Was just wondering as I've pumped a bit of cash into getting the air con going as it's not worked in a while, the first time it was gassed up again and realised the pipe was leaking so replaced that and regassed, worked fine for 2 days then only drivers side pumped out cold air and not the passenger side and then stopped working altogether. Got treatment done through the vents of the interior through the pipes (a type of gel) and regassed worked fine for 4 days then totally stopped working again. Is there any solutions to this? And is there an owners thread here for Ireland? Thanks

Jack...

Plus to anyone working with Autoglym, who's the best and most reputable for genuine Autoglym air freshners? (The dangling mirror type)

Anyone encounter this/solution??

18 hours ago, JacksVRS said:

Anyone encounter this/solution??

I would suggest you to try to find the cause first. You know you have had a pipe fixed already, but there can be more than one leak.

1. You can try to test the Pressure with VCDS, maybe that will show you something helpful.

2. Go to mechanic that can test the pressure and test for another leaks (probably with some colored smoke)

 

During the test, because of how pressure works, you will most likely see only the biggest holes. The others will not show up. So you have to do multiple tests there. 

Air con refrigerant with a UV dye can be added, you can then go looking for leaks with a UV torch while wearing funky yellow specs (or at night). Most common place is pin holes in the condensor, usually at the front of the car near the radiator.

 

Last time I found a leak it was the condensor and also the inlet valve (like a schrader valve often) was leaking, but that was on my Vectra, not the missus's Skoda

Pin holes in the condenser are common as this is the "radiator" at the front behind the grill. Low refrigerant shows up as cold air only on the drivers side, which you had. Best cure is to take it to a air-con specialist and likely they will fix it with one visit at lower cost than garages.

As the external grill is just a series of open bars, many of us on here have fitted a plastic net behind the grill to catch stones before they damage the condenser. When I did mine I found not only many strikes on the condenser but also 5mm+ pieces of concrete on the plastic shelf beneath.

Yea did try the dye and all of the above, the pressure or actual coldness of it was freezing, plus the actually gas pressure was still full even when it wasn't working, so I might get a look at the condenser as it seems possible the issue is coming from there as tried all of the above. Thanks for getting back lads.

If it still has full pressure when it is not cooling then you don't have a leak. That said, how do you know that you have full pressure? The only real way to tell how much refrigerant is present is to remove it and weigh it which is done by most A/C refilling machines. A common source of leaks on the Octavia is the top white nylon plug on the right hand side of the condenser in front of the coolant radiator. The best way to test for leaks whilst the system has pressure is to use soapy water and a paint brush. If you see bubbles then you have a leak.

 

Assuming that you have a full charge or at least sufficient to run the system and you have no cooling then the next most likely culprit is the control valve in the compressor. Symptoms of a failure here are limited cooling or a delay to start cooling (approx 10 minutes). You can replace the valve, they are available online for about £30 alternatively a replacement compressor can be fitted. You will need a set of gauges to diagnose this fault.

 

Good luck!

Yea was looking into it the gauge when plugged in displayed full pressure in the hose but really I've spent a lot on it and can't really afford to go much more as well, it's Ireland haha but my condenser is in bad shape and the hose going into was leaking and I had that replaced already so must get the gauge on it again to see if has lost any pressure since the last time. Thanks for the reply... also I don't think there's a problem with the compressor as it did put a load on the engine but it could be that valve but rally it could be anything you could replace all and it still wouldn't be right that's the only fear I have when you could improve the car more effectively somewhere else.

Edited 10 June, 20179 yr by JacksVRS

On 10/6/2017 at 13:42, JacksVRS said:

Yea was looking into it the gauge when plugged in displayed full pressure in the hose but really I've spent a lot on it and can't really afford to go much more as well, it's Ireland haha but my condenser is in bad shape and the hose going into was leaking and I had that replaced already so must get the gauge on it again to see if has lost any pressure since the last time. Thanks for the reply... also I don't think there's a problem with the compressor as it did put a load on the engine but it could be that valve but rally it could be anything you could replace all and it still wouldn't be right that's the only fear I have when you could improve the car more effectively somewhere else.

Update just, ran a self diagnostic and got the error code 0E5 02h, can anyone shed light on this code?

Edited 24 June, 20179 yr by JacksVRS

I'd say this could be the culprit of the fault as it's seen better days from stone chips (condenser)

 

the pics aren't great sorry

 

Edited 24 June, 20179 yr by JacksVRS

33 minutes ago, JacksVRS said:

Update just, ran a self diagnostic and got the error code 0E5 02h, can anyone shed light on this code?

 

 

The h after the number means it is a hexadecimal number. Converting to decimal, 0E502h is 58626.

Normally one can get full information by putting the decimal number in the Ross-Tech search engine but this time it is not recognised, probably because it is not a car fault as in engine or electronics.

However, a quick search shows the two sets of numbers may be independent. It shows that code 0E5 in hex, 229 in decimal, is coolant pressure but that may be a red herring. I will leave you to do further searches.

Yea checked it and it was flagged as coolant use referring to gas level, it may due to the condenser being in such a bad shape it could be leaking