Hello Briskodians........

My car is a 1.9 TDi vintage 2005 Estate and I have covered 120,600 trouble free miles in it. Whilst I will not hear anyone criticise this great model car if there was anything (in my experience) that has always been a little bit below the mark it is the air con.

Since I have owned this car (@15,000 miles) I have had no problems with it but recently I have noticed that sometimes the air conditioning seems to be there almost immediately after I start the car, sometimes I can drive for about 10-20minutes before I can detect cold air coming through the vents. Today I drove from Letchworth to Stevenage before the air con started working. When it does start working it seems to begin working very quickly.

My question is can anyone who knows about these things give me a bit of an idiots guide as to what to look at to try and identify the problem. When the air con is working it is as good as it has ever been although it is worth pointing out that it has never been regassed.

It may just be a relay switch not 'making' but I must say that I don't know much about this system on any car.

Any ideas?

Failing that can anyone recommend someone who actually knows about air conditioning on the Octavia who is nearby

Many thanks, everyone

Tom

When you say it's not working, do you mean the light on the switch isn't coming on or that the air coming out isn't very cold?

If its that it's not very cold but has never been re-gassed I'd probably start there, you can get it done for around £35

Hi JohnSTV6

In answer to your point...It all appears to be working....i.e. light comes on etc..To explain further sometimes it can be switched on for some 10 -15 minutes and then the air suddenly becomes cold, sometimes it it is cold very soon after starting from cold.

Thanks very much for answering, though.........v helpful

Find an air con specialist - don't go to Kwik Fit or similar for a regas.

Maybe all it needs is a regas - but the intermittent symptoms point to something else, if it was low on refrigerant it would be poor all of the time.

Whereabouts in the Uk are you and someone may be able to advise on a local specialist?

Andyvee

Thanks for the tip.......I am in North Hertfordshire. If anyone can recommend I would be grateful

Thanks all

Tom

Hi ThomasP,

I have the 05 1.9TDI hatchback and completly agree with your comments; the car has been brilliant except for the Aircon.

The intermittant nature of you problem makes the fault finding more difficult. I would find a decent aircon maintainer as if the problem is not a simple lack of gas, the next step is to compare high and low pressures whilst the car is running. If you just need gas the price wherever you go is quite competitive at present. If more diagnosis is required at least you will not have to make another journey. I chased a problem for ages (at some cost) when a specialist would have cut the chance of false diagnosis. I have lots of new bits that were actually fine. Best of luck.