Hi guys,

Right ok I am confused.

I have climatic control, i have the temp set at 21 degrees and I set it at AUTO.

When I select AUTO it appears as expected on the right side of the display but I can feel cold air coming through the face vents?

Does this mean that to turn off the Aircon the ECON should be displayed in the far right? and will it still run on AUTO?

I am a little fuzzled

BMW system is much simpler to use (idiot proof)

PW

When Econ is displayed it's just ordinary fans, when you press Econ button and it goes off display, AC is on. Auto is also AC on.

So there is no real way of setting it to AUTO with aircon off to maintain an ambient temp??

I am impressed with the MPG with it set to auto

Also what does ECON mean, I pressume its a lower setting for aircon that cleaner and greener??

"Econ" mode disables the air conditioning compressor, so the system works as a conventional heater, but with the facility to select an interor temperature range 18 to 30 (I think) C. If the ambiant temperature is below 5C, the aircon is disabled anyway, to protect the heat exchanger from frost buildup.

ECON means off, so you will get better fuel economy :think:

It's been a while since I had my Mk1, but as has been said above, pressing the ECON button disables the aircon compressor, so you can't get air below ambient temperature.

If you have the climate control set to a temperature above the outside world then it will provide hot air and warm the car up but if you are trying to cool the car down in summer, all you'll get is plenty of fresh air.

It's also worth remembering that the aircon is good at removing moisture from the air as well as chilling it, so even in winter it can be useful as it will help to demist the car in the morning, then afterwards set it to ECON to save a smidge of fuel.

I must admit I rarely bothered with ECON on mine, but diesel was a lot cheaper back then.

I dont have an econ button as mines a mk2 but i have an AC button. I always leave it on auto except if additional de-misting is needed. I doubt very much that the cost savings from not running AC would be noticable plus ive heard that not running aircon can cause the seals to go brittle and fail which will cost a heap of money to fix so any "pennies" saved from running in econ would be well and truly absorbed by a £600 aircon fix.

Its not just cooling the air it drys it as well so the car is far less likely to mist up with air con on. I think it feels fresher also but maybe thats just me.

So going on that, and that my MPG is very good.

Just stick it on 21 degrees and select auto and leave it at that.

I do agree with you Jockdooshbag, it has a much fresher atmosphere in the cabin......

Next task............. How to get rid of the buzz of previous owner fag pong.

You can get aircon bomb things that you set off with the doors and windows closed and the system on recirculate then leave it running for a while.

That plus a load of febreze should take the worst of it out.

Ive done the inside of the car twice, if you knew me you would see how deep the clean gets, its phenominal.

Hoovered the roof etc etc. Leather cleaners, interior foam into the stitche of the leather to lift any bits inbetween. Spend about 25 to 30 mins hoovering each foot well in an attempt to kill the smell. Scrub the dashboard, door cards, plastics etc etc, put the mats in the washing machine twice. It still creeps back.

The inside you could perform surgery in there it is so sanitised (or so it seems).

Ive heard about the white vinegar and a cloth on a bowl??? Im a bit doubtful though.

Ive done the inside of the car twice, if you knew me you would see how deep the clean gets, its phenominal.

Hoovered the roof etc etc. Leather cleaners, interior foam into the stitche of the leather to lift any bits inbetween. Spend about 25 to 30 mins hoovering each foot well in an attempt to kill the smell. Scrub the dashboard, door cards, plastics etc etc, put the mats in the washing machine twice. It still creeps back.

The inside you could perform surgery in there it is so sanitised (or so it seems).

Ive heard about the white vinegar and a cloth on a bowl??? Im a bit doubtful though.

How about 15 magic trees?

Next task............. How to get rid of the buzz of previous owner fag pong.

You could start by changing the cabin pollen filter.

You could start by changing the cabin pollen filter.

Hmmm good idea. Am I right in saying that its located near the firewall through the enginebay???

How about 15 magic trees?

That could work haha

So going on that, and that my MPG is very good.

Just stick it on 21 degrees and select auto and leave it at that.

I do agree with you Jockdooshbag, it has a much fresher atmosphere in the cabin......

Next task............. How to get rid of the buzz of previous owner fag pong.

Seats come out easily enough then I'd use a decent car shampoo on the whole carpet and leave for an hour before rinsing/vaccing

You'll probably find a load of fag ends under the seats as well if the previous owner has been a bit clumsy!

Naa there is nothing left in the car from the prev owner just the pong of garettes.

I may drop the car into a swimming pool full of suds :sun: :sun: :sun: :sun: :sun:

You'll find the pollen filter under the scuttle panel under the passenger wiper, if you're lucky you can do it without taking the wipers off, expect a few scrapes to your hands tho lol

Sent from my Galaxy S3, not a Crapple!

I dont have an econ button as mines a mk2 but i have an AC button. I always leave it on auto except if additional de-misting is needed. I doubt very much that the cost savings from not running AC would be noticable plus ive heard that not running aircon can cause the seals to go brittle and fail which will cost a heap of money to fix so any "pennies" saved from running in econ would be well and truly absorbed by a £600 aircon fix.

Its not just cooling the air it drys it as well so the car is far less likely to mist up with air con on. I think it feels fresher also but maybe thats just me.

I beg to differ. Someone once explained it to me and on this particular setup Econ shouldn't kill the air con as the air con is still allowed to operate at a very reduced rate I believe. My air con pump had sat for at least a year, probably far more before being fixed and it came back to life straight away with no problems. Slight smell for the first minute or so but that went very quickly. Also the savings on fuel are quite large, I reckon it makes the difference between 54mpg and 60mpg.

To the OP, your air con won't actually turn on below 6oC however I THINK the drying unit does? If above 6oC the air doesn't come out super cold then the air con clutch may have fallen off which is quite common.

So going on that, and that my MPG is very good.

Just stick it on 21 degrees and select auto and leave it at that.

I do agree with you Jockdooshbag, it has a much fresher atmosphere in the cabin......

Next task............. How to get rid of the buzz of previous owner fag pong.

Try getting some charcoal in a linch box (lid off) and leave it in the car for a week or so, the carbon soaks up smells well, it's a good little trick that's worked for me on a few cars!

I'm pretty sure they put carbon type stuff in airline and train seat to soak up smells ( if you know what I mean)

I shall give that a go. See if that sorts it out.

Thanks all for the help.

I turned the heating on in the car earlier, it was already set on AUTO so I selected ECON and it still blew at a high fan speed till it reached 22 degrees then it calmed down but it certainly was feeling much warmer with the ECON displayed on the display. Now I have been educated it really is a clever system.

Thanks again

PW