Auxiliary Heater element fault

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woody83

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I have a fault come up, saying that the Heater element for the auxiliary heater is faulty or not working. (00361). Excuse my ignorance, but does anybody know where this is located, and is it an easy/expensive job to fix if I do it myself? I was going to try it this weekend, along with some other issues with he car! (2006 A3 2.0 170 TDI)
Thanks for any help!
 
I have this fault too. The heater will not stay just on auto the econ light will always remain on. it now takes longer to heat up and does not get as warm.
 
From what I understand, this is a heater that takes the intake air to help the engine warm up faster, but this could be wrong?
 
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Oh I thought it was a heater that gave you heat quicker through the vents so you did not have to wait for the engine to warm up. Since I have had the fault it takes a lot longer to get heat than it used to.
 
its the ptc heater element inside the car in the heaters airbox , it could just be the 100 amp fuse under the bonnet that has blown it could be the heating element this comes on in colder weather to assist in heating the car faster /demisting .
 
Indeed, it is the electric heater that sits in front of the standard heater core, provides heat until the coolant gets up to temp. They fail on VW TDIs frequently as well. If you pull the heater, there is a circuit board under a plastic cover on one end, it develops bad solder joints over time. You may be able to fix it by reflowing any bad joints. They are quite expensive to replace.
 
Here
 

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how big a job is it to change the element ?
 
audi upgrades
Remove grab handles, aircon control below stereo, glovebox then centre console- I think in that order. More fiddly than anything.
The aux heater is then unbolted and slides out. I'm removing mine this week to try resolder the joints and make it work. I'll post pics if I do
 
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great let my know post some pics up please
 
Had a go at it tonight, removing glovebox and center console. Unfortunately I ran out of day light so I'll finish off on Sunday aft. Just some quick notes, I didn't need to remove the air con unit, as I never re-fitted the fiddly bolts for the rear grab at the back of the air con unit as they're solid without them.

Tools I used:
  • Flat blunt tool for removing plastic trim (plastic ones are best obviously)
  • 5mm allen bit & 'L' key (for grab handles)
  • T25 Torx bit
  • 5mm socket
  • 10mm socket
  • 13mm socket or rachet spanner (for the arm rest)
The aux heater is there, but, its covered by a plastic cover attached to some sort of actuator with a yellow arm attached. I'll have a go at this on Sunday, my Haynes manual didn't show or mention having to remove this part. So if anyone can shed some light on what it is and how to remove it please let me know. Pics below:

Alot to remove to get access behind a little bit of plastic!


There is a black bracket covering access, secured by 3 bolts, I miss the 3rd little one and snapped the plastic so undo this one first:

Close up:


Here is as far as I got to. A close up of the plastic cover infront of the Aux heater. The two large silver electrical connections at the top connect to the Aux heater. The 'grid' moulded cover is all that on the left side.


Heres a close up, you can see the Aux heater behind the plastic cover:


This is a picture of the actuator with yellow arm attached, must operate some flaps maybe?:
 
On another note, I'm very tempted to slice this part of the center console off where I've drawn the line and create a neat joint using a rubber gasket! Save half the headache of access to the Aux heater... I am assuming I'm going to need access again if it faults after its fixed.
 
wheres the fuse for this can it be removed if the element isn't working
 
Had this problem for over three winters now. Got used to living with it but getting the windscreen de-misted takes a while.....
 
For fuse, see my other thread "auxiliary cabin heater". I got mine out tonight and took loads of pictures which I'll post tomorrow. Found a resistor with broken joint, fixed it and popped it back in, now I just need a cold day to test it on (no vagcom). Also, I missed a few bits to same time if I ever have to get to it again, I'll post those pics too tomorrow.
 
cool I have a fault some where as my warning triangle is lit up when I lock car and its pulling my hair out . didn't know if this fault could drain the battery or not ?
 
audi upgrades
good news took the aux heater fuse out last night and battery is at 12.4 volts this morning and the red warning triangle light has gone out so looks like I need to get that element changed.
 
So I got the heater out at the weekend and I have added some pics below on how I did it. Also, I made modifications to the plastic cover and the center console to make access 100% easier if I have to get to it again:

Disconnect and remove the car battery first (or just disconnect up to you):

1: Remove the blower pipe - 1 screw
2: remove cable ties to wire bundles attached the the black plastic cover
3: remove black metal bracket - 2 bolts and 1 screw.


