KevinGary

I am glad I could help.

Edward'TLS

Last week, the "hot air blowing" problem finally manifested itself once again, and, needless to say, I drove the car straight to the nearest Audi dealer, without touching a single control button until the service guys acknowledged it's a real problem.

The ambient temp sensor and the valve were replaced under factory warranty which had only 2 days left.

Thanks everyone for your helps.

WithanF

I have this problem, but only with of the outside passenger vent. I've had it to the dealer twice while under warranty. It's only a periodic problem but the dealer has never really fixed it. I'm taking it back again tomorrow. I'm now out of warranty, but this is a problem that occurred during the warranty and has never been fixed. We'll see how it goes.

haha bye

Hey guys I just went to a friends yard to grab some parts for my buddy's s4 rebuild and they had a smashed up 2005 a6 3.2 he was parting out so I decided to grab the heater valve everyones been having trouble with out of it for one of you guys on here.

Part Number : 4f1959617b
MSRP: $377.00
GenuineVWAUDI parts.com's Price: $271.44

My price: 170 shipped to the continental US...

I though I could help out the audiworld.com community just a bit by saving someone over 100 dollars on this pain in the a$$ part. (Since audi world has helped me so much)

Thanks guys Ill throw this in the classifieds too!

Edward'TLS

^^^^^ How do you know if that heater valve is the updated version or the original version ? All 2005 A6's are installed with the original version. Only the updated version will fix this "hot air" problem.

haha bye

Not all of the original versions are problematic. This one was working fine in the vehicle prior to it being taken out.

WithanF

Dealer charged me $52 to test drive my car for 9 miles and tell me the A/C is working fine. I'm not sure what he would have done if the vent blew hot air for a few minutes in the middle of his 9 mile ride. Would that have helped him figure out the source of the problem, or merely confirmed that I'm not insane?

He suggested that I drive to the dealership the next time the vent blows hot air. I pointed out that it is an intermittent problem that can last as little as 30 seconds or as long as 3 minutes, but it does not last much longer than that. Hence, I don't like my chances of showing him the problem, and I don't understand how that would help the diagnosis anyway.

If he told me he needed to experience the problem to diagnose and fix it, I would not have left my car with him in the first place. I only get the problem once a week or so.

haha bye

i dont think its so much the fact that he has to experience it to know your not insane. He just has to experience it to be able to fix it and acknowledge it as a real problem.

bballfreak

How difficult it is to replace this part?
This is for the TSB when A/C is on, randomly hot air blows blows
from the outer and rear vents.
Once I shut the car off like 30-45 minutes and restart the car, solves this problem. This hot air happens once in a while.
My car is a 2005 Audi A6 with 41K miles and is out of warranty.
I don't think the dealer will fix it for free??
If anyone had this fix done out of warranty, want to know if that was possible as there is no recall, i think??
If I had to fix on my own, how diffciult is this? I am handy for the most part.
any guidance would be appreciated.
Thanks
Barry

rstoer

Like many others, the air conditioning on my 2006 Audi A6 (3.2 V6) was intermittently blowing hot air from the outside vents. By now, the cause of this has been well documented as being a pump valve unit that sits between the rear of the engine and the firewall. According to Audi TSB #2013883-5, changing to an updated unit, with a B added to the original part number (4F1959617[B]) is the recommended fix. They also recommend a set of mounting parts (4F1998617). These parts alone run over $300.
Since mine worked for five years before failing I wondered if it couldn’t be repaired, but I searched all over the internet and couldn’t find anyone who even tried. So I took a shot at it, and YES IT CAN! I’ve been testing the repair for several days now and I’m convinced the problem’s gone. Here’s the best part - it takes less time and effort to repair the existing valve than to replace it. Removing one plug and six T-10 Torx screws is all it takes to disassemble the unit to the point that it can be repaired. The repair consists of cleaning some caked–on substance from the two solenoid plungers and housings. This takes well under an hour and you’ll hardly get your hands dirty. No messing with anti-freeze, hoses, or the like.

Here’s what to do…

Caution: Do this only when the engine is cold so there's no pressure in the cooling system.

Fig 1: Remove the plastic cover between the back of the engine and the firewall (not shown) by lifting the spline from the front edge and gently pulling the cover towards you. With that removed you’ll be able to see the location of the pump valve unit (yellow arrow). One plug and those two little cans are all that have to be removed.



Fig 2: First remove the rear plug* by placing a small screwdriver where indicated by the green arrow. With the front of the blade under the plastic edge, gently press down. When you hear it click the plug will slide right off. The red arrows on my photo don’t show up too well but you can see the three #10 Torx screws across the front edge. There’s three more across the back. Remove the six screws.

* Update: Someone contacted me to say that he successfully used this method, except he left the coil assembly in the car because he had trouble removing the plug. It's true, the items that require cleaning can be accessed by just removing the six Torx screws. The coil assembly (the yellow and brown item in fig's 4 & 7) can be left in the car, tethered by the wires. Just make sure those two bronze washers (one inside each coil) are accounted for before allowing it to dangle about in the car.


Fig 3: With the plug and screws removed, lift the two cans and the socket for the plug you just removed as one unit. Wiggle gently if needed, but it should lift off pretty easily. Be careful as one or both of the plungers may come up with the housing, making the plunger springs vulnerable to falling off. The photo shows one plunger & spring still in place.



Fig 4: This shows all the parts you’ve disassembled. (I took this photo after cleaning everything).



Fig 5: This photo shows the solenoid plungers, springs and washers. Note the caked-on substance on the un-cleaned plunger. I found areas of this on both plungers and the brass sleeves the plungers fit in. It’s what causes the sticking, and a good cleaning of these surfaces is all that’s needed to effect a cure. Just make sure you get it all off. I used Meguiar’s Mirror Glaze fine-Cut Cleaner because that’s what I had. Anything similar would work.



Fig 6: On the housing I used a jeweler's screwdriver to gently scrape off most of the sludge, and the Fine-Cut Cleaner on a Q-Tip to get the rest.



Fig 7: Here’s everything cleaned up and ready to be reinstalled. When you reach this point, place the coil assembly right-side up (mine's shown upside-down), and insert a washer into each hole. Then place a solenoid housing over each coil. Finally, slip a spring onto each plunger. The nine parts should now comprise three sub-assemblies.



Fig 8: I found no crud on my valve base but check it and clean as necessary. Insert the plunger/spring assemblies into the valve base (only one is shown in place here). Press each one down and see that it pushes all the way in and springs back freely. Then fit the coil assembly over the plungers, making sure it seats properly on the base. Reinstall the six Torx screws and tighten. Snap the plug back into place on the coil assembly and you're ready to test.


Assuming all is well, reinstall the plastic cover and spline. That’s it!
Hopefully, this will save someone some money. These cars are expensive enough to maintain (nice to drive though).