On Wednesday I had the cambelt changed on my 2006 Octy 2.0 FSi, as recommended by Skoda main stealers. Car has done just 28000 miles. Cost £450 which apparently is the going rate .

Now the air con (Climatronic) is not working. All controls work, but it only blows out hot air (just like me)! Of course the dealers say that this is a coincidence, but it seems suspicious to me. It worked before the cambelt change, but not after.

So, does anyone on here know if changing the cambelt could result in the air con not working?

Is there any part of the air con system that needs to be disconnected in order to change the cambelt, that they may have forgotten to re-connect? Or could they have accidentally caused a leak??

I can't see any evidence of leaks, and I have checked the fuse, which is OK.

I cannot believe that I bought an Octavia because of their supposed reliability. It is just one expensive problem after another.

As I have said before - I will NEVER buy another Skoda.

When removing the engine mount it is possible they may have cracked an air con pipe that runs close to it. I would go to an independant air con specialist and get them to check the gas level and for any leaks/cracks in the pipes. If the leak/crack is near to where they had to work to change the cambelt, I would go back to the garage who fitted it and lodge a complaint.

If you look on honest John car by car, vag cars are know for the compresser braking until end of 2007 when they changed the brand of unit. HJ advice, fit the other brand your self rarther then by from vag see

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/skoda/octavia-2004/?section=bad

James

On Wednesday I had the cambelt changed on my 2006 Octy 2.0 FSi, as recommended by Skoda main stealers. Car has done just 28000 miles. Cost £450 which apparently is the going rate .

Now the air con (Climatronic) is not working. All controls work, but it only blows out hot air (just like me)! Of course the dealers say that this is a coincidence, but it seems suspicious to me. It worked before the cambelt change, but not after.

So, does anyone on here know if changing the cambelt could result in the air con not working?

Is there any part of the air con system that needs to be disconnected in order to change the cambelt, that they may have forgotten to re-connect? Or could they have accidentally caused a leak??

I can't see any evidence of leaks, and I have checked the fuse, which is OK.

I cannot believe that I bought an Octavia because of their supposed reliability. It is just one expensive problem after another.

As I have said before - I will NEVER buy another Skoda.

Hi had my cam belt done on my 05 2.0fsi at 50000miles as was told should be done at 60 to 65000miles my air con works fine befor and after had it done only paid £250

If you look on honest John car by car, vag cars are know for the compresser braking until end of 2007 when they changed the brand of unit. HJ advice, fit the other brand your self rarther then by from vag see

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/skoda/octavia-2004/?section=bad

James

Not what I wanted to hear but thanks!

Looks like yet another known problem, that everyone knows about except VAG.

Could be worse you could have bought a Fiat or something French..... At least the car still works well just you will get hot!

James.

Could be worse you could have bought a Fiat or something French..... At least the car still works well just you will get hot!

James.

Before I bought this heap of poo I had a Peugeot which I owned for 8 years before anything went wrong with it at all, and before that I had a Fiat, which also never went wrong, as opposed to this pile of Skoda cr@p which seems to have a new fault every month - always more expensive than the last.

Anyway, I found this on another thread:

"If you have climatronic with the digital displays there is another way. With the engine running press the "ECON" and air demist buttons together. The displays should change. Turn the left dial until the big number in the left display changes to 19. Turn the middle dial until the little number in the left display changes to 4. The right display will then show the speed of the air con pump in hundreds of RPM."

I have done this and it shows 9 - presumably 900rpm. Does this prove that the pump/compressor is working, or just that it is going round?

Dealers looked at the air con today. They said that the compressor has failed internally, and it will cost between £900 & £1500 to fix, depending on what else needs replacing.

This car really is a heap of s***. It is only just 5 years old, 28,000 miles and this year alone will have had repairs costing over £5,500.

And I only bought a new Skoda because they have a reputation for reliability .

Car is now fixed. It needed new compressor, condensor and expansion valve. Surprisingly Skoda UK agreed to pay 40% but it still cost nearly £900.

Wonder what will break next? :(

Think you have 5 years under SOGA, might be worth speaking to Consumers Direct, at least the car is back with you. Assuming you got it from new.

Think you have 5 years under SOGA, might be worth speaking to Consumers Direct, at least the car is back with you. Assuming you got it from new.

I did buy it from new, but it is just over 5 years old. I spoke at length with Consumer Direct in January after the gearbox disintegrated.

Before I bought this heap of poo I had a Peugeot which I owned for 8 years before anything went wrong with it at all, and before that I had a Fiat, which also never went wrong, as opposed to this pile of Skoda cr@p which seems to have a new fault every month - always more expensive than the last.

1000\s of taxi drivers will testify to the cars relative reliability I reckon. Maybe just a dud - it happens. If you've had a bad Skoda & long reliability out of a Pug & a Fiat make sure you do the lottery! The odds are with you!

Have you tried to push for a freebie years warranty on the car?

"Learned of service bulletin relating to water ingress into the wiring connector for the radiator fan controls causing the fans to run. There is also a potential fault with the micro switch at the end of the ignition key switch that can cause the same effect." hmmm mines was running earlier after sitting for 6hrs while i cleaned it and went to pick the mrs up. :wonder: