Posting from the south of France!

2.5 tdi auto, '05 reg, 5 up, all luggage, 750 miles, 41 mpg avg at legal 130 kph limit.

The problem I'm having is the effectiveness of the aircon. It struggles with the 35 degree heat. The Audi and Mercs I had in the past had no problems, but even on re-circ it doesn't get 'icy' as the others did.

How effective is the Superb's aircon system?

Do I need it re-gassing?

Any advice gratefully received.

It's not very good and would struggle at an ambient of 35 deg C.

The adoption of R134a refrigerant for environmental reasons is probably the explanation - the B5.5 is an old design and the evaporator is probably sized for R12. It might be worth getting the gas pressures checked, but I think you may have reached the limit for this car. The Superb also has a higher volume cabin than the Passat for the same system.

If you want a really good cold blow, you can't beat an old Japanese car with R12 refrigerant...

rotodiesel.

But even taking that into account it is now three years old so won't be operating at it's best. I'd bet on a regas making a noticable difference

I heard yesterday at work that a friend, who is in the South of France on holiday (37C in the shade) has just suffered A/C failure on his "54" Mondeo - it failed a month or so ago and I suggested getting it sorted by an A/C specialist - he took it to the local Ford main dealer as they are meant to be the experts on these cars (!?!) - usual story "no problem sir we will just top it up" - me being a bit long in the tooth said "so you're not worried about it packing up in a month or so's time?" - "did they pressure check it?" - seems the answer to both questions might have been "NO"! Okay they might have done a recover - suck-out - looks okay - reload, but either way he had just got onto the bus home when they phoned to say "car is ready to be collected"!

As for the comments about the "old gases" how cruel life is, the most damage to the world was the changing from R12, R13, R502 etc to R134 R23 R404 etc as they were all very efficient fridge gasses - these nice new replacements, while even only considering how they perform in systems, cause a lot more planet damage by being less "power efficient". But heh, the change did what it was meant to do - line a few pockets along the way, just like the comparision between the use of cat on dirty engines instead of using lean-burn technology.

Edited 7 August, 200817 yr by rum4mo

I have a 55 plate and had the A/C serviced at 2yrs old as Dealer recommended. Cost £70 but I could immediately notice the difference when I got the car back. It also smelt fresher!!!! I must admit that Roto is right as it does struggle with very high temps - but it does keep it cool enough to be comfortable.

John

Hi guys

i hope i wont be cast out of this forum not being a superb owner and all:) but i have a 51 reg passat and an 03 reg Octavia. I have to say that the aircon in my octavia is loads better than my passat has ever been, and i have owned the Passat from 12 months old. I had it regased last year it helped but still not great. Even my old Octavia which i had 6 years ago was better.

I know it's a passat not a superb but as we all know they are effectively the same car in slightly different suits.

Maybe get your aircon checked out, we were in the South of France last week 35`c and the Roomy climate kept it like a fridge. Alright until you had to get out!!

Mines puffing right now, by that I mean the air volume is coming out as if I was turning the speed up and down every 5 seconds.

Mines puffing right now, by that I mean the air volume is coming out as if I was turning the speed up and down every 5 seconds.

Hm, haven't we talked about this recently? Isn't that something to do with an error code from the Climatronic?

Mines puffing right now, by that I mean the air volume is coming out as if I was turning the speed up and down every 5 seconds.

My wife's Polo was doing that and I found if I changed the setpoint to a sensible level, ie 22C instead of 19C stopped this happening, also the air distribution was changing a lot. I put it down to the system "hunting" as I was stupidly abusing it. I seem to remember the owner's handbook gives advice on temperature setting levels - of course your problem could have a completely different root cause!