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Tue Oct 27, 2020 10:55 am

I'm pretty certain that the foam on my flaps is expired. I must not have noticed the lack of heat when I tried it in the summer!

I've seen some people cutting a hole and taping over the temperature flap. But I'm not certain I have full control over the air flow system, so it's flap may have some issues too.

In the interest of time cutting the hole and at least covering the heat flap would be nice. But I'm curious:

How difficult it really is to get to the control box and fix it "right"? I assume the dash has to come out. I just did this on a MKIV Golf and it was a lot of tedious work but not necessarily terrible.

Is there any real reason I'd regret the hole cutting method, even if I just chose it for now and then took it all apart later?

Can you separate the airbox in a Eurovan to not have to drain the air conditioner system?

Anyone have any great dash removal how-to to share?

Thanks!

Tue Oct 27, 2020 4:49 pm

I thought of a way to get a little bit of heat in the front until I can get the flaps taken care of.

Tue Oct 27, 2020 7:08 pm

Full dash removal. The proper way of doing it.

If you have small hands or can request a lending hand from a small hand person, it is possible to use metallic duct tape/foil to get the heater working to 90%. I did it on mine. I used screw driver to place a strip of tape over holes, and eventually was able to cover most of the holes.

Tue Oct 27, 2020 7:35 pm

wannabecamper wrote:

Full dash removal. The proper way of doing it.

If you have small hands or can request a lending hand from a small hand person, it is possible to use metallic duct tape/foil to get the heater working to 90%. I did it on mine. I used screw driver to place a strip of tape over holes, and eventually was able to cover most of the holes.

So did you do the cut a hole in the side method to put that foil tape over the holes? I'd be ok with 90% for this winter.

For others: How different is the early dash to the later dash removal? (I've got a 2003.)

Wed Oct 28, 2020 10:17 am

I didn't cut anything. I used a long screw driver and was able to tape the holes through the existing vent opening.

Wed Oct 28, 2020 10:28 am

wannabecamper wrote: I didn't cut anything. I used a long screw driver and was able to tape the holes through the existing vent opening.

Well now that's interesting. And more appealing for the "get 90% of the heater for now and fix it right when the weather is nicer" idea.

Did you disassemble the lower console area and then were able to get to the vent you reached in through?

Our baby is due any time now. Well, the due date was on Monday, so it is overdue. I told my wife if Baby isn't here yet by this weekend, I might tear into it. Weather should be in the 50s, so it won't be so frigid on plastic parts. If Baby does come, then I'm much more interested in a quick and dirty fix for now, with a plan to fix properly later.

Incidentally, are the side dash vents supposed to blow hot air? I ask because they seemed even less lukewarm than the center and foot vents. Back when I drove VW Cabriolets, the side vents only blew cold/fresh air, but there was a fairly simple mod you could do to the heater box to make them blow hot air too.

And in case anyone wondered, my kludge with the flexible hoses is working pretty well!

Wed Oct 28, 2020 10:39 am

All the dash vents are intended to blow hot air. If you remove the lower center console, you will see the opening for the heat to the feet area. It is up through that hole that you and either use a small hand, long stick or screwdriver to cover the diverter plate.

Thu Oct 29, 2020 8:31 am

Joshwa wrote: All the dash vents are intended to blow hot air. If you remove the lower center console, you will see the opening for the heat to the feet area. It is up through that hole that you and either use a small hand, long stick or screwdriver to cover the diverter plate.

^^ What he said! Accessed it through the center vent hole.

Fri Oct 30, 2020 11:41 am

I thought I got this taken care of yesterday. Unfortunately I only got maybe a slight increase in temperature, not 90%!

I may get back in there and make sure the flap is closing all the way when heat is selected, because if I found and taped the correct one, then I'm not sure what the issue is.

What found when I got to the point of exposing the opening of the footwell heat looked very different than the pictures I'd previously seen of people cutting a hole to access the temperature flap. That said, perhaps the airbox is shaped differently between early and late, or "regular" and Climatronic heat boxes? I've got Climatronic in this van. Though the flap I taped did move when I changed the temperature settings.

I removed the center console and lower covers seen here:

This exposed the foot heat hole that was mentioned previously:

And here is the flap prior to taping it:

Another question: Is the flap that controls the fresh/recirculation air constructed similarly? I.e. has holes covered by foam? Changing to recirc doesn't seem to help improve heat either (I used that trick before repairing the flaps in an old VW Corrado I had), so I'm considering covering the air intake in the engine compartment to see if that helps. I'm aware of the affect this may have on demisting the windshield; if that becomes a big issue I can remove the cover and/or use the AC compressor occasionally to dry the air.

Fri Oct 30, 2020 1:34 pm

As you have speculated, there is one more flap inside the readily visible one. the one in the picture is the foot or face directional control. The back one is the one that you need a screw driver and small hands. I think that really determines the heat.

Fri Oct 30, 2020 1:47 pm

I believe that the airbox for diverting air in the front of the cabin is the same through all the Eurovan models and years. The controls to the box are different though.

See this thread for a look at part of the system pulled out. There is a flap for directing either to the floor or upper vents. There is a flap to control air to vents for defrosting. There is a flap to control whether you get heat or cool air. There is a flap, without holes that controls if you are recirculating or getting fresh air. With that in mind, it's possible that another flap needs covering also, to properly direct some heat/ac where you would like it.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=642230&highlight=heat+flaps

About the fresh air inlet. You can see the flap that closes it off from the engine bay, when the cabin air housing is removed. You can see in this picture the flap is in the open position.

Sat Oct 31, 2020 12:37 pm

Thanks for the clarifications. I thought the flap I taped seemed more like it must be a directional flap, but it did seem to move back and forth when I went from high to low temps so I assumed it was the correct one.

So if I want to have any hope of fixing this better for now without taking everything all apart-- Do I reach in past this flap to feel for the temperature control flap? I did think it was easier than y'all were describing to cover those holes.

Baby Silas came last night, so I have a feeling my time for messing with this will be much less for some time to come. Unless maybe I set him in his car seat in the Van with me while I do it! :D I've already been telling him about the Buses and such.

Sat Oct 31, 2020 4:45 pm

Congrats on the new Baby! How are Mom and baby doing?

We have a 2002 and I did the "cut the side of the airbox" method as detailed in the Rialta forums. It took me under 4 hours even though I am 67, am not small and my hands are pudgy. Our air and heat work exceptionally well now. Btw take the passenger seat out, makes is much easier.

Sat Oct 31, 2020 6:50 pm

Thanks! Everybody is doing well!

I'm going to have to go look at those pics again; I didn't really recognize the part of the airbox to cut when I had the trim pieces apart, so I assumed it was maybe an old system.

Sun Nov 01, 2020 3:34 am

Congrats Dave. No more cars for a bit.

Having experienced this a few times, men are useless hood ornaments ion the beautiful human species.

Mon Nov 09, 2020 12:23 pm

Well Silas was taking a nap, and a cold front is supposed to come through tonight, so I took some time and taped the other flap.

For future readers, the temperature control flap can just barely be seen as a small bit of matching metal in this pic, in the very lower corner of the opening. (Same pic as before.)

It took a bit of trial and error, but what seemed to work best for me (for both flaps) was using smaller strips of tape (just slightly bigger than the holes) and reaching in with one hand, and basically blindly placing it. Many of the strips ended up overlapping each other and partially covering holes, because I typically placed it as soon as it contacted something rather than trying to reposition. But with enough attempts, I believe I got all or nearly all of the holes covered.

With just letting it idle in the driveway for a little bit, it sure does seem like there has been a good bit of improvement in the amount of heat I'm getting in the front. I think this should do well enough for me until I get a good convergence of time and temperatures to take the dash apart.

For a bonus pic, I decided to try one of the Plug and Chug cupholders from a Bus to see how it fits in the Eurovan ashtray.

