I've just bought a Fabia with climate control. The control is simple: it cooks you for half an hour, then freezes you. It makes no difference whether the separate AC switch is on or off. Before I start pulling out random bits of infrastructure, does anyone know a quick cure for this? The system I think is the standard VAG climate control but with numbers on the rotary dial instead of an LCD panel and pushbuttons. I suspect the temperature sensor, but I'm not sure where it is or how to remove it. I'll be spraying some IPA into any inviting looking grilles in the next day or two, but I don't want to start dismantling the extremely solid dash unless I know where I'm going. All polite or amusing suggestions gratefully received. Thanks.

Edited 18 December, 200817 yr by northernsky

Mine is the same if you point the airflow to the screen only (straight up) at set to, say 18oC.

If I direct the flow to screen and cabin (9'0'clock position) Its OK.

I havent checked but I would imagine that the sensor for checking the temperature is lower down in the dashboard so directing the airflow to screen only causes hot air, which can become unbearable, to rapidly heat up the car, then once the sensor is reached, cold air is then deployed.

We have a Peugeot at work which does the same thing.

It's not strictly climate control- no Fabia has it as standard.

You might want to find a friendly VAG-COM owner to check the flaps.

The usual cause with these is a malfunctioning flap motor which regulates how much air is passed across the heater matrix, you need to get the fault codes read from the car to be sure.

As already mentioned, the Fabia does not have climate control. The system is more a traditional heater with A/C added, the numbers around the dial are just an approximation to indicate the increase in air temp as you turn the dial, rather than the usual blue/red indictation.

Many thanks for the suggestions. It looks as though I'm getting somewhere.

If there's a VAGCOM owner near Colchester who enjoys the chance to get plugged in, please give me a shout. I'd certainly like to get the problem sorted out soon. I mourn the passing of the old-fashioned heaters that could roast your feet and give you a cool blast at face level at the same time.

I'm still not quite convinced that there's not a temperature sensor on my car, though. There are two suspicious-looking grilles flanking the switches for AC and recirc. Could they be dummies?

Thanks again,

Simon

I've had the trim off on the controls.. there's what looks like a temp sensor behind the right hand tiny grille.. mounted on a little circuit board..

However, my grille, and all around the sensor was caked in dust and actually, since blowing it all out/away the systems been much more reliable. I tend to have mine all on the screen or screen and feet set at 18'c.. over the last two weeks the temp out side has been up & down... not had to move the temp dial much at all.. maybe one click at most in either direction.

A small trick I works out is.. close all the dash vents apart from the driver side... point it at ya belly/lap... Not sure if it's a fault or just a design overlook but on both of my Fabias.. if no air is directed to these vents heat seems to slowly seep out from them...

I guess it's because heat rises up through the system and because no real air is blowing it just sorta builds up and trickles out and as a result heats you up quite quickly once the heaters on. anyone else found this?.. I wondered if it's like this because you can actually close these vents, so no need to fully seal them off else where?

I believe the temperature control in the Fabia is what VAG used to describe as 'Climatic' which does indeed give approximately 18C if you set 18C. The car has sunlight and interior atmosphere sensors. The VAG unit with the fancy digital display is termed 'Climatronic'.

I await Mr. Lummox to confirm or put me straight:)

Correct its Climatic not Climatronic.

Climatic only has one interior temp sensor unlike Climatronic so is very basic. But faults are usually down to a faulty temp flap motor.

Good. I like the sound of blowing the dust off a pcb and everything being fine afterwards. A Škoda dealer has quoted me £350 + VAT for replacing the stepper motors, so I'd like to avoid pursuing that option until I've eliminated absolutely everything else, including shouting at it.

I think the outer dash vents are always fed, whatever the distribution setting, so that you can speed up the demisting process. Certainly mine are fed all the time. Hence the scorch marks on the side windows...