2000 A3 Golf 1.8t no a/c only hot air thru vents

I've got an A3 Golf without a/c, and whenever I turn on the fan with
temp set to low, hot air (+10 C. over ambient) comes out the vents.
What's the deal? Does this car actually vent fresh air, or do I have a
faulty valve between fresh air and air routed over heater core? It's
been this way since new, really tired of it. To avoid the hot blast in
hot temps I just set it on recirculate cabin air. Any clues much
appreciated.

"Scott" wrote in message

> I've got an A3 Golf without a/c, and whenever I turn on the fan with
> temp set to low, hot air (+10 C. over ambient) comes out the vents.
> What's the deal? Does this car actually vent fresh air, or do I have a
> faulty valve between fresh air and air routed over heater core? It's
> been this way since new, really tired of it. To avoid the hot blast in
> hot temps I just set it on recirculate cabin air. Any clues much
> appreciated.

If you mean "blast" as in "a short period of hot air, after which it cools
down" it's probably exhausting the hot air that's accumulated in the system
from the hot environment.

But if you mean that it keeps on being hot even if you wait, I've had two
problems occur with my VW's, either of which will do this for you:

1. The internal shutter part of the valve actually disconnected from the lever.
If you moved the control in the car, you could see the lever move on the valve,
but since it wasn't connected to the shutter, it never turned off the heat.

2. The cable from the inside control to the valve lever broke. I could move
the control in the car, but it never changed the setting at the valve.

- Bill