Please help! VR6 matrix feed hose Pressure Reducer from VW recall

[g0ldf1ng3r 13]

Hello all

 

i am hoping someone can help as i am getting dead ends.

 

I am trying to find the details of the part VW fitted as a safety recall on VR6's, "DEALERS WILL INSTALL IN THE COOLANT INLET HOSE TO THE HEATER CORE, A PRESSURE REDUCER WITH A 5MM DIAMETER SECURED BY A SPRING TENSIONED HOSE CLAMP"

 

the recall sites also says "ALSO A NEW RELAY THAT WILL CHANGE THE OPERATION OF THE SECONDARY ELECTRICAL COOLANT PUMP WILL BE INSTALLED."

 

VW themselves are utterly useless & have no interest in our old cars. The parts guy at my local stealer is a lazy fool & CBA to hunt on his system for me & gave the usual " urgh, a corrado, not gona find any parts for that m8" negative attitude

 

i didnt get much better with UK central VW, with the girl firstly saying she cant look at part numbers when i was asking her to try & track the recall number - 98V295000 - though apparently my VR was listed as not receiving any recalls at all. When i asked how that fares now she said your car is too old. WTF, surely a safety recall should be valid irrespective of time.

 

next i tried Heritage - at least they are helpful! the guy i spoke to looked but was struggling but was asking a colleague to call me back

 

thus i need to ask for help from all you lovely people

 

does anyone out there have a VR6 with this 'pressure reducer' fitted?

 

personally, i can not recall ever seeing a VR with something spliced into the matrix feed hose but that is what the recall info states

 

if someone does have it fitted, is there any chance you could check to see if it has a part number on it pls?

 

my only other thought is to try the breakers & breakers section on here but that is a long shot

 

thank you in advance

 

oh & i should probably mention that i am on the hunt for this as my VR blew its matrix just prior to my mechanic taking it out for a test run to check the new brakes :(

[easypops 8]

I've got 4 vr's at home mate, I'll look later but I doubt any have the alteration done as I think I'd have spotted it.......but you never know?

 

Fairly sure if you fit a new one you won't have to worry about it popping any time soon

[g0ldf1ng3r 13]

I've got 4 vr's at home mate, I'll look later but I doubt any have the alteration done as I think I'd have spotted it.......but you never know?

 

Fairly sure if you fit a new one you won't have to worry about it popping any time soon

 

thanks easypops

 

you have hit a point i have been wondering on - if i have never seen a VR with this recall part fitted, could this be the reason many of us suffer matrix failures!?

 

as you say, you have 4 VR's there but dont recall seeing it on any of them - which kind of falls into line with my above sentence

 

as for the not worrying, sadly that is not the case m8 - the matrix which has failed is only about 2 years old, has seen around 10k miles of use, was fitted by stealth & i believe to be a Valeo brand :(

 

my VR is over-pressurising but not up to the 20psi that the header tank cap should purge at & the recall info states "OVER TIME, EXCESSIVE PRESSURE CAN CAUSE LEAKAGE OF COOLANT FROMTHE SYSTEM, INCLUDING LEAKAGE FROM THE HEAT EXCHANGER."

 

as such we are going to bypass the matrix to check if all else is ok & i am crossing fingers it is just the matrix that has failed

[Jim 1]

Like easypops says, not sure this ever got fitted to the VR. Shouldn't need them either - ultimately you need to find the cause of the over pressurisation - fitting the bypass valves would just mean as soon as the system got up to pressure they'd be dumping the coolant / excess pressure out so wouldn't be much use?

 

I think bypassing the matrix for the time being and then working back from that is the way forward.

[Jim Bowen 1]

Found this, wonder if its similar, seems to be a small diameter.

 

http://www.stevensvwspares.com/vw-golf-breather-water-pipes/heater-matrix-recall-units#specifications

[Jim Bowen 1]

Looking at this also, its states the build start date and end date, from 1988-1989, so i wonder if it was the mk2 golf matrix that caused the issue and they quickly revised the design for subsequent corrados.

 

http://www.dft.gov.uk/vosa/apps/recalls/searches/expand.asp?uniqueID=73C95657E15E3F8680256BB90026924F&freeText=Blank&tx=

[Dox 22]

It sounds like a baffle plate? A baffle wont reduce pressure, but it will reduce flow. Imagine a football with a baffle plate with a 5mm hole in the middle, when inflated the pressure in the two sections will eventually equalise, puncture the ball and the holed side will empty quickly, the other side will decrease pressure at a slower rate.

[g0ldf1ng3r 13]

Like easypops says, not sure this ever got fitted to the VR. Shouldn't need them either - ultimately you need to find the cause of the over pressurisation - fitting the bypass valves would just mean as soon as the system got up to pressure they'd be dumping the coolant / excess pressure out so wouldn't be much use?

 

I think bypassing the matrix for the time being and then working back from that is the way forward.

 

again Jim, that is one of my points - all of our VR's SHOULD have had this fitted, that is why VW did the recall m8.

 

i imagine dealers were not very good at contacting the owners of the vehicles for the recall at the time in 1998

 

it also happened to the golf VR's as my mechanic can remember it

 

my mechanics thoughts are that it could be the matrix at fault but yes tests are being carried out to diagnose.

 

if it turns out to be head gasket i am going to be fuming & on the phone to Vince because surely a head gasket should not have failed in approx 10k miles! however i want to be sure first

 

plus, it is not a bypass Jim, it is a pressure reducer. inherently it should reduce the level of the pressure that runs through the matrix & thus preserve the life of the matrix

 

EDIT - unless i suppose it reduces pressure by bypassing lol

Edited February 23, 2017 by g0ldf1ng3r

[Jim 1]

Ah apologies - I was getting confused with the bypass valves that were fitted on a recall? Maybe on earlier models? Sure it was designed that they would pop first rather than the matrix, thus dumping coolant out in the engine bay and not onto your feet!

[g0ldf1ng3r 13]

Found this, wonder if its similar, seems to be a small diameter.

 

http://www.stevensvwspares.com/vw-golf-breather-water-pipes/heater-matrix-recall-units#specifications

 

thanks Jim

 

possibly similar but that states for smaller engines, not the VR6 as per the recall - not sure if that matters

[g0ldf1ng3r 13]

Ah apologies - I was getting confused with the bypass valves that were fitted on a recall? Maybe on earlier models? Sure it was designed that they would pop first rather than the matrix, thus dumping coolant out in the engine bay and not onto your feet!

 

no apologies needed m8 - all input is welcomed :)

 

i am confused.com & it doesnt help that VW are fecking useless/CBA to help

[Jim 1]

Ooh lookie here:

 

http://www.tdnparts.com/products/Pressure-Reducer%2C-Inline-for-Heater-Core.-.html

[g0ldf1ng3r 13]

Looking at this also, its states the build start date and end date, from 1988-1989, so i wonder if it was the mk2 golf matrix that caused the issue and they quickly revised the design for subsequent corrados.

 

http://www.dft.gov.uk/vosa/apps/recalls/searches/expand.asp?uniqueID=73C95657E15E3F8680256BB90026924F&freeText=Blank&tx=

 

well found Jim

 

& yes the gold VR's suffered the same fate but i am unsure if the matrix was redesigned as VW did a recall specifically for the corrado

[Wullie 1]

Found this, wonder if its similar, seems to be a small diameter.

 

http://www.stevensvwspares.com/vw-golf-breather-water-pipes/heater-matrix-recall-units#specifications

 

This looks like the gizmo that was fitted to my1.8 KR.It reduced the flow to the matrix and rerouted it via the small hose in the picture into the return hose.

[g0ldf1ng3r 13]

Ooh lookie here:

 

http://www.tdnparts.com/products/Pressure-Reducer%2C-Inline-for-Heater-Core.-.html

 

holy batman Jim!

 

i wonder if you have found the beast!

 

the part description certainly matches what the VW recall info states - to quote "Inline Coolant Pressure Reducer. Pressure Reducer does just that, and helps prevent/prolongs your weak factory heater core from bursting. Save yourself from heater core disasters the easy way."

 

which now makes me wonder even more that if none of our VR's have this fitted it is a reason why we suffer matrix's blowing

[culshaw 1]

I wonder if we can get easypops and Goldie to get in touch with their friends and ship us a few?

[Dox 22]

I wonder if we can get easypops and Goldie to get in touch with their friends and ship us a few?

Don't waste your money, the pressure from the inlet side of the matrix is the same as the outlet give or take 1PSI (due to the pump), what it does after the initial bursting of the matrix and depressurisation of the coolant system (over the passengers feet) it restricts (not stops) further flow from the pump until you can pull over.

 

If you placed one of those in both inlet and outlet you'd hardly get any heat out of the matrix as coolant would seek the less restricted route around the engine. The system is designed to circulate coolant even if the matrix became completely blocked.

[easypops 8]

I wonder if we can get easypops and Goldie to get in touch with their friends and ship us a few?

 

Ha ha, we only bought off them once as Goldie was in the states so he could bring a few bonnet cables back with him. They didn't want to ship internationally. We get the cables from a different source now :)

[g0ldf1ng3r 13]

I wonder if we can get easypops and Goldie to get in touch with their friends and ship us a few?

 

they ship internationally ;)

[g0ldf1ng3r 13]

ok - couldnt update here yesterday as the site was down but i managed to make progress

 

Jim - that part you found at TDN is the exact one form the recall.

 

Luke at Heritage helped me massively yesterday. funny how he was able to find information on the part & the recall within a very short time, proving the main VW & the dealers just can not be arsed. luke even found the recall paperwork which matched the recall numbers & info i had found

 

no surprise that VW have discontinued both the pressure throttle, as its proper name is, & the kit it came in. for those who are interested the part number & kit number on the TDN page are correct

 

i am still tempted to get one, or a few if others want them, of the TDN offerings BUT Luke advised that it has kind of become redundant as they revised the heater matrix for the mk3 golf to fix the pressure issue

 

as such he recommended fitting one of those instead. he checked the part design & it is the same as for the corrado (with the angled inlet/outlet) part number 1H2819031A coming in at about £25

 

i didnt ask which manf it was though so will check that prior to ordering - on that note, does anyone know if are Hella are ok as an alternative to Valeo?

 

thank you Dox for the explanation post too as it makes me thing more towards the mk3 matrix than a $6 reducer

[Jim 1]

Had a Hella radiator in my VR6 with no issues.. so I'd assume as the matrix is also essentially a radiator, they must be ok :)

[g0ldf1ng3r 13]

Had a Hella radiator in my VR6 with no issues.. so I'd assume as the matrix is also essentially a radiator, they must be ok :)

 

thanks Jim

 

i notice the disappeared post has reappeared but others have now gone lol