Aux Air Heater Element Recall

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Mario

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So found out from Audi today that our B8.5 2.0TDI requires the Aux Air Heater Element Recall that was mentioned on here a few months back. I originally thought they were not fitted to cars in the UK, but it appears they are indeed fitted to most, if not all, diesel engine A4's and some petrol ones also.

So, has anyone else had this done? Seems like the problem is due to poor electrical connectors which can corrode over time, in turn causing high resistance on connections which carry high current & can eventually cause a fire.

Looking at ElsaWin the job doesn't look too bad and apparently Audi quote 2 hours, but I have read that most dealers say the job takes more like 4-6 hours.

Appears that a lot of trim in the passenger foot well area has to come out and not sure if my car will return squeak & rattle free (as it currently is).

So if anyone else has had this done, how have you gotten on? Any issues afterwards?

Thanks

Link to the recall on the DfT / DVSA website.... https://www.dft.gov.uk/vosa/apps/re...1F76BC3403802581F4003DB023&freeText=Blank&tx=
 
Just noticed my 2014 B8.5 has the recall too. Did you go ahead with this Mario? Would be interested in knowing how it went / what arrangements Audi made. Does Audi offer a free courtesy car for these sort of things? I work full time so will be difficult otherwise.
 
Not done it yet, so can't help I'm afraid. Only found out about the recall on Monday myself.
 
Had mine done while in for a service a couple of weeks ago....

No difference to how the car works or runs.
I now have a rattle in the MMI screen silver frame, but....before it went it, I had a long term rattle somewhere in the passenger side, it was driving me mad and I couldn't find it! Now it's completely gone with them taking it all apart and putting it back together again. The MMI trim is also very easy to take off yourself and solve. So overall very happy. In my previous B8, I had a rattle there, I just lifted up the MMI trim and stuck some blu-tack underneath and pushed it back.
So replaced one loud rattle I couldn't get to the bottom of, passenger side as well, so impossible to place where it is when driving! With one I can fix myself in 2mins!

If you already have rattles, taking it apart and screwing it back together tightly may actually be a positive thing!
 
gregpot2000 said:
Had mine done while in for a service a couple of weeks ago....

No difference to how the car works or runs.
I now have a rattle in the MMI screen silver frame, but....before it went it, I had a long term rattle somewhere in the passenger side, it was driving me mad and I couldn't find it! Now it's completely gone with them taking it all apart and putting it back together again. The MMI trim is also very easy to take off yourself and solve. So overall very happy. In my previous B8, I had a rattle there, I just lifted up the MMI trim and stuck some blu-tack underneath and pushed it back.
So replaced one loud rattle I couldn't get to the bottom of, passenger side as well, so impossible to place where it is when driving! With one I can fix myself in 2mins!

If you already have rattles, taking it apart and screwing it back together tightly may actually be a positive thing!
Click to expand...

I have a rattle in my MMI trim currently, usually I can stop it by just putting my hand on the trim and applying pressure for a few seconds. It had a problem with a dashboard rattle since new, Audi took the whole thing apart and put it back together to fix but if I pay close attention I can see certain parts of the interior panels don't line up properly anymore.

Wonder how many of these reworks Audi has done, I certainly don't want to be the first one.

EDIT: Out of interest, does anyone know exactly what the Aux heater does? I see an option in my MMI under "AC" which says "Supp. heater" and I can either set it to OFF or Auto. I guess this is what they are talking about? My car usually blasts hot air within a couple of minutes of starting up the engine, so I guess this must be the Aux heater kicking in?
 
777GE90 said:
EDIT: Out of interest, does anyone know exactly what the Aux heater does? I see an option in my MMI under "AC" which says "Supp. heater" and I can either set it to OFF or Auto. I guess this is what they are talking about? My car usually blasts hot air within a couple of minutes of starting up the engine, so I guess this must be the Aux heater kicking in?
Click to expand...

The Aux heater is a supplementary electric heater. Diesel engines take very long to warm up compared to petrol engines, so it takes longer to get hot air into the car if relying on heat from the engine alone.

The aux heater allows instant heat to be generated the moment the ignition is turned on without having to wait for the engine / coolant to get up to operating temps. That's all it does.

Looking at ElsaWin, to do this repair they basically remove the glove box, remove a lot of brackets and trim behind the glove box and pull back some carpet that in the passenger side near the transmission tunnel in order to access an earth cable and then they can remove the old unit and fit a new one.

