Thermostat replacement

[Jonnymk5gti]

Hi all, newbies first question lol, how easy is it to replace the thermostat in my gti? I'm not getting any hot air blown into the car at all, even with the climate on hi... many thanks jon

[Duffmeister]

I'm keeping an eye on this as I have the identical problem.

[Pesky jones]

is the car up to temp? does the needle get to, and sit on 90?

[Jonnymk5gti]

The temp sits at 70 on a run and if going slow or stopped it goes upto 90, but no warm air comes trough??

[pudding]

When my thermostat went, I did get warm air (although not quite as hot as usual) but it just took longer to get it. 

If you're not getting warm air from the vents at all, even after it's up to temperature, it's probably HVAC related.  I would scan the HVAC module for fault codes.  Could be a jammed blend door.  Had that on my MK4 R32.  The blend door for the heater matrix was jammed shut, so only cold air was coming in.  What happens is the motor inside the actuator dies, or it's little (plastic) worm gear snaps teeth off.

[Duffmeister]

Mine sits around 70, and blows Luke warm air through the heater when on full.

[mikezs]

I had exactly this problem last month. If you want to check for sure:

Plug in VCDS and measure the two thermostats, there's one in the engine block and one in the radiator, park the car and run the engine, when you see the radiator start heating up, the thermostat opened.

Mine was opening at 68 degrees, had it changed (at cost of £300!) and it now works as it should

[ducman77]

Here's one I did earlier 

Copied and pasted from an earlier thread I responded to. It's a time consuming job and quite fiddly but by no means impossible....

Here's a bit of a DIY buddy if you're into that kind of thing

Total cost;
€50 for main stat
€60 for both inline stats (you'll only need one if yours is a manual car)
€20 for 3ltrs of VW G13 coolant (50:50 mix with water)

Just completed this job last week. It is a pain in the balls. But very doable.

I have bruises all up and down my forearms from trying to do all the required work in the tiny space available 

Undertray off...
Boost pipe off...
Drain coolant from where the lower radiator hose meets the electric water pump under the car...
Auxiliary belt off...
Tensioner out...(optional)
Prize the alternator out with a pry bar....
There are three pipes attached to the thermostat...
The two rubber ones on top and bottom are simple enough to remove...
The metal one coming out of the front of the stat requires you to remove the two small triple square bolts holding it to the front of the engine block so that you can then wiggle it enough to get it off....
Remove the main stat...
Replace with new stat....

TOP TIP for reassembly;
Push the metal "bushes" on the alternator out a bit before you try and refit it. Otherwise it's way too tight a fit and you'll never get it back in. Don't worry the bolts will pull the bushes back into their correct position as you tighten them up.

Now enjoy your car behaving like a normal car because it actually has a working thermostat. Hallelujah 

I found this video quite helpful.....


Hope all that helps.
Regards,
Dave

[ducman77]

Here's the video link....