So my Water Pump in my 97 A4 1.8 went out (a common problem in that model from what I hear) and caused my car to start over heating. I had it replaced at a local shop. It works great now EXCEPT.... there is NO heat. None. It blows nothing but cold air no matter what the heater temp is set to.

And of course with my luck.... the shop has gone under (probably from fixing things wrong) and so obviously can't fix it. I don't want to take it to the Stealership just for an estimate.... does anyone know what would cause zero heat right after a water pump replacement? Thermostat backwards? Thermostat broken?

Any ideas are greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

Sounds like you have air in the heater core. You'll need to bleed the coolant system to get the air out.
See below:
http://forums.audiworld.com/showthread.php?p=1635363
http://forums.audiworld.com/showthre...=223246&page=2

 

First of all, you can be assured that you are not alone, because the number of A4 owners running around with little or no heat seems to be huge. So welcome to the club.

The frustrating thing is that the solution could be a number of things. In all the reading/googling/research I've done on this topic, it seems that the cause of the problem is one of the following, in no particular order:

1) Clogged heater core. There are a few DIY's on how to reverse flush the heater core. Google and the search feature on this forum are your friends.

2) Failed heater core - if it were this, you'd probably be smelling anti-freeze in the in the cabin, and/or there would be a fine opaque film on the windshield.

3) Air in the cooling system.

4) A coolant leak.

5) A failing or failed water pump - unlikely for you, but I suppose it's possible to get a bad brand new water pump.

6) A failed thermostat.

7) A failed/failing radiator.

I really empathize with you on this problem, because I had it last winter, and I think I've got it mostly resolved by flushing the heater core. Although, I still have some kind of problem because my A4 doesn't give out hot heat when I'm idling. The maddening this for me is that I've already had the heater core replaced by the stealer, to the tune of $1200 about three years ago! I got great heat out of her for about one winter, then she went back to being finicky. Living in Minnesota and not having excellent Audi heat is not a good situation.

I was reading this thread over on Audiworld and one guy's problem turned out to be his auxiliary water pump. But I'm not sure if the A4 has one of these. His vehicle is an Audi AllRoad.

Anyway, here's the thread. I hope it helps. http://forums.audiworld.com/showthread.php?t=2792044

 

Thanks everyone for the replies!

I will try and bleed the cooling system tonight when I get home from work. I doubt it's my water pump since I JUST had it replaced and the engine temperature is perfect.

If the bleeding isn't the problem... I'll go with the next cheapest/easiest and replace the thermostat.

I'll keep you updated!

Thanks again!

 

waiting for an update on this one...i just bought mine yesterday, and it has been between -20 and -40 with the wind chill here the past couple days and all the heat im gettin is from my seats...lol

 

This all sounds like a thermostat problem to me, the only thing that strikes me odd is that due to the amount of teardown required to get to the water pump, its a fairly standard practice to replace the timing belt, water pump and tstat all at the same time. If this shop you took it to knew ***** about what they were doing with an Audi, they would have done exactly that when getting after the water pump. That said, if they didn't change the tstat, chances are its failed, giving you your problem. If they did change it, it is possible they put it in wrong and that is what your problem is. Either way, if bleeding the cooling system doesn't take care of it, you're looking at a lot of work to get at the tstat, and if this shop didn't do the timing belt while they were in there and you are coming due on replacing it, I would advise getting that out of the way now too.

 

#1. seems to be my most likely problem since my heat gradually went away.
#2. I have never smelled any coolant in the car at any point, so I rule that one out.
#3. I never knew a problem as such existed. What would cause that?
#4. No leaks here.
#5. I replace my water pump & timing belt religiously. So I rule that one out.
#6. Another most likely culprit. I've never replaced it ever since I bought the car new back in '99.
#7. Hard to say about that one since the cooling seemed to be working OK till about 6 months ago. I would get some funky noise that produced a rumbling in the engine bay. After turning off the engine for about 10 minutes, the temp reading would be a notch past the middle. I later realized the auxiliary fan wasn't kicking in with the engine off. With the AC on, the aux fan comes to life shaking like Cheech on withdrawal. The needle would drop back to the mid point after two minutes or less of driving. Popped the hood the other day when that mysterious rumbling started (AC off) and I noticed the aux fan was wobbling like it was about to fly off. (New fan problem?).
Anyway, I'm still down to a few choices in the problem. Can't go another winter without heat.

P.S for numbers 1, 3 & 6, what is the average cost for each repair at a shop? I would hate to take my car in only to endure a fix by subtraction and have to pay for things I never needed in the first place.

 

I had this same problem and if they did not replace your thermostat when they did the water pump I would say that is your problem. Mine was stuck open so the car was never able to fully heat up. What does the coolant temp gauge in the car read after you drive it for awhile?

 

During the winter months when it's 40 degrees or lower, whenever I drive on the highway, the coolant temp reading drops all the way down to 'C'! During the summer months it seems to stay on the mid way point.