So it's not a full dash out job, but still not something where you want your car to be done first as mentioned above.

I only found out by accident when looking at the MoT history online, there is a bit that mentions recalls and it said my car had one outstanding, then after a bit of digging and live chat with an Audi rep on their website they confirmed the recall. Think I will first wait for Audi & VOSA / DfT to send a letter to say it needs done, and even then, I'll wait a bit before actually taking it in.

The Audi rep said the recall was dated 19th Feb 2018, so it's still very new and will take a while for Audi / VOSA to get letters out to everyone. Hopefully by then the dealerships will be more up to speed and better at doing these swap outs.
 
we received our letter from Audi the other day.
Hoping I can get it done without having the emissions update done at the same time.
 
Already have the emissions update on mine, it's not that bad, although DPF regen seems a little more frequent.

Contacted Audi earlier today, said they will call me back but could lend me a loaner car if I pay £15 insurance, they want the car for a whole day. The guy I spoke to said he was experienced with doing these updates. Think I may go ahead with it, I thought this recall has been known about since Nov 2017 - I guess it only came into the UK quite recently.
 
Booked in for end of April now, that was the earliest availability so seems they are quite busy. Loan car is free after all as it's a recall.
 
Just checked the MOT history website and mine is now showing due a recall from Audi also.
 
777GE90 said:
I have a rattle in my MMI trim currently, usually I can stop it by just putting my hand on the trim and applying pressure for a few seconds. It had a problem with a dashboard rattle since new, Audi took the whole thing apart and put it back together to fix but if I pay close attention I can see certain parts of the interior panels don't line up properly anymore.

Wonder how many of these reworks Audi has done, I certainly don't want to be the first one.

EDIT: Out of interest, does anyone know exactly what the Aux heater does? I see an option in my MMI under "AC" which says "Supp. heater" and I can either set it to OFF or Auto. I guess this is what they are talking about? My car usually blasts hot air within a couple of minutes of starting up the engine, so I guess this must be the Aux heater kicking in?
Click to expand...

@777GE90 Try this 30 second job to fix the dash rattle https://www.audi-sport.net/xf/threa...the-mmi-screen-on-the-dash-of-a4-b8-5.295874/

777GE90 said:
Booked in for end of April now, that was the earliest availability so seems they are quite busy. Loan car is free after all as it's a recall.
Click to expand...

Also how did you (or anybody) get on with the 'Replacement Heater Element Recall'

Not had mine done yet - Don't want my creaking dash BACK !
 
Had mine done. No creaks or rattles

Sent from my Note 8 using Tapatalk
 
Got mine done last week by Sunderland Audi, no new noises.
Car picked up from work in the morning returned for me finishing work all washed and vacuumed.
free health check done at the same time, brake fluid change required £65.00 + Vat , A/C regas required £79.99 + Vat and one tyre down to 3mm Michelin £159.53, Hankook £122.69, Kumho £91.19 225x50x17.
Going elsewhere for tyre and regas.
 
Told them "do not wash or hoover mine, don't bother with the health check as I won't get the work done here anyway, but I'll have a free coffee and cake thanks"
Thingy said:
Got mine done last week by Sunderland Audi, no new noises.
Car picked up from work in the morning returned for me finishing work all washed and vacuumed.
free health check done at the same time, brake fluid change required £65.00 + Vat , A/C regas required £79.99 + Vat and one tyre down to 3mm Michelin £159.53, Hankook £122.69, Kumho £91.19 225x50x17.
Going elsewhere for tyre and regas.
Click to expand...

Sent from my Note 8 using Tapatalk
 
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Had mine done at Teesside Audi yesterday. I hate going to that place !! :rage:

First of all the customer car park is too small and too full, with too narrow parking spaces, so I couldn't find anywhere to park the car where some fecker couldn't bang my doors. Then there's the corporate Audi over friendliness that makes me feel sick. Then they offered to do the health check, Hoover and clean, and I told them I don't like anyone near my car, or touching my car, so no thanks. Then I mention that last time I had a car in there the mechanic working on it chipped the paint on the wing and didn't say a word about it, and that if anything like that happens this time they will know about it. It's at that point I mention that Teesside Audi gets slated on the forums. They ask if it's ok to test drive the car when the work is finished, and I say "no" again, as I don't like anyone near my car, never mind driving it. He says that they have to test drive it to check it over after the work. So why ask then ?? Then I get the loan car and they say I must fuel it up to where it was when I got it. Yeah, like that's going to happen when I'm there for an Audi recall for a faulty heater.

