Pictures and Tips on how to fault find your Yeti Air Conditioning/Climate Control/Compressor

[YetiBigBoot]

Have recently purchased my first Skoda Yeti, a 2010 Elegance 2.0D 140bhp 4x4, second hand from Snows Group. After a couple of weeks I realised there was an AC fault.

 

The AC fault was difficult to diagnose because it appeared be operating within its range via the Digital Display 18-26 degree Auto Setting, on startup, but several minutes later - on turning off AC, there was no decernible difference between having AC on, and AC off, of the circulating air due to low ambient temperatures in April. It appears Snows Group sold the car with the fault on the car at purchase.

 

With further investigation, getting it booked in for a diagnostic check/possible regas, with Skoda - the compressor, has been diagnosed as faulty, with a protruding torx T30 screw from the Denso Compressor. I've uploaded two pictures so that others can check for this common fault. 

The Pulley rotates but the torx T30 screw (central thread) doesn't.

 

If you are thinking of buying a Skoda Yeti, worth taking a torch with you, and a Multimeter with a temperature probe, and checking temperatures from vents (are lower than ambient temperatures, you need to test it after a good run too), so you don't get caught out by a Dealer selling you a car with a faulty compressor. 

 

It seems a car with faulty AC is a good reason to trade in/upgrade to the new model, and a slipping pulley on the tapered shaft of the compressor, is a difficult fault to spot, unless you visually look for the protruding screw (see photos)

 

Its not that obvious because my system, the refrigerant was still correctly pressured (no leaks) with the engine off, so first thing when you start the car - there is refrigerant in the Evaporator, initially the air appeared cooler than the ambient air, until this gas in the evaporator is warmed up, and fails to be recirculated/sucked by the compressor, at which point the air being vented is warmer/no different, whether the air con switch is on or off.

 

Any other good tips for spotting Air Conditioning faults, would be helpful. i.e Does the condenser fan spin continually or thermostatically controlled on a working AC? Mine seems to only kick in at 95 degrees oil temp, with a faulty AC.

[33q]

Sorry to hear your new car has a fault. In my view it would not have been easy for the dealer to spot.

Has the dealer agreed to fix it?

[Llanigraham]

Do I presume that the screw should be totally screwed in, and therefore not visible?

[YetiBigBoot]

Yep, thanks. Its more the time it takes to work out what is actually wrong (and thinking - if indeed anything was wrong - it was). The reason for the posting images to show others.

 

The Standard Used Car Warranty issued by Snows Group doesn't cover AC, but believe/certain fault was on car when bought (picked up 4 weeks ago), spotted this difficult fault 2 weeks ago, has taken time to get booked in, diagnosed properly (that's not as easy as it sounds, with low ambient temperatures), so that I can make a complaint via the SOGA, (Sale of Goods Act).

OFT Used Car Dealer Guidelines state the onus is on the dealer to prove the fault wasn't present, rather than me to prove it was, and given its less than a month, hopefully there will be a good result on this. Luckily I noticed early on.

 

Having visuals of the compressor fault, will hopefully make it easier for someone to spot this fault, either on pickup or test drive. According to other forums, its seems that this fault doesn't normally cause swarf/damage to the internals of the compressor itself, so it may be possible to just replace the compressor, without replacing the dissicator / condenser (a single part on most Yetis) at the same time.

 

Haven't found Skoda that helpful either, as soon as I mentioned it might be under warranty, they said I should just run it a while, might sort it self out (this was before the protruding bolt was spotted on the compressor), in other words - delay, till its out of warranty. The car has a full service history, with VW Group.

[YetiBigBoot]

Do I presume that the screw should be totally screwed in, and therefore not visible?

This is my understanding of it..

 

The T30 torx bolt holds the pulley in place on the tapered shaft of the compressor, but the T30 torx bolt is not spinning with the Pulley wheel (remains motionless when the Pulley is in motion). You'd think it was a case of tightening it up, but its possible its caused damage to the tapered shaft is my understanding, due to the pulley slipping. It would be helpful is someone can upload a picture showing a correctly working compressor (screw intact). The system is also correctly pressured (no leak), with the engine off,  which also makes you think the internals of the compressor are intact, just not rotating. Difficult to know until its removed/replaced.

