I currently have a pre fl vrs 58 plate est with the old climatronic unit. I recently read on other forums of people replacing it with the fl climatroninc unit and thought I would give it a go. All that is required is a pin move in order to get it working and a unit reset by pressing AC and air direction towards driver button simultaneously for 3 secs. The pins to change are pin 20 which is removed and in its place goes pin 16.

anyway here are a couple of pics showing it working on my columbus. Just ordered a new fascia which should arrive on friday morning.

Only downside is that is a vw unit so the buttons are red when lit but it only cost £100 on ebay so not really much of an issue and if I find it bugs me too much then I'll get a skoda unit.

Looks great

Ive was wondering if this was possible, thanks for the post

Can I just check:

1. Did you have the standard skoda dual climate control unit?

2. Did you need to do any coding for the controls to be displayed in the columbus?

3. Is a a simple plug and play upgarde?

4. What and where are the pins you refered to?

5. How much is a new facia and what is the part number?

Edited to say:

Just phoned my local helpful dealer for some prices.

A new FaceLift Climatronic unit is £613.00.

A facia to fit the columbus HU is £39.00.

1: I had the standard dual unit prior to this one. I bought it from ebay for £100 and they seem to hover close to that price but mine is a vw one. 2: No coding was necessary just the button press reset. It displays on the columbus straight away. 3: apart from moving the pins, its basically plug and play.

4: the pins I referred to are in the larger of the 3 connecting blocks on the back. number 20 is on the left of the block and is black and yellow iirc. pin 16 is on the bottom row 3 pins in from the left and was red and grey. I cut the pin 20 wire and then connected the pin 16 wire to it as that was what was advised on vwnavi and scirroco.net.

5: I ordered the fascia which is part number 1Z0 858 069 BK 2AU. I expect it will cost around £20.

Hope this helps

Andy

got my info from here retrofit link. I think the climatronic I have is 5k0 907 044 BS but to be honest I just looked for one that matched the functions I had.

Thanks Andy, i'm sure it will help anyone thinking of doing the same upgrade

So its a pretty simple disconnect pin 20 and put pin 16 in its place? :yes:

Will keep my eyes open for a Skoda unit (for the colour match) but I dont hold much hope of seeing one for sale

Does look good

disconnect pin 20 and connect pin 16 in its place but yeah not difficult to do

only come across one issue, the vw unit is slightly different shape that the skoda one so had to trim some of the fascia. gonna have to get a skoda one when I can for a better fit.

Oh nice touch, i'll need to do this to mine.

Silly question (well it is me lol) how do you remove the pins?

oh found this

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Climatronic-clima-unit-Skoda-Octavia-II-Superb-seat-heating-buttons-/230729478568?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item35b88c71a8

saw that one but it has heated seats and mine doesn't. I removed the pin16 using a small screw driver, cut the wire on pin 20 and connected 16 to the remaining stub using a blue wire connector thing-a-me-bob.

saw that one but it has heated seats and mine doesn't. I removed the pin16 using a small screw driver, cut the wire on pin 20 and connected 16 to the remaining stub using a blue wire connector thing-a-me-bob.

Excellent mate cheers.

think i might buy that unit and get it done you have inspired me

its a nice easy upgrade and mine works without issue, just got to keep an eye out for a skoda one now.

woohoo, just found one on ebay and ordered it. searched for heater control instead of climatronic.

The only thing that bothers me is that it doesn't show the outside temperature on the Columbus screen. After replacing the climatronic does it show?

no, that is still only available on maxidot

did you also change polarit on clima compresor??

without that it doesnt work (aircondition)

Ok, then there's no point for me in changing the climatronic. Actually I think I will get the same model as mine, just that it will have the heating buttons

Thank you

The only thing that bothers me is that it doesn't show the outside temperature on the Columbus screen. After replacing the climatronic does it show?

outside temp on Columbus? I've never seen that?

did you also change polarit on clima compresor??

without that it doesnt work (aircondition)

no, yet its still working

Did your heating controls show on the columbus before? I have an 06 VRS and a retrofitted Columbus, the setup at present doesn't show my climate on screen but are you saying by changing to this type of module I may get the climate on screen?

Cheers

Rob

Quick question -- did the climatronic settings show on your Columbus on your ORIGINAL climatronic panel? Wondering if changing the panel brings the Columbus functions to life, or whether the functions shown on the Columbus are exactly the same with both types of climatronic panel.

Thanks

Mike

HaHa you beat me to it!

Looking at doing this mod myself but have a question regarding the cutting of the wire to pin 20 and reconnecting it to pin 16.

Was the reconnection done using a soldering kit or was it a crimp style reconnection? Any help appreciated.

I didn't have anything showing on the display prior to this. Regarding connection, I just used a crimp connection, and so far its been fine with no issues.

fully fitted pic

Ta muchly for info.