So away I go after I make them find me a parking spot for mine where someone can't ding the doors. I get the call that it's ready some 7 hours later. When I get there the guy looking after me asks why I hadn't fuelled the loan car up, so I told him that I was there at my own expense (fuel, inconvenience & time) for a fault of Audi's own making and that I wouldn't be paying for any fuel for a loan car. The guy says that I have to pay cash for the fuel used and that's when my Teesside Audi frustrations got the better of me and I told him in a loud angry voice that I wouldn't be paying for the fuel !! He said he'd go and speak to the manager and I'm left there fuming :rage:. He comes back and says it's ok, there's no need to pay for the fuel, and I say there's no way I was anyway. I get my keys, check the car over and leave the place hating it as much as ever :rage:

Did I mention I hate Teesside Audi :rage:
 
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How did the repair go? No rattles or trim damage hopefully.
 
Tuco88 said:
How did the repair go? No rattles or trim damage hopefully.
Click to expand...

Everything looks and sounds ok, but I feel like my poor car has been violated, with a greasy mechanic fingering her most sacred places :cry:.
 
Got mine in at Amersham Audi today, had a similar experience with the ultra narrow car park, luckily managed to get a space just before things got really busy. Have been given a nice 1 month old A5 S Line loaner to play around with in the mean time.
 
All done in approx 5 hours, gonna collect it this evening and see how it goes.
 
Collected car, all is ok and can't even notice any difference. Only downside was, when I entered the car my volume button knob had been broken off and was lieing next to the gear stick. I saw that the clip was broken so showed the Audi guy and he popped it back in, the button works fine but with a bit of force it can now be pulled off. It's a shame really but I guess these things happen, I left it be.

Other than that, was a good experience, they treated me well and sorted out the recall. Didn't drive the courtesy car much so didn't need to top up the fuel either.
 
They must have to remove a section of the centre console so. Unless it was a genuine accident they broke the knob.
 
Had mine done a few weeks ago. No issues at all. Only complaint was i was told the car would only be in the garage a couple of hours. 8 hours later I get the car back.
 
I had to remove an old hands free charger cradle and wiring looms before theyd even consider doing the "product upgrade" as they call it, to mine.

They remove the glovebox, stereo headunit, center heater vents and aircon/climate controls.

I had to remove all the same shiz just to get acess to the handsfree charger cradle looms that some wise person had intergrated into the heater loom with miles of electrical tape...

Also, most of you with really annoying ticking rattling noises might find its actually the leather gear gaitor rubbing on itself when in 6th gear. Mines done this since ive had it and its particularly bad on warm or hot days.
 
Tiger-G said:
Had mine done at Teesside Audi yesterday. I hate going to that place !! :rage:

First of all the customer car park is too small and too full, with too narrow parking spaces, so I couldn't find anywhere to park the car where some fecker couldn't bang my doors. Then there's the corporate Audi over friendliness that makes me feel sick. Then they offered to do the health check, Hoover and clean, and I told them I don't like anyone near my car, or touching my car, so no thanks. Then I mention that last time I had a car in there the mechanic working on it chipped the paint on the wing and didn't say a word about it, and that if anything like that happens this time they will know about it. It's at that point I mention that Teesside Audi gets slated on the forums. They ask if it's ok to test drive the car when the work is finished, and I say "no" again, as I don't like anyone near my car, never mind driving it. He says that they have to test drive it to check it over after the work. So why ask then ?? Then I get the loan car and they say I must fuel it up to where it was when I got it. Yeah, like that's going to happen when I'm there for an Audi recall for a faulty heater.

So away I go after I make them find me a parking spot for mine where someone can't ding the doors. I get the call that it's ready some 7 hours later. When I get there the guy looking after me asks why I hadn't fuelled the loan car up, so I told him that I was there at my own expense (fuel, inconvenience & time) for a fault of Audi's own making and that I wouldn't be paying for any fuel for a loan car. The guy says that I have to pay cash for the fuel used and that's when my Teesside Audi frustrations got the better of me and I told him in a loud angry voice that I wouldn't be paying for the fuel !! He said he'd go and speak to the manager and I'm left there fuming :rage:. He comes back and says it's ok, there's no need to pay for the fuel, and I say there's no way I was anyway. I get my keys, check the car over and leave the place hating it as much as ever :rage:

Did I mention I hate Teesside Audi :rage:
Click to expand...

