Hi all,

I've asked questions before about my non-working air-con. But while I was servicing my car on Saturday I was having a looking around the air-con system.

What I did notice was that the compressor unit spins with the belt but the middle of the pulley (clutch unit, I think) doesn't pop out when the air-con is turned on. I also think that the compressor unit is not getting power.

I managed to find where the fuses were under the bonnet and they were all good. I also found three relays, but only one seemed to click. Does anyone know anything about these or where I can find some wring information as the Haynes lie book has nothing on the air-con?

Cheers,

You'll get no cooling unless the system is fully gassed. Checking that is a specialist job.

I would expect it to be similar to the early Octavias.

Pressure switch in gas system wont allow power to pump if no gas in system

I would expect it to be similar to the early Octavias.

How were they then? I'm thinking I can't justify the cost against the value of the car at the moment.

There's a Haynes Air con Techbook Haynes Air Conditioning Manual from Halfords Price £19.99

'A mate' once told me...

You can check if the system is gassed by finding the low pressure service port on the system and pushing in the little needle within the valve. There should be two valves which look like oversized mountain bike tyre valve, and the LP one is the smaller of the two and/or be on the narrower pipe. Do this with the engine OFF, as the residual pressure will be high enough to cause some coolant to squirt out.

If no coolant comes out, you can buy DIY top-up kits for about the same amount of money as the Haynes, which (my 'mate' knows from experience) are able to plug minor leaks. Unfortunately, the leak sealer is part and parcel of the coolant, so 'my mate' needed a second can to complete the top-up as a portion of the contents of the first can escaped before the sealant could work. Everything spot-on now though...

Trouble is, doing it that way is a bit environmentally-questionable, and potentially dangerous if you try pressure testing etc. yourself rather than accepting it's empty (if it is) and topping up without any additional fault-finding.

Then again, it's pretty likely a seal's just dried out, so a top-up (whether DIY or by a specialist) is probably all that's required. Unless there's something up with a sensor like the evaporator temp sensor, of course - but in that case, chances are you'll still have gas...

Hope you get it fixed soon!

Pressure switch in gas system wont allow power to pump if no gas in system

I did put some gas in myself and the pressure gauge was well into the green 'OK' area.

'A mate' once told me...

You can check if the system is gassed by finding the low pressure service port on the system and pushing in the little needle within the valve. There should be two valves which look like oversized mountain bike tyre valve, and the LP one is the smaller of the two and/or be on the narrower pipe. Do this with the engine OFF, as the residual pressure will be high enough to cause some coolant to squirt out.

If no coolant comes out, you can buy DIY top-up kits for about the same amount of money as the Haynes, which (my 'mate' knows from experience) are able to plug minor leaks. Unfortunately, the leak sealer is part and parcel of the coolant, so 'my mate' needed a second can to complete the top-up as a portion of the contents of the first can escaped before the sealant could work. Everything spot-on now though...

Trouble is, doing it that way is a bit environmentally-questionable, and potentially dangerous if you try pressure testing etc. yourself rather than accepting it's empty (if it is) and topping up without any additional fault-finding.

Then again, it's pretty likely a seal's just dried out, so a top-up (whether DIY or by a specialist) is probably all that's required. Unless there's something up with a sensor like the evaporator temp sensor, of course - but in that case, chances are you'll still have gas...

Hope you get it fixed soon!

That's what I tried, so it may be more serious than just low gas pressure. Now it's getting closer to summer there are lots of air-con gas deals going around. Do they check the system out as well? Has anyone ever used them?

My air con wasn't doing much so I had it checked out two years ago. £60 charge plus £10 for u/v dye to pinpoint any leaks. That was a good price. The technician was doubtful that there would be no problems but all went very well and the air con has been very effective ever since. All it needed was regassing.