4: (make sure car battery is disconnected) Disconnect blue and black wiring connectors in this photo:
5: Disconnect the 2 silver terminals (10mm socket)


6: Disconnect the yellow lever here:


7: Undo approx 8mm bolts (A in image) that secure the black plastic cover - these are all 8mm (I used a magnetic tool to pull out the awkward ones so I didn't loose them) & now you should be able to remove the black plastic cover with the motor attached - the yellow arm can fall off dont loose it.


8: Remove heater:
 
I then removed the end cover to the circuit board, there is a clip either end, I used a flat headed screw driver to prise it - before I did though I ran a stanley knife around the joint as it looked like it had been glued from factory? ....Just to note, I did try to take the circuit board out by unscrewing the 4 screws (red circles below) Unfortunately it was properly glued in from below - good job in end as I forgot to pop the screws back in !

Once open you can see the circuit board. from all the posts I've read its the resistors (below in yellow boxes) that fail on the joints:


I decided to re-solder the joints on mine, ideally you need a micro soldering iron, clamps and things to hold the resistors in position should they come loose (like mine did) they're tiny and very fiddly (take close up pics so you know which way around they are if they do fall off).

The first resistor I soldered fell off when I touched it on one side, revealing a broken joint on the other side, I circled it in red below - you can see the right hand connection was clean cut through - most likely the reason why mine never worked:


I then proceeded to crudely re-solder all the resistors - I did one side of a resistor at a time, moved to another, let it cool then did the other side of the resistor:


Then I put it all back together - make sure you put screws back in unlike me!
 
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The mods I made to make access easier next time:

Cut the plastic cover like this:


Heater matrix now pulls straight out:


And, this is more extreme, but I can live with it - Chopped the end on the passenger side center console off:

Fitted:


To hide the joint I might get one of these:
 
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Nice write up. Thanks for sharing all the info!
 
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Does anyone know if I need to clear my fault codes before it would work again or if its fixed should it just work? So far I've had no additional heat from cold.
 
Last edited:
AudiA3JJ said:
Does anyone know if I need to clear my fault codes before it would work again or if its fixed should it just work? So far I've had no additional heat from cold.
Click to expand...
I'd say you probably need to clear errors and test afterwards. Also auxiliary heater will only work under some conditions like cold engine, low temperature outside, heating set to blow at max and possibly engine above certain revs.
 
Looks like I need a vcds user ! Prerequisites for it to function are;

- occupants sets the heating output to over 90% at the operating unit (analog signal)

- the water temperature is below 75°C,

- if the engine speed is higher than 500 rpm,

- if no load management system is active

- if the ECON button is not pressed
 
Thought I'd add an update. Had it back on vcds now and the fault code for auxiliary heater have cleared and an output test in vcds gave me 972watts! So the re-soldering worked... Happy days for cold mornings ahead :)
 
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AudiA3JJ said:
Thought I'd add an update. Had it back on vcds now and the fault code for auxiliary heater have cleared and an output test in vcds gave me 972watts! So the re-soldering worked... Happy days for cold mornings ahead :)
Click to expand...

I know I'm reviving an old thread, but this is for others potentially reading this like I was.

Just wanted to say thank you for posting this up; I had initially tried replacing the aux heater to no avail. For anyone wondering whether the part numbers are interchangeable, I found them not to be despite some having identical connections. My original part # was 1K0 963 235 C, and I tried 1K0 963 235 D. It all went together perfectly, and VCDS recognised it, and would even give out heat when I ran an output test. However, it would not run without my input on VCDS no matter what I did. So I resoldered the resistors on my original 'C' unit, as suggested by AudiA3JJ, refitted and I now have heat within 1 minute from starting in cold temps again!

So thanks again mate.
 
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AudiA3JJ said:
Thought I'd add an update. Had it back on vcds now and the fault code for auxiliary heater have cleared and an output test in vcds gave me 972watts! So the re-soldering worked... Happy days for cold mornings ahead :)
Click to expand...
Same here
Zac said:
I know I'm reviving an old thread, but this is for others potentially reading this like I was.