Edit: I noticed the other day that my dash cam mount was loose on its double sided tape and the dash cam was wobbling around. I remember back when I picked the car up that the rear view mirror was in a different place to when I dropped it off. I looked through the footage of when it was in the garage and it clearly shows the dash cam taking a whack when the mirror was adjusted. It shows wobbly footage since. Well done Teesside Audi, you've kept up your record for damaging my car !! :rage:
 
I have a problem, just noticed that the front passenger side vents no longer work properly. I had my AC on and both climate control knobs set to "LO", the two driver side vents were blowing out ice cold air as they usually do. However, my passenger entered and noticed that her side was blowing warm air. I placed my hands on the passenger side vents and they were both blowing hot air much to my surprise. So I proceeded to start playing around with the system. I set the passenger side to "HI" and then touched the vents. The left side vent (near the window) was blowing warm air still as it should, but the centre console (left) vent was now blowing no air at all.

Not sure what Audi did but it is now a very dysfunctional climate control system :(.

I called Audi up today and didn't get through to anyone technical but the bookings team told me I now have to pay £15 courtesy car fee and that they may charge me £60 if they believe the problem was present before they got the car from me. Completely unfair in my opinion.

This is kinda now turning from a very positive experience to a negative one, first my volume control knob was broken but I told the Audi guys not to worry about it because it was so minor (although they were dismissive saying "it could have been loose before I gave the car to them"), but now there is a major fault and it seems like it is potentially going to cost me a lot of money.

I'm not a mechanic by any stretch and I have no idea whether Audi will try to pass the blame to me or not, I know 100% my AC system was working properly before I gave it to them. But I don't have the mechanical knowledge to prove it.

I just e-mailed my service adviser to see what he says, I really hope Audi don't try to screw me over :(.

@CarbonMike, since you have done similar work, any ideas how this recall fix could potentially cause the problem I am facing?
 
These examples is exactly why I am holding off taking mine in for the recall.

Not convinced on how competent the Audi dealership will be to do this work correctly.

Turned mine off via MMI for now..
 
Had ours done on Friday, so far it SEEMS ok (touches wood). However they did find a worn inner bush on the front lower arm.....£209 to fix when the bush itself is only £10.50 (genuine Audi)!! They also wanted £55 to replaced 2 corroded exhaust clamps.....erm no chance!!

Will be doing the bush myself & I really don't care if the exhaust clamps have some corrosion, as long as the exhaust itself is fine (which it is). Was nice of them to send videos of what they found though, that way I could see exactly what state the current bushing is in. To be fair, they are right, it needs done, but not urgently, so they marked it as "yellow" on their traffic light type checklist.
 
just had mine done 2 day audi bolton got courtesy car job done no probs but they found an exhaust clamp broken want £109 to fix er no thanks local indy here i come .
 
Tiger-G said:
Edit: I noticed the other day that my dash cam mount was loose on its double sided tape and the dash cam was wobbling around. I remember back when I picked the car up that the rear view mirror was in a different place to when I dropped it off. I looked through the footage of when it was in the garage and it clearly shows the dash cam taking a whack when the mirror was adjusted. It shows wobbly footage since. Well done Teesside Audi, you've kept up your record for damaging my car !! :rage:
Click to expand...

Further edit: while hoovering out the passenger footwell the other day I noticed a black panel hanging down under the glove box. Well done Teesside Audi, you've outdone yourself this time ! :rage:
 
Had mine done at Wimbledon Audi a couple of weeks ago - everything seemed OK but now i am not so sure.

Does anyone know what they actually do to replace this? I ask because my passenger vents, both center and by the door, are blowing air that is not as chilled as the drivers side and center. Now i am pretty sure, but not certain, that this is a problem that wasnt present before it went in but i cant be 100%. Looking online there is talk of low gas causing uneven temps however i wonder if there could have been something not put back in place correctly when this work was done. I am guessing a control motor connection or something.

Does this sound in any way plausible that this was caused by this work or its unrelated? Naturally Wimbledon say 'nothing to do with us guv'
 
777GE90 said:
I have a problem, just noticed that the front passenger side vents no longer work properly. I had my AC on and both climate control knobs set to "LO", the two driver side vents were blowing out ice cold air as they usually do. However, my passenger entered and noticed that her side was blowing warm air. I placed my hands on the passenger side vents and they were both blowing hot air much to my surprise. So I proceeded to start playing around with the system. I set the passenger side to "HI" and then touched the vents. The left side vent (near the window) was blowing warm air still as it should, but the centre console (left) vent was now blowing no air at all.

