only cold air from fan!

[teamkilo]

hey guys.

i recently had a problem with my engine temperature going sky high with steam coming out from under the bonnet and coolant being drunk up.
took it to the garage and had a new radiator installed, cost me £90!
the guy told me that i'm missing a thermostat, but it wasnt exactly important so i didnt need one fitted.

i took his word for it and started driving around, engine temperature is all fine.

a month on, yesterday i was driving around and turned the heater to hot , but all i was getting was pure cold air from the hot setting!
not sure what the problem is, but could it be related to the lack of a thermostat?

help appreciated!

its a mk3 golf 1996 1.6 if that helps.

[teamkilo]

anything? anyone?

[Geithals]

Back flush the heater core is the first obvious action, find the lines going in from the head to the core, unattach them and hook up a hose pipe and let it flush out the gunk. That's what I had to do on a Ford.

Hopefully its not a head gasket failure but then you would have other symptoms.

Possibly water pump failure but then you would be overheating the engine.

Possibly the control lever that you use to change from cold to hot in the cab doesn't activate the flap.

[novaxeros]

I hate to be the bringer of bad news, but apparently, cold air from the heater is a symptom of a failing Head Gasket. The overheating of your engine recently and the smoke too would work in time with the Head Gasket cracking.

The only reason I know this too is because my mother's car recently overheated after she left the water cap off. It boiled away all the water, and ripped her head gasket a new one when the engine overheated.

Though the engine will work fine as is, I would recommend having the Head Gasket checked and skimmed before anymore troubles occur.

Of course, it could be other things such as those mentioned by Geithals, but an engine overheat damages the Head Gasket, and cold air from a radiator is a head gasket symptom.

Best of luck.

Novaxeros

[kite]

Without a thermostat your engine will not reach the optimum operating temp.
Put a thermostat in that will make you engine run at the correct temp, then you should have heat from the heater blower.
What temp is your car running at ?

[paddi863]

If no thermostat is fitted, it just takes longer to heat up, but it will get to normal temperature eventually. It points to a blockage or an airlock before the heater matrix. You could backflush first, but it's easier to check for an airlock. When the engine's cold, undo the coolant cap on the expansion tank. Then squeeze the bottom radiator hose several times. If air is in the system, you'll hear a bubbling sound as the air is forced out. Keep squeezing and topping up the tank until the bubbles stop. You should only see and hear the coolant going back into the tank. I had a Ford Fiasco with that problem. If there's no bubbles, then I'd flush the system, but in stages. Radiator, engine, heater matrix. This slightly prevents crap being flushed into a different part of the system. If you still have no joy after that, it'll be time to open the wallet. Hopefully not though!

(I also had a Ford Kak with the same problem, but that was a temperature control valve. Do Golf's have those?)

[lewis3800]

hey guys.

i recently had a problem with my engine temperature going sky high with steam coming out from under the bonnet and coolant being drunk up.
took it to the garage and had a new radiator installed, cost me £90!
the guy told me that i'm missing a thermostat, but it wasnt exactly important so i didnt need one fitted.

i took his word for it and started driving around, engine temperature is all fine.

a month on, yesterday i was driving around and turned the heater to hot , but all i was getting was pure cold air from the hot setting!
not sure what the problem is, but could it be related to the lack of a thermostat?

help appreciated!

its a mk3 golf 1996 1.6 if that helps.

you need a thermostat and it sounds like you have an air lock just bleed the system, also check the heater flap controls on the heater matrix box are all working properly

[gkm24]

As stated, you definately need a thermostat unless you are very rich as you will be useing loads of fuel and the engine will never heat up properly which will give lots of condensation internally. If you are overheating with a thermostat you may have a airlock or other symptom but you definately need a Thermostat. Years of VW/BMW workshop experience talking here.

[buzmuzguz]

I've got a golf with a similar problem. There was a valve inserted into the heater pipes after some woman in Germany got her feet scalded once (or so the story goes) but the valve is pretty crap. It means the heat never really gets to your vents. I fixed mine by taking the valve out and rebuilding the pipes with some copper tubing. You then couldnt have the heating on full at any time and remain in the car. Best heating ever

Also check to see if your losing water as if you've got a leak that could be the cause to no heat!

[euroslap]

Fit the thermostat and see if matters improve, if it's the water pump you'll probably have a hot top radiator hose and the bottom one will be fairly cold in comparison. If this is the case a water pump impellor is about £15-20 and fairly easy to fit.

Hopefully fitting the thermostat will sort the problem out. When you refill the water after popping the thermostat in, set your heaters to hot and run the car to temp with the filler cap off until the correct level shows on the header tank. This should avoid any air locks.

If the head gasket has gone symptoms should show ie. creamy scum in the header tank and on the dipstick and the car will start to idle lumpy gradually getting worse.