13 replies to this topic

[grecianite]

The aircon for some reason this summer stopped working, so I went to good old Kwik Fit (silly I know!) and paid 49 for a recharge.  They did it, said it had worked, only to be dissapointed needing a refund.

On further investigation, have noticed that when I switch the aircon on the engine does not momentarily pick up power like it used to.  Does this sound like an expensive repair job, what would you do?

My local dealer has basically said that ther is no gas and I should pay 65 for a aircon service and check (but don't want to pay this if mhy aircon is knackered!!)

Thanks for any help!!

[MoggyTech]

If there's no gas the aircon cannot turn on as the compressor would get wrecked. The gas also carries the oil for the aircon. Sounds like you have a leak in the circuit. This can be traced with a special dye. If a code scan was done, it should show that the low pressure side of the aircon is out of limits. There are high and low pressure sensors in the pipe work,

[gac]

Quick bump, I've got the same problem, AC has proved to be ineffective and I too noticed the other day that when I turn the AC on, the revs don't dip as I'm used to. When I first picked the car up, it had these codes on it, which I had assumed were down to the totally blocked pollen filter:


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Address 08: Auto HVAC        Labels: 6Q0-820-045.lbl
   Part No: 6Y0 820 045
   Component: Klimaanlage        X0840  
   VCID: F2F648C09429

4 Faults Found:
01596 - Motor for Outside/Recirculated Air Flap (V154)
            30-00 - Open or Short to Plus
01596 - Motor for Outside/Recirculated Air Flap (V154)
            09-00 - Adaptation Limit Surpassed
01596 - Motor for Outside/Recirculated Air Flap (V154)
            55-00 - Adaptation Not Successful
00819 - High Pressure Sensor (G65)
            07-00 - Signal too Low

Could this point to a simple regas as well? The motor fault short to plus has returned after being cleared, I'm not 100% sure why as when you operate the recirc button you can hear the flap moving, but I'll get this looked at in due course. Could just do with finding out whether the AC just needs regassing or whether it's a deeper problem, as it's getting awkward driving the car in heat...

[Rob.]

My air-con has stopped functioning this summer.. It'd been making wurring noises last summer but working ok. Got checked out ok. Used it through winter to help dry out the car which it was doing fine.

Kinda goes with Moggy's oil answer.. if my gas was low but not empty then logic says the oil was also low, hence the noise?

I now get no cold air at all and a funny "Empty pipe" noise when it's on.... kinda like the noise you get as an aerosol runs out and just air's coming out.

MOT's due next month so I'm planning on getting Browns to do a re-gas.. I'll report back..

Just thought I'd pipe up incase your getting the funny empty sound as well?

[gac]

Can't say I've noticed any change in sound with AC on/off, although it's difficult since all week while I've been off work I've had to have the windows cranked open and also I'm still grinning at the noise that comes from the rest of the car (who knew a hybrid turbo, FMIC and turbo back exhaust could make a diesel sound so good?! ). Next time I'm in it first thing and it's not unbearably hot I'll have a good listen with various combinations of AC and recirc and see what's what.

[ricardo_smooth]

If you want to sort it you need to do a leak check and bit the bullet. If the air con place is half decent, they will put the dye in and then charge you half price for the re-gas if its found to be leaking. Unfortunately it's impossible to diagnose something you can't see!

I had a lack of aircon problem when I bought the car and had to have the leak test done. Ended up that one of the pipes had corroded where the steel fastener was wrapped round the pipe. Ended up costing me around £150 for the part as it was the part with the valves on it as well, but I wanted it to work as it should so I paid it.

I thought it was a compressor issue at first as I though that ad the revs weren't dropping it was a tell tale sign. However with the compressor on the Vrs being clutchless it makes no difference to the revs even when the system is full of gas as I found out.

[gac]

The system must be slightly different from my old Leon then, when I turned the AC on on that you could visibly see the revs drop on the scale and then partially recover. And when you turned it off, you could see the revs jump up and then settle. My plan was to go somewhere like Kwik-Fit where they claim to "guarantee" the fix by measuring the temperature from the vents before and after, so if it turned out to be something else then I'd play hell and not pay for the re-gas. But then if it's a leak, it could just as easily be a slow one and work fine straight after but fail later, so maybe that's not the right idea as I could just end up paying for two re-gases as well as the actual fault. I'll perhaps have a look round for a local AC specialist rather than rely on a fast fitter in that case.

I do have a copy of VCDS, is there any measuring blocks that can be shown on there which might indicate a loss of pressure due to low gas, or other faults?

[grecianite]

Paid 75 to a dealer in Newton Abbot to be told the compresor is knackered - a nice 450 to repair!!

Think I'll just fry

[ricardo_smooth]

grecianite, on 27 July 2011 - 21:10, said:

Paid 75 to a dealer in Newton Abbot to be told the compresor is knackered - a nice 450 to repair!!

Think I'll just fry

Or pick a used one up from a breakers much cheaper (a good one will guarantee the part too)

[grecianite]

ricardo_smooth, on 27 July 2011 - 21:18, said:

Or pick a used one up from a breakers much cheaper (a good one will guarantee the part too)

Would fitting be that much?  I guess a Fabia aircon is a Fabia aircon, right across the range?

[ricardo_smooth]

Fitting isn't that much. It's the unit itself that will be best part of £350 to buy new! unsure on fitment across the range, but i'd be surprised if they were different

Edited by ricardo_smooth, 28 July 2011 - 18:14.

[Brian 69]

I got mine re-gassed at the last service - worked fine, then suddenly no cold air. Took it back to the dealer - they said there was no gas, but couldn't find anything wrong or a leak (ran dye through it), so they re-gassed it again. They told me to bring it back if it happened again as they would scan it as opposed to running a dye through it - anyone know what this scan involves (as I'm back to square one - no cold air!)? Wary of taking it back to them as don't want to pay dealer rates for a repair (especially on a car that's only worth about £2,500) but I'd like to get it fixed (madness, as I never really use it anyway).

Edited by Wee Bri, 28 July 2011 - 18:31.

[rwbaldwin]

Wee Bri, on 28 July 2011 - 18:29, said:

I got mine re-gassed at the last service - worked fine, then suddenly no cold air. Took it back to the dealer - they said there was no gas, but couldn't find anything wrong or a leak (ran dye through it), so they re-gassed it again. They told me to bring it back if it happened again as they would scan it as opposed to running a dye through it - anyone know what this scan involves (as I'm back to square one - no cold air!)? Wary of taking it back to them as don't want to pay dealer rates for a repair (especially on a car that's only worth about £2,500) but I'd like to get it fixed (madness, as I never really use it anyway).

Scanning it probably means using a refrigerant sniffer. If the dye didn't show anything, then it could be a leaking evaporator which is hidden in the heater assembly under the dash. A sniffer will enable them to detect a leak before taking it apart.

It's worth asking them to replace the o-rings on the TXV, as the evaporator side of the valve is also hidden. Takes 5 minutes and less than £5 for the 4 o-rings so it is worth a punt before replacing the evaporator

[Brian 69]

rwbaldwin, on 28 July 2011 - 18:51, said:

Scanning it probably means using a refrigerant sniffer. If the dye didn't show anything, then it could be a leaking evaporator which is hidden in the heater assembly under the dash. A sniffer will enable them to detect a leak before taking it apart.

It's worth asking them to replace the o-rings on the TXV, as the evaporator side of the valve is also hidden. Takes 5 minutes and less than £5 for the 4 o-rings so it is worth a punt before replacing the evaporator

Cheers