ya i did that last week. im not getting coolant to the core i unplugged the inlet hose and there was just a little bit coming out if im able to manually open the heater control valve, i wanna try that even if that means its gotta stay open all the time

 

There is no such thing on these cars as a heater control valve. There is a thermostat, which if stuck open would cause your coolant not to come up to temp. Are the lines running to your heater core getting hot? Have you tried flushing your heater core? Is your coolant temperature gauge reaching operating temp? This will explain some things: http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...=1#post5980035 .

 

i dont think his thermostat is stuck open cause his car is warming to temp. at least at my understanding.. ytour gauge is reading to the middle of the guage?!?! which would should be about 87-90 degress C.
mow if it is running at like 80 degres C. then your thermostat is stuck open.

 

If the car heats up and the guage comes up to the mid point idling in the driveway, but cools down as soon as you start driving then your thermostat is sticking. My 96 just did this. Plenty of heat idling instrument panel gauge pointing straight up and down in the driveway, as soon as the car starts driving over 20 mph the gauge starts coming down to a bar above the C. I was also getting the P0116 implausible signal code from the ECT. Turns out the thermostat would open at its set temperature of 187 degrees, but it would not close until temps got down around 70 degrees. I had never seen a thermostat do that before this one, but after it was removed I threw it in a pot on the stove and watched it as the water came up in temp and then down in temp. Took me 4 hours to get the old thermostat out, and the new one in. Its not a fun job.

 

it shouldnt have taken 4 hours.. unless you didnt know where it was located and so forth. maybe 30 minutes.. jack up the driver side of the car remove belly pan.. (if you have one) and its right there bust it out watch out for coolant coming at your face pop in the new one make sure o-ring is set good and tigten it all back and your good .. top off coolant and your set =]=]=] i did
mine in 20 minutes =]

 

are you talking about a 2.8L v6 or the 1.8t? that helps, i thought it was on the pass. side though....i havent been underneath my car yet...its been rainy and snowy, or 15 degrees here for the past week

 

oh im talking about 1.8.. lol my bad i have a 1.8 QAUTTRO =]

it is differnet for the 2.8

 

so for mine isnt it on the passanger side, at the front, on the bottom? is it where the lower radiator pipe goes into the motor? or is it on the front of the motor..? i think in the haynes manual it says its on the front of the motor..

 

Mines a 2.8L. Its behind the cam timing belt, and accessories belt under the plastic cover infront of the passenger side (in the US) head. You can get it out without taking off the timing belt, but its not fun. Had to pull the power steering pump to get the necessary clearance. The lower hose connects to the thermostat housing, that covers the thermostat, which is right in the center of the engine on the front face of the block. There are two 8, or 10mm bolts one on either side of the thermostat that holds the cover piece inplace.



If you have to replace it there is a little pin on the flange of the thermostat that sits in a hole, this is the bleed port that lets any air trapped behind the thermostat out of the engine, that pin has to be at the 12 oclock position (straight up) when you put the thermostat back into the block.

 

ya...sounds like a weekend job...haha maybe ill do it this weekend......but im gonna try a new climate control first before doing all that crap....lol