
near Houston
TDI
'14 Golf 6-spd, '12 Passat gasser:(
Steve, It looks like you have a lot of TDIs in your family--they are great cars!

I sold my wife's '00 Jetta TDI a few months ago replaced by a '12 Passat auto gasser. I really wanted to get the TDI but there was a $7,000 price jump with the way they outfit the TDI auto. You can go far on $7k worth of gasoline:) I remember buying her '00 TDI, there was a slight difference in the way they outfitted the auto TDI compared to the gasser auto but the price difference was only $1600. The mileage she got in her TDI more than made up the difference.

Enjoy your cars. I love my '01 Jetta TDI 5-spd. It gets 58mpg lifetime with 210,000 miles and the mechanicals have always been good.
 

naba

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 16, 2004
Location
Houston, TX
TDI
2002 Jetta GL TDI Black
I am facing this job (heater core, blend door fix) on the 2000 Jetta. Do you have a write up in the dash removal process? Also, did you change the core and if you did, what core did you buy?

Thanks,

Tony
aja8888, have you performed the heater core fix yet? Just wanted to hear how it went.
 

aja8888

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Dec 25, 2007
Location
Texas..RETIRED 12/31/17
TDI
Out of TDI's
aja8888, have you performed the heater core fix yet? Just wanted to hear how it went.
No, waiting on a core from 1stVWParts and my neighbor's availability to help. If all goes as planned, probably the weekend of June 9th or the week after. (I'm out of town in North Dakota all next week).

Based on what I have read here and on Vortex, it's just a time consuming job, but not especially difficult. I may consider replacing the A/C condenser while I have it in front of me.
 

josh8loop

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 15, 2009
Location
Vero Beach, Fl.
TDI
2002 VW Jetta TDI Manual(performed 01M to 5-speed swap) - 183,000 miles and climbing!
No, waiting on a core from 1stVWParts and my neighbor's availability to help. If all goes as planned, probably the weekend of June 9th or the week after. (I'm out of town in North Dakota all next week).

Based on what I have read here and on Vortex, it's just a time consuming job, but not especially difficult. I may consider replacing the A/C condenser while I have it in front of me.

Also, perhaps the heater core, expansion valve, accumulator/drier, and any O rings you can get to. Then again there is the pressure control valve in the compressor that goes bad frequently and causes no AC condition....
 

Shouse

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 8, 2009
Location
Fort Worth, TX
TDI
2000 Jetta TDI GL - 185k
No, waiting on a core from 1stVWParts and my neighbor's availability to help. If all goes as planned, probably the weekend of June 9th or the week after. (I'm out of town in North Dakota all next week).

Based on what I have read here and on Vortex, it's just a time consuming job, but not especially difficult. I may consider replacing the A/C condenser while I have it in front of me.
Don't kid yourself. it's not THAT easy of a job. It probably seemed a little worse for me since I was bitten by a brown widow in the middle of the job and was bed-ridden for two days. Take it slow, document, take plenty of pictures if you want it to come together better than you took it off. VW plastic sucks.
 
Top