2004 Volkswagen Polo heater blowing hot, when heater control turned to cold (blue)

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Re: Polo Heater problems
I too have this problem. This is a common problem with Polo's

see http://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum//...ead.php?t=3343

I have posted here and other forums before but no one is expert enough to be able to conclusively say what a simple fix is.

The fix seems to be quite complex.
Basically, there are tow motorised flaps in the heater control. One that controls the temperature and one that controls the fresh air intake. Both these motors are pretty unreliable and tend to get jammed intermitenly. I have checked this on my car with VAG-COM diagnostics cable connected to my laptop and get the following fault codes:

01271 - Positioning Motor for Temperature Flap (V68)
30-10 - Open or Short to B+ - Intermittent
01596 - Motor for Outside/Recirculated Air Flap (V154)
30-00 - Open or Short to B+

The fix is to replace these motors (V68 and V154). They are not cheap but the real problem is getting to them. To do it properly, the whole dashboad has to be removed to get to the heater mechanism. Which requires removing the steering wheel (which requires removing the battery lead which disables the airbags).

VW *********** quoted me £390 + vat for parts and labour !!

I have learned to live with the problem by trying one of these workarounds:

1. turn temp dial to coldest and close the central airvents for 1 minute or two while the vent dial is set to DEMIST. Then open the central vent fans -- that then lowers teh temp to the coldest.
or
2. turnthe fan speed to ZERO for a minute or two and then to 1. That will then reset the temp to the coldest.

Try that to see if it works for you.
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21-10-2007 07:16 View Articles
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Heater problems
The part is £71.12 but it takes hours to fit as the whole facia has to come out. I also recommend to my customers that we replace the other motors when we are in there but they are usually faulty anyway so it isn’t a good idea not too. It isn’t just Polo’s either, Golf’s, Passat’s, Octavia-they all suffer from this but the Polo is especially bad.

I've had a similar problem with hot and cold air blowing at the wrong time for the last few years on my 2002 polo, and eventually took the car to a very helpful Ali at Hornsey Motor Services, London N4 3BB. He got in touch with VW for info, and also told me that over time the plastic parts and circuit boards buried right inside the dashboard get over-heated and stop working properly. VW have now modified the parts apparently, and Ali had to replace the following: (1) "Heater Control Motor for cold and hot" at £98.58; (2) "Heater air flaps and rod" for about £10. The fan was also not working on the first setting so he also replaced the "Heater resistor" to put this right. Labour was £330 because of having to remove the whole dasboard, so it's not a cheap fix, but worth it for more comfortable driving

Hello to all with this problem of heater flap not switching from hot to cold or cold to hot. I work at most of my car problems myself and use advice from friends and the Internet. This solution is probably the best one I have found and used. the description I think is clear and step by step to work through with photos to match. PERFECT. if you are careful you should complete the job and it MAY resolve the problem at little or no cost. The potentiometer cleaning is slightly difficult but with care does work. I have now my control working. The potentiometer controls the exact position of the motor so I THINK it is not just perfect after my clean but it certainly is (90 95 %) better than no control.
Anyhow the whole dash does not have to come out, FOR SURE. with good day light and a small amount of dexterity you could have the control in you hand in 30 or 40 minutes. so you could attempt the fix or replace.
My thanks to the original poster. (K.I.T.T.) Here is the link to his fix
Good luck .. Gregory
http://www.tigerstyle.co.uk/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=52145