Air conditioning Strange noise

[philbee]

Hi there,

I have an Octavia Elegance 2.0 with climate controlled air conditioning. Recently the air con on Auto appears to work for about 30 seconds to a minute, then it's as if the vents close and the cool air stops. The fans still appear to be running but the airflow is restricted.If I press the eco button the vents open and air is blown through the system, really cold at first then getting milder. I have also noticed a load clicking noise which appears to come from behind the glove compartment area where I'm assuming the evaporator is. Can anyone suggest what the problem could be?

Many thanks for yout time.

[swil00]

Hi there,

I have an Octavia Elegance 2.0 with climate controlled air conditioning. Recently the air con on Auto appears to work for about 30 seconds to a minute, then it's as if the vents close and the cool air stops. The fans still appear to be running but the airflow is restricted.If I press the eco button the vents open and air is blown through the system, really cold at first then getting milder. I have also noticed a load clicking noise which appears to come from behind the glove compartment area where I'm assuming the evaporator is. Can anyone suggest what the problem could be?

Many thanks for yout time.

Mine did the same thing, a scan for fault codes revealed a lower refrigerant, so booked it in for a recharge..... not got mine back yet right enough......

[philbee]

Mine did the same thing, a scan for fault codes revealed a lower refrigerant, so booked it in for a recharge..... not got mine back yet right enough......

[philbee]

Thanks for that.

I've had the levels checked and they seem to be ok. A local garage tested it for me. They seemed to be stumped after that, when they found the levels fine.

How did you check for scan codes? They may be able to give more of clue what's going on. Is it pressing a sequence of buttons or do I need a special electronic tool?

The system seems to work when auto and econ are selected, all be it at a lower cooling level.

It would be nice to think that all I need is a top up., but it sounds as if vent flaps are closing down obstructing the air flow and making a loud clunking noices.

[burtracoon]

I have the 2.0tdi Elegance estate that was making similar noises as well as doing a good Darth Vader impression and I figured it could be colder. We recently had an air con course at work so was forceful in volunteering my car for the demo.

The Octavia should have 550g of gas in the system, we recovered 140g a 1/4 of what it should be. It now works a whole lot better, colder and quieter as you'd expect. The system was vac'd down and checked for leaks. I was shocked that even with natural leakage it was that low from the factory on an 08 car.

How did they check your level? It can only be done by recovering the gas thats in there and then refilling / recharging the system.

Edited 4 June, 2010 by burtracoon

[username taken]

Thanks for that.

I've had the levels checked and they seem to be ok. A local garage tested it for me. They seemed to be stumped after that, when they found the levels fine.

How did you check for scan codes? They may be able to give more of clue what's going on. Is it pressing a sequence of buttons or do I need a special electronic tool?

The system seems to work when auto and econ are selected, all be it at a lower cooling level.

It would be nice to think that all I need is a top up., but it sounds as if vent flaps are closing down obstructing the air flow and making a loud clunking noices.

I had my freelander done yesterday at dare i say it kwikfit all be it one of the local chains that have been taken over recently. they offer a reduction of 10 degrees or no charge might be worth while doing a drive up and just getting it plugged in. only took an hour and the cost was 49.99 the drop in temp was from 30degrees down to 6.5 degrees - the aircon has never been recharged since new and was making gurgling noises.

[philbee]

I have the 2.0tdi Elegance estate that was making similar noises as well as doing a good Darth Vader impression and I figured it could be colder. We recently had an air con course at work so was forceful in volunteering my car for the demo.

The Octavia should have 550g of gas in the system, we recovered 140g a 1/4 of what it should be. It now works a whole lot better, colder and quieter as you'd expect. The system was vac'd down and checked for leaks. I was shocked that even with natural leakage it was that low from the factory on an 08 car.

How did they check your level? It can only be done by recovering the gas thats in there and then refilling / recharging the system.

[philbee]

I have the 2.0tdi Elegance estate that was making similar noises as well as doing a good Darth Vader impression and I figured it could be colder. We recently had an air con course at work so was forceful in volunteering my car for the demo.

The Octavia should have 550g of gas in the system, we recovered 140g a 1/4 of what it should be. It now works a whole lot better, colder and quieter as you'd expect. The system was vac'd down and checked for leaks. I was shocked that even with natural leakage it was that low from the factory on an 08 car.

How did they check your level? It can only be done by recovering the gas thats in there and then refilling / recharging the system.

[philbee]

Reading your reply it would seem that they didn't evacutae the gas, they mentioned putting gauges on it, so I'm guessing it would be well worth taking it to Kwik Fit for a proper top up. It's a 55 plate so I guess there will be some leakage, reading other articles. If nothing else it's a good starting point as I've not topped it up before.

I'll let you know the progress.

[philbee]

I had my freelander done yesterday at dare i say it kwikfit all be it one of the local chains that have been taken over recently. they offer a reduction of 10 degrees or no charge might be worth while doing a drive up and just getting it plugged in. only took an hour and the cost was 49.99 the drop in temp was from 30degrees down to 6.5 degrees - the aircon has never been recharged since new and was making gurgling noises.

[philbee]

I'll give that a try tomorrow.

I've not had topped up at all since new so I guess it could do with some.

I'll post the outcome.

Thanks.

[philbee]

Success!

I spent about an hour today removing the glove box compartment to locate the source of the noise. It was the aircon flap fouling, hence the loud clacking noise.It seems to have two positions one for aout and one for econ, hence that's why it worked in econ mode.

I had a Parrot hands free system fitted in the winter time and the guy mounted the gubbins unfortunately on top of the flap, not realising that the flap elavates higher. I suppose in winter the air con was not required and the flap didn't open to that extent during the colder months. The guy must have seen the space and thought that's a good place to put it.

I have now relocated the device and strapped it a bit safer away from moving parts.

There is now no noise whatsover. I'ts not as cold as I would like but I gues now it does need a top up as well.

I'll see how it goes.

Many thanks for your input guys.

[Deadly]

I have the 2.0tdi Elegance estate that was making similar noises as well as doing a good Darth Vader impression and I figured it could be colder. We recently had an air con course at work so was forceful in volunteering my car for the demo.

The Octavia should have 550g of gas in the system, we recovered 140g a 1/4 of what it should be. It now works a whole lot better, colder and quieter as you'd expect. The system was vac'd down and checked for leaks. I was shocked that even with natural leakage it was that low from the factory on an 08 car.

How did they check your level? It can only be done by recovering the gas thats in there and then refilling / recharging the system.

I am just adding a post to thank-you for your description of the 'Darth Vader' noise. My 2.0 TDi Elegance made exactly that type of noise (Dath Vader Heavy Breathing!). I took it to be re-gassed and they also recovered, like yours, only 150g. When it was refilled to 550g not only did it work better but the noise dissapeared. I had not suspected the car needed to be re-gassed, as the air con seemed to work fine, that was until I read your description - Thank-you.