Passat B5 DIY Heater Repair for only $12.00

[@MaxKristiansen]

Huge thanks for this video, it saved my girlfriend approximately $600 to $800 at the local VW repair shop. Her 2003 Passat 4-Motion Climatronic positioning motor for the temperature flap stopped working, there was no heat coming out of the vents, and her favorite repair shop quoted her a price of between $700 and $1000 to fix it because they needed to take out the entire dash to reach the motor. Then we watched your video. She went back to the shop and asked them to watch your video, they did and they liked what they saw. The mechanic went in from the side, made the repair for $160, and now they've decided to change their shop's policy concerning this type of repair. Going forward, when they need to reach these components, Good Carma is going in from the side, all thanks to you, a true KZbin hero.

[@jjsoundguy]

Max K, I am pleased you were helped by my effort. I was simply giving back to the collective mind I have so often drawn from. You made a withdrawal. Soon you can make a deposit in your own way. HighFive your girl for me. John

[@martymartin2894]

I commend the shop for not being ignorant and listening to what u suggested. I once worked with a wise old man who has now passed who said he will always listen to a new suggestion about how to do a job he said when u think u know everything u have become stupid and ignorant.

[@johnmaclean4236]

Just plucked up courage to do this on an Audi s4 b5. Thank you for this video. Brilliant.

[@jjsoundguy]

Glad it helped. Thank you for the comment.

[@jjsoundguy]

I am sorry a portion was repeated. It was my first attempt at a video production. I am sure the extra money in your pocket will make up for my poor production value.

[@Tartneznok]

I read instructions before about cutting away plastic parts in order to reach the servo, but none of them was as clear as this video. Finally got rid of all the climatronic error codes of my Skoda Superb, although I had to do a basic setting with VAS-PC before everything would work again. (By the way the Skoda Superb is literally the same in this regard). Thank you very much for uploading this!

[@vale4805]

Can you help me! Apparently I have same problem-I dont get heat(it blows cold air 🥶). Did you solve this? Its hard to find part number

[@Tartneznok]

I don't have this car anymore, but I'm trying to give you a rough direction. First read up how you can view and delete fault codes inside the Climatronic module (no extra tools required, just "secret" button combinations. Delete all the fault codes and see which ones persist after deletion. Then read up which flap is broken and order a replacement and look up how to replace said flap. If the fault code is 4F7, this video is the correct one.@@vale4805

[@abhishekpathak7441]

I dont have words to thank you. I had the same issue and resolved by doing exactly as you said. You covered everything, down to sticking popsickle stick to the ratchet. Even I had to do it. I had consulted some mechanics and all of them wanted to remove the whole dash and it clearly was going to cost more than a 1000. But thanks to you, i spent just 17$ for the servo and thats it. And I have cold breeze again. Thanks again, more power to you.

[@jjsoundguy]

You are welcome. It was my first video on KZbin. I use KZbin often. I just wanted to give back something. I am always looking for another subject to post about. Good luck.

[@cincomorales]

I have a 1999 audi a4 , the only temperature that i had was the hot ! Now thanks to you i already fix my manually I disconnected the servos and set it up manually on the ac cool air! When winter arrives i will set it up to hot air ! I will buy the servos later ! I thank you a lot for this video

[@groenlandaxel7983]

Brilliant! Thanks from France where my 18 yr old Passat is still going strong, apart from the 4F7 heater servomotor, that is ... VW didn't even offer to repair it, just said the part is no longer available new but I could try a wreckers! Rubbish, I had a new one within a week. I'll live through this winter then try your repair when we have warmer weather. Thanks a million.

[@jjsoundguy]

Hreat. Good luck

[@cassiew.8414]

Thank you for giving us this WARM gift! Mechanics ( not dealership) were taking stabs in the dark. You broke the mystery for me.

[@paulbrogdon992]

Great video, my B5 heater has just stopped working (stuck on cold) Thanks all the best from Leeds UK.

[@jjsoundguy]

Hope it saves you money. VW engineering is horrible.

[@DirkOz]

Great write-up. Perseverance and yoga certainly helps. Should be similar repair procedure to the Audi A4 B5.

