OK two part question

1, Has anyone had any problems with the Fabia's aircon unit? Today I was driving to work and could hear a dull rattle coming from the front of my car (almost as if the bonnet wasn't catching right). After turning my fans off I noticed the noise had gone yet when the fans and aircon is on I get this rattle.

2, Also since my 2nd year service my fans "whistle" on settings 3&4. I know they replaced the pollen filter - would this being installed incorrectly cause a whistle?

Check you've got enough refrigerant in the first instance - mine made a rattly / grindy noise when it leaked. As for the whistle, the pollen filter is most likely the candidate...

Silly question but how do I check that?

Silly question but how do I check that?

Do you mean the filter or the refrigerant? For the filter, you need to make sure the sliders are properly seated at either end of the cover. As for the refrigerant level, the simplest way of telling is to put the temperature dial on 'blue' and even in the weather we're having at the moment, the air coming out should be nice an chilly!

Mine whistled like a pig after a service on 3 and 4 so i took out the filter in the passengers side and re-inserted it and now it's fine.

I'll check the filter at the weekend (as I'm working long shifts at the moment. As for the aircon it does get nice and chilly and admittantly I couldn't hear the rattling tonight on the way home. strange....

Right update to fault:

It seems it only rattles when the fans are on "screen and footwell". Any other option and it's not there. I'll be calling Hobbins tomorrow as the car is still under warrenty.

Well another update.

I called Hobins last week and they took my car in for the day. After a days work they said they would need the car back again as they didn't have time to get the suspected part. not a problem, they provided me with a car for a few days and off the fabia went into the service bay.

3 days later my car is finally ready to collect. turns out the controller unit for the blowers had become faulty, the replacement part they had shipped in was also fault and they ran out of time on the second day to re-fit the dash. Everything seems fine now so fingers crossed it'll be the last time it's in there.

I haven't had this issue, but topped up my air con a month ago, and works like a freezer now! total headchill!

Apparently you loose 10% refridgerant a year! AC was good before, now awesome!

I maybe be able to answer this one.

You must insure when changing a pollen filter than the blower fan is not used when the filter is removed. If the fan is left on then it can suck debris from the plenum area (usually leaves) into the fan which can make good vibrations.

Although I found a dead mouse in a blower fan once .....

The whistling noise is normally incorrectly fitted pollen housing/retainers .

HTH