How can I tell categorically that my aircon is working (considering it's winter!)

[grecianite]

Hi,

For around 4 years not my aircon on my vRS has not been working. I got a dealership to diagnose (at £70) and they said it was the compressor. I bought a compressor on Ebay for £40 and had it fitted on Friday. WIth the gas recharge, fitting etc it came to £180.

According to them it's working, but how can I check? I switch it on and I get cold air anyway, one thing I did notice was that the revs did not change when the aircon was switched on, before i am pretty sure they picked slightly - maybe this is a winter thing, or an efficient compressor?

I was wondering what you guys would do to check that they have fixed? I have factored in that the replacement compressor might be dodgy.

Thanks,

John

[Jayke]

bring the car upto temp so the heaters are hot, The switch it to aircon and see if its cold

[grecianite]

Thanks Jayke, so you're saying put the heating to top temp (once the car has warmed up) and then put the aircon on to make sure that it cools the hot air even though it is still set to hot?

Sorry if i am not understanding?

[gac]

Sit in the car with the engine and blowers off, breathe until it steams up, then see if it clears quickly using cool air rather than hot. Since cool air will still be pretty moist from the outside, if it clears in a reasonable time (i.e. a minute or two) then your AC must be working in order to remove the moisture that's present in the air.

[Jim H]

Make sure the outside temperature isn't that cold. The Air-con doesn't operate below 3 or 4° C.

[hutchysrs50]

Never knew that ^^ anyone els know if its true?

[TriggerFish]

Shouln't the rad fans kick in too? It's a common fault on the Golf mk4 that the resistor fails for the rad fans so the AC doesn't work (or something liek that).

I know the fans on my Fabia never kicked in, and my AC was broken. . .

[gac]

Make sure the outside temperature isn't that cold. The Air-con doesn't operate below 3 or 4° C.

That's a good point, it's not dropped to that point yet near me so I'd forgotten. It is true though, operating the AC when its too cold can cause freezing in undesirable places (i.e. inside the AC system) so it switches off automatically for safety.

[grecianite]

I think the manual says 5 degrees outside temperature?

[DRJ]

Manual states "outside temperature above +5 °C,"

[weepete7]

Shouln't the rad fans kick in too? It's a common fault on the Golf mk4 that the resistor fails for the rad fans so the AC doesn't work (or something liek that).

I know the fans on my Fabia never kicked in, and my AC was broken. . .

Not sure about fabia, but that defiantly happened with my old rover 75 diesel... Fans came on when AC operated.

[@Lee]

never heard my rad fans kick in, and the AC is icy cold.

[Oli3000]

I've never noticed the revs change on mine when you put the AC on - I presumed it was just because the PD engine is so torquey it doesn't really make any difference...

[grecianite]

It might be that my new compressor, is more efficient than the one I used to have. But previously the revs def picked up a tad for about a second.

Out of interest, how old is your Fabia and I guess it's a vrs too?

Thanks

[MattH]

If you turn your heater to coldest and feel the temp with your hand. While you are still holding your hand there, switch the air con on with your other hand and you can feel the temperature drop further.

[Benjiman]

Manual states "outside temperature above +5 °C,"

And any lower than that the car goes 'bing', and flashes the frost icon on the dash - as if by magic!

[DRJ]

Not "any" lower - the 'bing' only occurs over a 10 degC temperature range:

The outside temperature indicator will appear with a snowflake symbol and a

warning signal sounds* when the outside temperature lies between +5°C and -5°C.

[SECCY]

I find the definitive way of checking if an AC compressor is working, is one pipe coming off it will be warm and the other ice cold with condensation dripping off of it.

[Dunkuk]

You can often buy thermometers from places liek pound shops in the garden section, or garden centres. Then you can measure it exactly.

Checking the compressor pipe sounds like a good idea too but only if you can get at it!

[robstaaaar]

Had a solenoid fault on the AC circuit diagnosed by the Skoda dealer i bought the car from. Awaiting a repair under warranty. Anyone else had this?