[@timpifer9494]

That was a good and difficult job you did there, My mechanics told me they would have to pull the entire dash out to change my actuator to the tune of $600. Plus they told me they would rather NOT do it at all LMBO.

[@dopiaza2006]

You can fix the old motor with a little patience and contact cleaner. You have to open the motor up, lift the circular potentiometer cover and spray some in. Almost always works fine after that.

[@jossefjossikajit4169]

THANKS FOR SHARING ❤❤❤❤❤ Greetings from Maastricht NL

[@CLawrence1]

you are my savior. Many thanks for your help! this video was precious

[@johnstefanick2167]

+Carlos Rodrigues, Glad to be of service. I have learned much here on KZbin. I need to give back to the community more often.

[@CLawrence1]

+John Stefanick that's great ma friend! Many thanks, really!!

[@rsw600]

Thanks for this information, I got to tackle this shortly.

[@StanMat1971]

Thanks you just saved me $950 I appreciate it

[@gruobn7482]

Nice job. Good fix. I feel like I have been making compromises like this for for years with my vw heating systems. I know i should have replaced this when i changed the heater core but it was working just fine. (Go change the heater core out and you will know what I'm saying for real i couldn't do it for less than 1300) I think that vws heating and cooling leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to design and functionality. I have three generations of vws and i live in minnesota so heat is pretty important. A month at highs of -15 and you will start to see how bad they actually are. My beetle is a 73 it has a cab heater, my passats are 2002 and 2008 4motions that fly through the snow way better than my subaru but the heaters are not that great even when new. I know people will say mine gets really hot. Yeah they do but the defrost vents were designed for looks only and when it is colder than -20 only defrosts part of the windshield and pretty much none of the side windows. I would have never guessed that my old beetle would have less ice on the windshield with a 200 dollar chinese knock off janitrol heater. I think vw needs to farm out their next heating system design.

[@janosboda5280]

Thanks, that was very helpful. It saved a lot of money for me.

[@stergioser]

Thank you very much for your help! But I didn't needed to cut it! With a little gama (Γ) torx15 tool did the work .

[@jjsoundguy]

Nice work!

[@rogerbrennan4170]

Thanks, that knowledge will be very useful.

[@jounivarjonen532]

Hi John! I'm having similar issues that you described. I'm getting 01271 positioning flap for temperature flap (V68) -error (4F7) from diagnostic. The A/C is trying to work, and failing it 9/10. Mostly what i get is totally hot air, sometimes cold if setting in climatronic is Lo. What I discovered was that the servo (which you replaced) only react when I adjust from Lo--->18,19,20... Same thing other way around, It only react from 30..18 --> Lo at the time just when I hit from 18 to Lo. Should it be moving everytime when I'm adjusting the temp? Anyways, thanks for great video.

[@richienyc71]

Thanks for the vid but what is the part number to order the heater flap servo? I can seem to find it

[@sjobas]

Hello! I have the problem that i dont get any cold in my passat. Is it only 1 servo or is it 2? Can i change both of them this way if its 2?

[@n9wox]

Getting full access to the servo is the same procedure for accessing the heater core. There's no easy way to the heater core so keep your coolant fresh.

[@otoseppa7153]

My arm moves and motor works but i dont get heat? Clinatronic show 4FA 00 code

[@Dmn0PT]

I have the same problem. Did you find the answer?

[@otoseppa7153]

@@Dmn0PT interior radiatir was glogged

[@snacklofter]

Extremely helpful! Many thanks indeed.

[@ultimatekokane]

When u cut the plastic pieces did it have any effect on the air blowing into the vents? I'm about to try this but I'm not trying to cut into my heater box.

[@jjsoundguy]

It slightly effects the floor vent. I found no difference. The dash and windshield vents are unaffected.

[@Jultsu]

My hat is off to you, sir!

[@jjsoundguy]

Amazing what you can accomplish when you don't have the ransom money VW asks for the repairs.

[@liviudaniel5082]

great job and video ,big thumb up !

[@aaronm406]

What year was the Passat?

[@josepeixoto3384]

Excellent; i used to do that on Jaguars,instead of pulling the dash(had a Jaguar only shop); have a friend's passat here now,i will obtain permission from her,as usual, and do it your way »»»» the *ONLY* way,for that matter,we are not fools; Thanks.

