Incorrectly fitted by-pass valve?

[VW2010]

Hello All,

My heater has not been getting hot so I took the advice from previous posts regarding replacement of the by-pass valve BUT I made the foolish mistake of not paying attention when I took the old valve off :-[

I noticed the plastic part of the valve that connects to the smaller hoses (nearest the bulkhead) has an arrow on it, does this need to be facing towards the cabin or towards the engine?

I put the new by-passs valve on with the arrow facing away from the cabin (towards the engine) & its made no difference, in fact it may have made the heater blow colder air

Thanks in advance for any help provided!

Mark

[golfvr6]

Try putting it the other way round.

[VW2010]

I've tried putting the valve on the other way but the heater is still blowing cold air,  I suppose I'll have to look into it a little further, maybe its my matrix

[jedi16v]

did you buy the kit from vw? if so you should have two valves a plastic one and a alloy one . the plastic one goes on the left side as you look at the engine with the arrow pointing towards the engine and the alloy one on the right should point towards the windscreen . run the engine for a while i done it without resiv. cap on to make sure no air in then let it run untill fan cut in . you may have to give it a good rev. after that it should be fine . mine worked a treat

[VW2010]

I did buy the kit from VW (the thieving swines @ Chiswick VW wanted ?39.00  so I went to another branch which sold it to me for ?27)!

Anyway, I've tried putting the plastic valve on the other way but it didn't work & then back to the way I originally had it (the same as you described, jedi16v), I've also run the engine with the heater on full/res cap off until fan kicks in/water overflows but it is still blowing cold

I've noticed that the hose going into the metal valve gets hot but the hose going from that valve into the baulkhead (matrix) is not really getting hot, do you think I may have a faulty new by-pass valve?

Any suggestions would be appreciated because I'm really starting to hate this car!

[m4nesh]

think I will take golfvr6 advice and first go for the cheapest solution which is to flush the system with flush additative then look at going near the matrix

by the way is the heater matrix expensive?

[golfvr6]

Not too expensive, just a pain in the arse to get at.

[VW2010]

The matrix is ?111.00  :'(from VW but I've been speaking with a bloke I work with & he was given a matrix FOC last year from a main dealer (Andover, Hants)

I doubt my local branch (Chiswick) will be that obliging though!

I suppose I'll give the flush a try but I do suspect my new valve, does the pipe running from the metal valve into the baulkhead get hot on yours?

[VW2010]

I've been told that's its a real pain in the a*** to replace by a few people, apparently the dash has to be removed, is that right VR6?

[golfvr6]

I think so, but it is one of the few jobs i haven't done on a golf.