Heater not blowing hot air on drivers side

[John Wire]

Hi.  I have a 2017 S5 where overall I've had no real problems since getting it last year.  That being said, just now I put the heating on and it seems to only blow tepid despite it being cranked up to the highest setting. I've turned the sync settings on and off for the passenger side and rear however it still blows tepid or freezing cold if the air con is on. 

Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.

 

John

[Steve Q]

I'd recommend a diagnostic check to see if any fault codes flag up as it could be an issue with the heater control unit. However, does the engine get up to temperature ok? As I believe a failing thermostat can cause similar problems. 

[kh904]

If I understand your post correctly, they other vents blow hot and cold air (depending on the temp setting on the climate control) but the driver's side is stuck on low?

 

If so, I had the same problem.

The problem is a motor that's bolted on the heater core (behind the centre console, on the driver's side) has failed.

This motor controls a plastic arm that move the flap controlling the flow of hot air to the vent (there are 3 motors that control the temp for the various vents independently).

The part itself cost around £170 (part is 'V159 control motor' for the driver side).

Labour was around 2.5 hours.

It cost me around £450 in total to fix it.

 

You will need to find a garage that has the Vag.com or VCDS software though, as they need to perform a 'basic setting' on the part to sync it to the system. A decent VAG specialist garage should have this software.

Technically, the whole dash is supposed to come out to reach the part (going by the book), but a mechanic can get away with removing just the lower part of the drivers side dash and get enough space to replace the part (it's a tight fit though).

There is a good video guide on youtube is you search for it.

[sub]

Hello hope you are well

 

Ive developed the same problem and im trying to find a good video on youtube to see how to do it but with no luck would you be able to send me a link or tell me what you searched when you get a chance ? 

thank you 

[sub]

On 9/23/2022 at 6:20 PM, kh904 said:

If I understand your post correctly, they other vents blow hot and cold air (depending on the temp setting on the climate control) but the driver's side is stuck on low?

 

If so, I had the same problem.

The problem is a motor that's bolted on the heater core (behind the centre console, on the driver's side) has failed.

This motor controls a plastic arm that move the flap controlling the flow of hot air to the vent (there are 3 motors that control the temp for the various vents independently).

The part itself cost around £170 (part is 'V159 control motor' for the driver side).

Labour was around 2.5 hours.

It cost me around £450 in total to fix it.

 

You will need to find a garage that has the Vag.com or VCDS software though, as they need to perform a 'basic setting' on the part to sync it to the system. A decent VAG specialist garage should have this software.

Technically, the whole dash is supposed to come out to reach the part (going by the book), but a mechanic can get away with removing just the lower part of the drivers side dash and get enough space to replace the part (it's a tight fit though).

There is a good video guide on youtube is you search for it.

Hello hope you are well

 

Ive developed the same problem and im trying to find a good video on youtube to see how to do it but with no luck would you be able to send me a link or tell me what you searched when you get a chance ? 

thank you 

[kh904]

Hi mate,

 

Here's a video:

This one shows the passenger side which is much easier to repair as there's much better access to the control motors, so it's not much help. I'm trying to find the video for the drivers side replacement (for the V159 motor), but no luck finding it yet.