Not sure what Audi did but it is now a very dysfunctional climate control system :(.

I called Audi up today and didn't get through to anyone technical but the bookings team told me I now have to pay £15 courtesy car fee and that they may charge me £60 if they believe the problem was present before they got the car from me. Completely unfair in my opinion.

This is kinda now turning from a very positive experience to a negative one, first my volume control knob was broken but I told the Audi guys not to worry about it because it was so minor (although they were dismissive saying "it could have been loose before I gave the car to them"), but now there is a major fault and it seems like it is potentially going to cost me a lot of money.

I'm not a mechanic by any stretch and I have no idea whether Audi will try to pass the blame to me or not, I know 100% my AC system was working properly before I gave it to them. But I don't have the mechanical knowledge to prove it.

I just e-mailed my service adviser to see what he says, I really hope Audi don't try to screw me over :(.

@CarbonMike, since you have done similar work, any ideas how this recall fix could potentially cause the problem I am facing?
Click to expand...

I missed this on first pass but I have exactly the same problem on mine! Drivers side nice and cool but passenger side warm!

Did you get anywhere with Audi?
 
chewymix said:
I missed this on first pass but I have exactly the same problem on mine! Drivers side nice and cool but passenger side warm!

Did you get anywhere with Audi?
Click to expand...

Which Audi garage did you get your work done from? No I have not resolved this yet, I have it booked in for next week but will probably cancel since my air con gas has also run out (it has a slow leak that I was aware of prior to the fix). I am pretty confident the issue is not related to air con gas as I have had it leak out in the past too and this problem was not present. So almost certain this issue is related to something Audi done, but I can't prove it now until I get the air con regassed. Given that this has happened to two of us, seems to confirm my suspicion even more. So I will get it regassed, test and then get Audi main dealer to check the problem.

Keep me updated with your issue too.
 
777GE90 said:
Which Audi garage did you get your work done from? No I have not resolved this yet, I have it booked in for next week but will probably cancel since my air con gas has also run out (it has a slow leak that I was aware of prior to the fix). I am pretty confident the issue is not related to air con gas as I have had it leak out in the past too and this problem was not present. So almost certain this issue is related to something Audi done, but I can't prove it now until I get the air con regassed. Given that this has happened to two of us, seems to confirm my suspicion even more. So I will get it regassed, test and then get Audi main dealer to check the problem.

Keep me updated with your issue too.
Click to expand...

well my issue seems to be more and more like yours! - unknown to me before the car went in the system seems to have a leak as it went back and they took a look at it. Seemingly the gas was low and a regas has fixed the problem for now. They could not find the leak and added dye during the gas so if it does empty rather quickly then hopefully the problem area will be found. It was mentioned to me when i went to pick it back up that the condensers were quite 'exposed' and looking through the grille there are plenty of pot marks from stones and the like to i am guessing that there is a small hole in there somewhere - i did mention 'design flaw' when i saw that.

I will see how i get on but to be fair they took it back in and checked it all over and regassed it all FOC so customer service worked out in the end once i got to talk to the right person!
 
chewymix said:
well my issue seems to be more and more like yours! - unknown to me before the car went in the system seems to have a leak as it went back and they took a look at it. Seemingly the gas was low and a regas has fixed the problem for now. They could not find the leak and added dye during the gas so if it does empty rather quickly then hopefully the problem area will be found. It was mentioned to me when i went to pick it back up that the condensers were quite 'exposed' and looking through the grille there are plenty of pot marks from stones and the like to i am guessing that there is a small hole in there somewhere - i did mention 'design flaw' when i saw that.

I will see how i get on but to be fair they took it back in and checked it all over and regassed it all FOC so customer service worked out in the end once i got to talk to the right person!
Click to expand...

Fair enough, if that sorts it then I'm going to be very happy. It's odd as I've had the gas leak out 3 times prior and never noticed this behavior until after this fix. The rear vents also still provided cool air so didn't think this would be an issue, I guess there is a change in the way it distributes the air as well.
 
Had my car sorted today at Bristol Audi.

No issues afterward and I got a full Audi branded car cleaning set left for me on the passenger seat as an apology for needing a recall. Nice touch.
 
Bump...

Got mine booked in next week for this recall. (hope I don't live to regret it).

Heard it may fail MOT in future if 'recalls' are not carried out.
 
Had my car done, Its been over 2 weeks now. Touch wood all sound, top job I must say not a hair outa place.
 
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