Air-Con Gone Wrong

[robhearne 1]

Whilst driving home today I noticed that my air conditioning had stopped working. The blower is working but the air is at normal temperature and not being cooled (despite having the temperature dual at it's lowest).

 

Trying to diagnose the problem a little, you can feel the clutch engage when you turn the A/C on so it's not an electrical problem. However the pipe from the evaporator inside the car, which is normally so cold it drips condensation, was not cold at all. I've only had the car a few months and the guy that sold it to me said that the system had been re-gassed recently.

 

Does anyone have any suggestions on where to start with trying to work out what's gone wrong? Are there any common problems with the Diavia A/C units? Assuming I'm unable identify the fault myself, what are the chances of a garage knowing what they're doing with one of these?

[MikeVR6 0]

Might just be a matter of having it re-gassed.

 

Sounds likely given everything seems to be working correctly.

[dinkus 10]

Might just be a matter of having it re-gassed.

 

Sounds likely given everything seems to be working correctly.

 

Yup, sounds like it needs a re-gas to me. Should be something in the region of £50-£75 from your local Air Con specialist :)

[Roger Blassberg 0]

Mine did much the same relatively soon after a recharge. In fact, I am surprised that the clutch is kicking in, because it takes an input from the pressure in the system and won't switch on if there's no coolant in the system (so I'm told.)

 

Anyway, when it was looked at, the core of one of the valves on the rubber hose to the condenser (they look like Schrader tyre valves and are covered by screw caps), was very loose and had leaked all the coolant out.

 

So, make sure the valve cores are changed and fully tightened when you have it recharged. I believe that an amount of special lubricant should be added to the coolant as well, but your specialist will advise on that. I paid £50,- for a specialist to come to my house, and the whole procedure took about half an hour; the first time I had it done by the dealer (who left the valve loose !!) it cost nearly 3 times as much. The latest person also put some fluorescent dye in the system to give an indication of any leak sites.

 

Finally, switch it on for a while every week, winter and summer; it keeps the seals flexible and gives the compressor a work out. If it's left for months without this, all sorts of bits of rubber harden and the compressor bearings can seize up and fail prematurely.

 

Best wishes

 

RB

 

RB

[MoonlightVR 0]

To reinforce, sounds like a regas is required. You need to investigate why though, as one of the pipes/connectors etc may be damaged or corroded.

[robhearne 1]

Thanks for the advice guys. Would you say that it's better to go to a Air-Con specialist rather than a VW specialist?

[Henny 0]

Air-con specialist = expensive but knows what they're doing...

VAG = rip off merchant who probably hasn't got a clue and would get the air con specialist in to do it anyway! ;) :lol:

VW specialist = reasonable price, but would probably get the Air-con specialist in to sort it for you! :lol:

 

Cut out the middle man, go direct! ;) :D

[robhearne 1]

Had the Air-Con sorted today, and you were all right, it needed re-gassing. The've put some dye in with the gas just in case there is a leak. When they tested it the temperature was 2.6 deg C, man that's cold. :shock:

 

Thanks again for your help.

[24V Renshaw 0]

It should have stopped engaging the clutch if the gas was low. The diavia system has a pressure sensor on top of the drier which disengages the clutch if the pressure is too high, or too low. If it didn't work when the pressure was low it probably won't work when its high, which is dangerous, so i would get the pressure switch checked if I were you.

 

Jay