Hello all,

What with the hot weather n' all I've had the A/C on a bit - climate-control, pre-facelift Octavia - and have noticed a slightly odd whistling noise coming from within the dash when it's switched on.

it's blowing cold air ok, although compared to the missus' Peugeot it's not quite as icy-cold, but I'm slightly puzzled as to what's causing the noise.

The compressor's evidently working ok (hence the cold air) and I've always taken care to use the A/C every so often to keep the sysytem functioning properly as advised both by the handbook and by various mechanics over the years.

I've tried the soft reset to see if that does anything but that didn't even fix the usual clicking noises which everyone knows & loves (no big deal).

Therefore I was wondering whether this might be a case of the car needing a re-gas as I seem to vaguely remember similar noises coming from a previous car a few years back which turned out to be caused by low refrigerant.

Anyone else had this?

Many thanks in advance

Edited 24 May, 201214 yr by ethel

What kind of whistly noise? Does it go away if you turn the fans down?

Is it like a squawky kind of whistle if that makes sense?

I have a kind of squeely whistly noise from mine but it's ice cold. Think it is just the refrigerant in the pipes etc.

Phil

What kind of whistly noise? Does it go away if you turn the fans down?

Is it like a squawky kind of whistle if that makes sense?

I have a kind of squeely whistly noise from mine but it's ice cold. Think it is just the refrigerant in the pipes etc.

Phil

Hiya Phil,

It's a hard one to describe to be honest - more like a gurgly/hissy noise which doesn't just sound like the movement of air through the ducting. It is there when the system is running on Auto with the fan at minimal setting but the sound is drowned out by the noise of the fan/blower when you turn the thing to 'LO' or manually crank up the blower speed.

It's quite possible that it's always done this and I've never noticed it before as I usually have the radio on

It's definitely cold anyway so at least I'm fairly happy that it isn't the compressor. I'll probably get it topped up & see if that sorts it..

Thanks for the reply

David.

Edited 24 May, 201214 yr by ethel

It sounds like some gas may be required. I beleive that the re-circ valve sits just behind the unit in the dash and in my experience gets quite noisy when the pressure is low. The EMS may show a "low system pressure" code on VAGCOM but not sure how low it has to be to trigger this.

Good luck.

This might sound stupid, but all of your vents are open aren't they? My Leon whistles like mad if any of the vents are closed.

It sounds like some gas may be required. I beleive that the re-circ valve sits just behind the unit in the dash and in my experience gets quite noisy when the pressure is low. The EMS may show a "low system pressure" code on VAGCOM but not sure how low it has to be to trigger this.

Good luck.

Hello, I think that you might well be right as a bit of research around t'internet seems to point to this being a distinct possibility.

I have a mobile A/C service chap coming round in a week or so's time to re-gas the thing so hopefully that'll sort it.

This might sound stupid, but all of your vents are open aren't they? My Leon whistles like mad if any of the vents are closed.

Ha - not stupid at all - it's a good question and yes, they are all open.

I know just what you mean about the whistling - my Alfa was very prone to that exact problem...

..and a lot more besides, hence the Skoda..

I'm not sure how much these mobile A/C guys charge but this may be of interest to you; Skoda's new fair pricing scheme, £69 for an air con service.

To be fair I don't know what this includes but if it covers a good check over and a top-up then it might be worth while?

Just a thought...

I'm not sure how much these mobile A/C guys charge but this may be of interest to you; Skoda's new fair pricing scheme, £69 for an air con service.

To be fair I don't know what this includes but if it covers a good check over and a top-up then it might be worth while?

Just a thought...

Cheers, that sounds like a good bet - and we actually have a newly re-located Skoda dealer less than five minutes' drive from home..hmm..

That said, the guy that's coming over next Saturday charges £45 for a dye test, service & re-gas so I'll probably stick with that option for now but £69 is certainly cheaper that I seem to remember them charging me for servicing my last Octavia's A/C system.

D.

Did you ever get to the root cause of the noise you've had, only after i've had my climate on for say 20 mins on 'auto' i kind of get a squealing sound coming from the unit, however this immediately disappears if i then press the 'Econ' button, no idea when my car last had an a/c service as i only bought it a week back.....would be interesting to know if you eventually got yours sorted out with a service..

Did you ever get to the root cause of the noise you've had, only after i've had my climate on for say 20 mins on 'auto' i kind of get a squealing sound coming from the unit, however this immediately disappears if i then press the 'Econ' button, no idea when my car last had an a/c service as i only bought it a week back.....would be interesting to know if you eventually got yours sorted out with a service..

Had a re-gas and cured the problem, strange how lack of coolant can make the unit generate such sounds...