The EV ashtray is slightly taller and wider than the Bus, therefore the "arm" fits more loosely, but not enough that I'm worried about it falling out or something like that. I've only driven with it a little, but so far I think I believe that the improved position of the cup holder outweighs the slight inconvenience of reaching a couple of the buttons on the HVAC controls. This probably wouldn't be an issue for those with the 3 dial controls. This also holds a wider variety of cup size than the EV holder on the floor.

A 2x4 seems to fit the ashtray just about perfect, so a similar design could likely be made that doesn't block things quite as much.

Thu Feb 15, 2024 11:00 am

Done the suggested process on my 1995 Eurovan CV. Took about 30 minutes all and all. Works awesome. It saves you from hours of work removing all dash items. It's indeed a bit hard on the hand and wrist getting to the right flap. It's easy to identify the heat flap simply by moving the heat control.

Thu Feb 15, 2024 9:16 pm

Well, think I'm going to have to do this again! We bought an '02 Eurovan last weekend, and I again have very little heat out the front vents.

Gonna have to remind myself exactly how I got in there to do the taping.

In the mean time, I found those hoses I used to direct some heat from the rear heater forward last time, and put them in this van tonight.

And, as a bonus, here is a pic of the heat flap in the '03 that I took when I had to change the heater core. That's how good I got it covered by blindly applying tape from under the dash! LOL

Wed Feb 21, 2024 12:10 pm

I'm glad this thread popped back up again, and I thought to post that pic of my old van's flap from when I did the heater core, because I wouldn't have remembered that set of holes on the left side of the flap as I re-did the project today.

Evidenced by the scrapes on my hand in this pic... Also visible is the pile of pieces of tape that got folded over or whatever as I attempted to insert them into the hole.

Couple more tips from this time around:

it is worthwhile to remove the driver side seat and base; I didn't find that the passenger seat was in the way today so I left it in.

Don't forget that the heat/temp control flap has the extra row of holes that I could not figure out a way to see with my phone, as it wouldn't fit far up into the duct hole to get a pic.

Do be patient and methodical while doing this, because it will be frustrating when a piece of tape folds over or whatever.

Experiment with angles of approach. For the majority of the holes, I was able to reach in with my right hand, while in a seated position just in front of where the driver seat is.

For a few of the holes, it was easier to reach in with my left hand while laying mostly prone.

Don't attempt to use long pieces of tape. Use pieces that are slightly longer than the roll is wide and use a bunch of them. Long pieces are too prone to catch on something or itself. Unless you're real lucky on your aim, you'll probably need a couple squares for most of the holes.

Feel around with your hands to find the holes, then reach out and get a square of tape. Experiment with which finger to stick it to as you reach in. Sometimes you'll be more able than others to press it down fully.

Use your phone camera to check your work! I used the video mode with light on sometimes to just get a look around up in there. If you're laying at the correct angle, you can see enough of the screen to see what is going on in there as you move the phone around.

I also used pics to make sure I'd gotten the holes fully covered this time. From my old pic of the flap, it's evident I hadn't thought of this, as even the holes I knew about weren't fully covered.

Missed a spot.

That's better

For good measure, here is a before pic of the heat/temperature flap.

And also a pic of the taped air diverter/direction flap.

Then go for a drive and enjoy the heat! Even if it is nice out today.

Sun May 04, 2025 3:44 am

I just came here to say it, for whoever wants and needs to confirm this - it really CAN be done without removing the whole dash and the seats just through that foot hole, this is the only thread on the internet that gave me hope it can be done, so I am just passing it alone. I absolutely did not want to cut any holes, and due to DIYed 2DIN metal frame, opening the blender with dash one doesn't seem like an option either.

I usually wear large gloves and was able to to the big flap with three holes and the slightly narrower flap with 10 holes covering the upper 6 holes - total time about two hours and BUTCHERED right hand from the sharp edges. My wife, howerver, with small hands was able to finish the last four in about 20 minutes.

It did need some yoga positions but it IS doable, even though I was losing hope in the last stretch. :D