Edited 3 May, 2014 by YetiBigBoot

[steve20bore]

I had a look this morning and snapped a pic.

 

Hex bolt now, it would seem.

 

 

 

 

Steve.

[muddyboots]

I believe mine had the AC compressor replaced under warranty by the previous owner - wonder if it was the same fault...

[YetiBigBoot]

Thanks Steve, shame its not exactly the same compressor. Also took the car to an Air Con Specialist (only does AC) in Redditch, who described the fault straight away on seeing a printout of the image. Very helpful guy, has been fault finding AC for 15 years. On asking whether other parts would need to be replaced, said 80% of the time, its a straight compressor swap, but a can of worms if there is debris in the circuit. But very common fault.

Realised not everyone can see images without logging in, so here it is again:

[YetiBigBoot]

Finally got the compressor replaced using Trust Skoda Redditch. Anyone wondering - its a £1000 out of warranty repair, if you don't get Skoda UK to part contribute, i.e. you have no Service History.

 

Excellent service from Trust Skoda Redditch, a big thank you to Chris on Service and Skoda UK. Can't say too much regarding Snows Group, Plymouth, 'ongoing' but it ain't good.

 

[mickatdunge]

I had this problem on my 2012 MY Yeti TDI 170.  I bought one of these for £30.  It sorted the problem and only took an hour or so to fit.  No need to drain the A/C system.

 

https://x8r.co.uk/air-conditioning-a-c-delphi-compressor-5n0820803-audi-vw-seat-skoda-repair-kit.html

 

Their theory is that the centre Torx 30 screw comes loose and the splines on the shear plate eventually wear smooth as it wiggles about  and so there may well not be anything wrong with the compressor itself.

 

Hope this is of some use to someone.  It seems to work at the moment suggesting that the compressor is OK.

 

Mick

[freedie]

Thank you. Very interesting posting.

[muddyboots]

Good find!

[rfdYeti]

Evening,

 

Driving along last weekend and heard a strange noise and around a mile later a rather unpleasant rattle coming from the engine of my 2.0 TDI 170 4x4 Yeti.  A quick investigation revealed that the source of the noise was the aircon compressor.  With the a/c switched on the pulley was stationary with the belt slipping.  Turning off the a/c the pully free wheeled - but still noisy.

 

Having read this thread I checked the torx bolt, but its tight and not protruding.  I'm guessing that this means its the compressor that needs replacing, not just the £30 repair kit?  Can anyone help confirm this?

 

Many thanks. J

[kenfowler3966]

That could only happen if the compressor itself has seized?

[spikey54]

I have had the problem recently on my 2010 140 4x4 Yeti.  In the first place I got a Skoda dealer to do an aircon service and hence diagnose the problem of no cold air.  Their offered solution was compressor replacement with a quoted price of £705.  I decided to research further, and came away not realising that another fault had been introduced by the Climatronic ECU coding having been wiped during the fault finding, although I also knew the correct VAG compressor part number for my car (5K0 820 803).  After getting independent quotes, it transpires that replacing the compressor could cost anywhere from £300 to £600, with the average labour cost in that being around £100.  A used compressor from a crash damaged VAG car seemed to be about £80 if you know the correct part number to look for.   My solution ended up with this thread and a local AC experienced garage (Prolek West Wales) aiming me in the correct direction of checking that compressor screw, and getting it screwed back in properly.  Cost at the end of that £82 for the labour and a properly re-gassed system, but further trips necessary to the Skoda dealer to get the ECU coding re-programmed before the AC would operate again.  Net result is a working AC again and a saving of over £600 on the original quote.

[Nobby hall]

The air con on my 2010 Yeti failed and I can see the bolt protruding from the centre of the shear plate. I was going to find if I can purchase the shear plate replacement but was advised that Skoda fitted several different compressors and there is no record of what was fitted to my car. How can I find out which compressor was fitted?

[Breezy_Pete]

It will have a label on it with part number and manufacturer info.

See 2nd photo in this listing as an example AC PUMP SKODA YETI MK1 (Typ 5L) 2009 On 1197 CYVB Air Con Compressor - 10991242 | eBay