No Heat in 88 90Q

[AdirondackQ]

I recently acquired an '88 90 Quattro with the 2.3 liter 5cyl engine. The prior owner spent over $800 having the heater core replaced, and the car drives fine but with NO HEAT! The dash temperature guage rarely moves from "C".

I tried stuffing a piece of cardboard in front of the radiator to raise the temperature, but that only works if the vehicle is idling and standing still... as soon as I move the guage plummets once again. I've purchased but not installed a new thermostat and I'm curious about a little screw valve on the heater hose. I tried turning in in desperation to get some heat and it broke off the hose.

I'm just outside of Lake Placid where it's routinely 20 degrees below zero so heat is more than just a luxury! Any suggestions would be most welcome. Would by-passing the in-line valve on the heater hose help?

[AdirondackQ]

Thank you Andy,

I'll get right to that installation as we're experiencing a heat wave presently; 8 degrees ABOVE zero! I'll let you know how it works out.

Cheers,

Glen

[AdirondackQ]

Hi Andy,

I'm in the thriving metropolus of Vermontville, NY... 8 miles from Saranac Lake and less than 20 miles from Lake Placid and yes, it's COLD here! I tried to losen the two 10mm bolts to get at the thermostat, but was quite unable to get a wrench on the second bolt without removing the power steering pump, so I've made an appointment for tomorrow to have a real mechanic take a look for me.

Thanks again for your assistance... I'll keep you posted!

Glen

[RJS_90q]

I agree that this sounds like a thermostat issue. It is a good idea to position the heater controls to the 'hot/fully on' dial position as you refill the system with (cold) coolant after removing any pipes / thermostat / radiator etc. I've been fortunate enough to never need to use these bleed valves by using this technique.

Good luck and hope that this helps,

Regards,
Bob

[AdirondackQ]

Thanks for the follow up; I installed a new thermostat and the car operates very nicely in the normal range of the guage, but I STILL have no cabin heat!

I snapped off the bleeder valve screw so that's no longer utile, and when I tried to bleed the system manually by disconecting the hose with the broken bleeder valve, all I accomplished was to give myself an antifreeze shower!

I've been looking for the heater control valve but without any luck. Other postings said to look near the firewall, but still others say that it might be under the dash. In any event I'm still freezing my a** off in the car.

Just to give you reason to chuckle further, my quattro is now stuck in my driveway resting nicely on the frame while all four wheel spin. I tried to tow it free with my other car (89 80 Quattro), but the clothes line I was using just snapped.

Thanks again for the follow up; I hope that you haven't hurt yourself laughing at me!

Glen