Just wanted to say thank you for posting this up; I had initially tried replacing the aux heater to no avail. For anyone wondering whether the part numbers are interchangeable, I found them not to be despite some having identical connections. My original part # was 1K0 963 235 C, and I tried 1K0 963 235 D. It all went together perfectly, and VCDS recognised it, and would even give out heat when I ran an output test. However, it would not run without my input on VCDS no matter what I did. So I resoldered the resistors on my original 'C' unit, as suggested by AudiA3JJ, refitted and I now have heat within 1 minute from starting in cold temps again!

So thanks again mate.
Click to expand...

Likewise, just fixed mine today (good job it's wasn't too cold out), there's still some winter remaining, hopefully this will mean a toasty warm car before I get to work rather than just after I pull up at the office :) Thanks for the detailed post, very helpful.
 
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How to test on vcds? I have vcds so if someone could show where to find or how to do the output test that would be great.
 
tdi-man said:
wheres the fuse for this can it be removed if the element isn't working
Click to expand...

Is located in engine bay fuses just where you got the cables screwed in.

downtothebone said:
If it's faulty will an error always show on VCDS?
Click to expand...

If its faulty yes.

dg-1984 said:
How to test on vcds? I have vcds so if someone could show where to find or how to do the output test that would be great.
Click to expand...

It is in few things to do, need to be an cold engine (under 50 degrees of coolant temp) and running (over 500rpm) then put your heater to windscreen demoisturer and put the knob on max temp (or if climatronic temp to max/28 degrees) then on vcds go to aux heater tab and check values, should be some load and how nay watts of outbput from it you got, should be between 800-1000W.
 
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Marek196c said:
Is located in engine bay fuses just where you got the cables screwed in.



If its faulty yes.



It is in few things to do, need to be an cold engine (under 50 degrees of coolant temp) and running (over 500rpm) then put your heater to windscreen demoisturer and put the knob on max temp (or if climatronic temp to max/28 degrees) then on vcds go to aux heater tab and check values, should be some load and how nay watts of outbput from it you got, should be between 800-1000W.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply will try mine later.
Have all the cars got them or was it an extra? Mine is an 07 plate S3.
 
dg-1984 said:
Thanks for the reply will try mine later.
Have all the cars got them or was it an extra? Mine is an 07 plate S3.
Click to expand...
there are 2 versions of it and yes everyone got it, the difference was the faulty module that you need to re-solder or replace in one finishing on E and the one without module on it finishing in F, however they are not interchangeable between them as far as I know (I can be wrong).
Anyway if its faulty you should get code saying "faulty heater ele. aux. (Z35)"
 
Ok s had a look and when measuring blocks mine just said aux heater status off.
I went into the 08-Auto HVAC and then clicked on advice. Meas. Valves, and then clicked on Aux heating from the list and then says under the actual heading of the window, Not installed. Under info 2 header says J364
Clicked on Aux heater from the list and says under actual header OFF.

This right or am i in the wrong section?
 
dg-1984 said:
Ok s had a look and when measuring blocks mine just said aux heater status off.
I went into the 08-Auto HVAC and then clicked on advice. Meas. Valves, and then clicked on Aux heating from the list and then says under the actual heading of the window, Not installed. Under info 2 header says J364
Clicked on Aux heater from the list and says under actual header OFF.

This right or am i in the wrong section?
Click to expand...

select control module -> 08-Auto HVAC ->measure blocks. anyway is not said it always will be on but if you on running engine and difference of temperature is big (like now 0 degrees) and you put max temp and windshield defrost button you should get it activated, however your one seem is not connected, just check fuse and connectors then if not probably is faulty heater. the clock measures should be in green colour and no errror codes from the HVAC system.
 
I was mucking about in vcds again and came across the long coding section and under byte4 auxiliary heater is not ticked, and also auxiliary heating installed is also not ticked.
Should it be?

On another not byte3 xenon-shutter without shutter installed (Bi-Xenon) is not ticked and not sure if it should be, what is this option?

Thanks
 
Just ticked them and scanned the car, getting errors
00483 - Control module for Auxiliary air heater
004- no signal/communication.

01207 - Control module for Auxiliary air heater (J364)
004- no signal/communication.
 
Checked my spec sheet that I got from mike on here:
PR number 7E0 W/o heat accumulator/Auxiliary heating.
PR number 9M0 without Auxiliary/parking heater.

I take it this is referring to the aux front heater when the car is first turned on and it's very cold outside?
 
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