So my VRS is a 63 plate on over 40k miles and 2 years old in October, has been faultless with everything working as it should, until this week.

 

On two occasions now the air con would not blow cold, first time just driven to shops, air con fine, did some shopping and on drive home outside temp was 20 and I set the car to 18 and nothing, air was warm, however I stopped the car pulled out the key and restarted the car and hey presto the air con was nice and cold straight away?

 

Second time same thing, started up the car air con nice and cold on drive to shops, went shopping and on return journey the air con would not get cold until I pulled over a restarted the car, air con then nice and cold.

 

My local stealer is Westover Bournemouth who quite frankly are utterly useless and are just saying it probably needs a regas although will need a pressure testing and checking etc etc.

 

They're looking at charging £70 if car needs a regal which is a tad steep to be honest.

 

Question to all, anyone else experienced this type of behaviour , warranty issue perhaps? Is it likely to just need a regas or is it likely to be something more sinister??

 

Any pointers welcomed as loathe giving money to the stealers unless absolutely necessary!

Try Kwik Fit

 

http://www.kwik-fit.com/about-air-conditioning.asp

Try Kwik Fit

 

http://www.kwik-fit.com/about-air-conditioning.asp

Not to worried about where to get a regas done as they all do it, Halfords, KF etc, however it's more if anyone has had similar experiences and ended up having to have parts replaced under warranty as don't won't to have a regas done if faulty parts are to blame,....

If it needs a regas then it has a leak which means it will all be covered under warranty.

If it needs a regas then it has a leak which means it will all be covered under warranty.

 

Unless the Front Radiator has a hole in it

 

Stone Damage, not covered by Warranty

Unless the Front Radiator has a hole in it

Stone Damage, not covered by Warranty

Isn't the condenser behind the radiator, in which case you be out of coolant long before refrigerant.

Isn't the condenser behind the radiator, in which case you be out of coolant long before refrigerant.

 

Think the front one is the Condenser, might be wrong though, 

Think the front one is the Condenser, might be wrong though,

I'm not sure myself, on the mkII the radiator was at the front.

Surely this isn't a gas issue if it is an intermittant fault? Maybe a Briskodian can recommend a better local dealer.

Have someone turn the aircon on whilst parked, engine running. Have a look and see if the aircon compressor clutch engages.

Not usually low on gas after only 2 years unless there is a stone hole.

The aircon condensor is the first radiator and the aircon pump is clutch less, so it turns all the time. There is a trick you can do with the climatic that will give you the pressures inside the aircon system on another thread in this section.

Ignore what I've said, I've hit mk3 by mistake.

Edited 14 August, 201510 yr by meta55b

Have someone turn the aircon on whilst parked, engine running. Have a look and see if the aircon compressor clutch engages.

Not usually low on gas after only 2 years unless there is a stone hole.

I believe the clutch on the compressor does engage as you can actually tell from inside the car when engine idling, just odd it's done it twice, can't seem to replicate it either so the dealer won't have any joy, probably come back with 'computer says no'!

 

The only other thing I can think of is due to holiday the car hasn't been used as much as usual, I normally do about 700 miles a week and the last week this has happened I've only done about 100 miles or so??

The aircon condensor is the first radiator and the aircon pump is clutch less, so it turns all the time. There is a trick you can do with the climatic that will give you the pressures inside the aircon system on another thread in this section.

I can always tell my air con is running especially when car is idling, wasn't sure if it was clutch or clutchless, however at least we now know 

 

I will have to try and dig out that trick as that'll at least give me a start point??

Edited 14 August, 201510 yr by Telboy5

I'm not sure myself, on the mkII the radiator was at the front.

no behind

I think if you hold auto and the facial vent button it runs a diagnostic

Or is it auto and recirc? It's differs between manufacturers.

Not tried this on my Octavia yet, but works a treat on every other car I've done it on. If your AC is so low on Gas the LP switch will activate to protect the compressor. To see if it is low on gas, and to prove the compressor is operable just remove the relay for the AC, put a little jumper link (wire/paper clip) across 2 of the connections for afew seconds and you should hear a little click as the electric clutch engages the compressor.

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Edited 14 August, 201510 yr by JoeFifty

I think if you hold auto and the facial vent button it runs a diagnostic

Or is it auto and recirc? It's differs between manufacturers.

 

 

I couldn't get it to run a diagnostic on my Octavia III:

 

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/367276-airconair-conditioning/?hl=%2Bdiagnostic#entry4344701

Hi Telboy5

The first thing to get done is get the gas that is in the air conditioning system taken out and ask who you use to tell you how much they have taken out, they will weigh it out in kilograms. This will tell you wether it was low on gas or not, If it is slightly low then that is most likely the problem. If it's not then you know it's either an electrical problem or a problem with the compressor.

The problem your experiencing could be intermittent due to being low on gas as refrigerant gas changes pressure according to ambient temperature so if it is slightly low on gas it could then make it an intermittent fault due to ambient temperature making it cut in and out on the low pressure sensor.

Refrigerant gas always leaks from vehicles due to the high pressures, fine vapour it escapes through the rubber hoses over a long period of time hence having to have vehicles re gassed every 3-6 years approx. this is normal and don't think it will be covered under warranty.

Just so you know I'm an air conditioning and refrigeration engineer with 12 years experience. I hope I know what I'm talking about by now!

Don't you measure the weight in grams lol.

Ha! Yeah sorry grams or kilograms same thing 700 grams 0.7 kilograms!

Hi Telboy5

The first thing to get done is get the gas that is in the air conditioning system taken out and ask who you use to tell you how much they have taken out, they will weigh it out in kilograms. This will tell you wether it was low on gas or not, If it is slightly low then that is most likely the problem. If it's not then you know it's either an electrical problem or a problem with the compressor.

The problem your experiencing could be intermittent due to being low on gas as refrigerant gas changes pressure according to ambient temperature so if it is slightly low on gas it could then make it an intermittent fault due to ambient temperature making it cut in and out on the low pressure sensor.

Refrigerant gas always leaks from vehicles due to the high pressures, fine vapour it escapes through the rubber hoses over a long period of time hence having to have vehicles re gassed every 3-6 years approx. this is normal and don't think it will be covered under warranty.

Just so you know I'm an air conditioning and refrigeration engineer with 12 years experience. I hope I know what I'm talking about by now!

Many thanks for this, will keep this in mind, however as the car has now been used more this week, it's back to working 100%,...will keep an eye on things!!

I thought a quick VCDS scan shows the current content of refrigerant in the system, maybe easier than pulling the gas out just yet and it will show functionality of the rest of the A/C system to show a compressor fault etc??

The only way to find out exactly how much refrigerant is in the system is to weigh it out unfortunately.