[@todokap616]

It's all by Design good job

[@Mn09lfV6f]

Thank you for the video, great information. Could you post a link where you bought the servo? Also how did you get the error code from the climatronic? I have a 2004 Passat with no heat. It also has a rattling vibration from the dash front right so I may still have to pull dash. or at least find a way to get rid of the noise.

[@jjsoundguy]

I do not remember the part number. I went to VW dealer for part number and looked on eBay for it. Found a pair sold together for $25.00. I only used one servo. That is where my title amount of $12.00 comes from. Gave spare to new owner of this Passat. I no longer own a VW but I am glad I could help so many people NOT pay a dealer for this simple repair. After seeing the cost and needless complexity of repairs on this car I sold it. The Passat is for people with too much money. I now have a Toyota Prius and a Subaru Outback. Cheep cars.

[@Mn09lfV6f]

Thank you for the quick reply. Do you remember how you got the code from climatronic or knew which servo it was?

[@jjsoundguy]

I just did a Google search of climatronic error codes.. I believe you hold two keys on the heater system and turn on the key. You'll find it quick with a net search..

[@ardeleandragos]

you are the best !

[@leosphere]

Great video John! Do you happen to have the part number or eBay info that I can use to find that servo? I can't seem to find it.

[@ronsutter2342]

I work on my B5 A4 all the time. an my servo just went! !@$#%#^@^@ colorful metaphors !! I was gonna do the correct way. As i usually do. For this video My Hat is off to you Sir!!!!!! You saved me from some painful time consuming as backwards german engineering. I love my Audi but the engineers great designer as they are havent a clue to working on them Thank You again!

[@jjsoundguy]

+ron sutter , Just letting people know what I discovered. I sold the Passat but the video lives on. I am happy you kept about $975 in your wallet. VW is for people with too much money.

[@rustemcafarov6704]

+John Stefanick thank you sir. really saved lot of money.

[@allenlundy1]

How did you run a test for the code?

[@erickp3407]

can someone plase help me i got my first car a 01 passat b5 wagon and my heater and A/C are both very poor but they work and i dont get any code for it if anyone could help me out id really appreciate it

[@dez945able]

Do you have part numbers for motor ?

[@jjsoundguy]

No, sorry. Thank you for the comment.

[@estelijimenezsoto8688]

Hi John, I get more than just the 4f7 error that you have. it looks like 4 servos are faulty in myVW. Do you think I can still fix it by changing one o them or it is maybe a problem of the heater core?

[@jjsoundguy]

Only if the heater core is clogged. That is easy to test.

[@Tartneznok]

Delete the fault codes in the Climatronic panel (there are guides on how to do that) and then look which faults remain. Usually the only one that is actually broken stays in the DTC memory. Edit: Wow, it might be a little late for you now.

[@tommydeering8960]

Thank you, gonna give it a shot...

[@lvwrx]

Im a little confused as to why you removed the other servo arm, was it attached to another vent cable?

[@jjsoundguy]

I purchased two servos on eBay. I only removed one. The second servo was not replaced.

[@lvwrx]

John Stefanick i was referring to the arm on the servo you replaced...why did you remove a piece of the bracket? it doesnt connect to anything

[@todokap616]

Lol don't worry you get of you every time a VW heater brakes. Kind of like it's an angel gets its wings every time blah blah blah happens

[@ИванИванофф-1]

Хоть и не понял, но и на том спасибо.

[@nanoman831]

Hey John where can I find the part?

[@jjsoundguy]

I purchased it off Ebay. I do not remember the part number, sorry. $25.00 for two used ones from an audi.

[@dillonyank862]

Very good video! This is the kind of stuff that makes KZbin so great. I was curious when you were talking about just breaking off the arm to keep it in the heating position. Would I be able to move the arm into the cooling position just for the summer without having to cut away the plastic? If so, how would I go about that? Right now my system can only put out warm air but not A/C. I also have code 4F7 in the diagnostics. Thanks!

[@TheVlaxY]

Thank you

[@TrivisTequilaShottaPlunkett]

Thank You...... they(dealers) want to charge me for a new heater core to the tune of 2300+.....