Hello all – I’m new to the Group and have a very annoying problem with the Air Conditioning. I hope someone may be able to help.  Apologies for the long post

 

My car is a 2014 Superb 2 series 5-door hatch, owned by me from new and used as a Taxi. Current mileage is 147,000. Car is regularly serviced at approx. 12,000 mile intervals.

 

I usually keep the A/C on all the time, set to the central temperature setting with the blower set at 1. In winter/adverse weather the temperature is set higher and the blower at 2 or 3.

 

The aircon worked perfectly until October 2018 when it took to blasting out very hot air with no warning.  I took the car to a local specialist who confirmed the unit was fully gassed but diagnosed some fault codes, cleared them and reset the system.

The problem returned so I took the car to the local Skoda Dealer who diagnosed a faulty thermostat but otherwise was extremely offhand and unhelpful.

Neither I nor the mechanics at my local garage could understand how the thermostat could affect the A/C as the car quickly gets up to temp and stays there.  Consequently, I have not pursued a replacement thermostat

 

I returned to the local specialist who had another go and fitted an Air Mix Motor.

The problem remained and was returned to the specialist.

He detected a problem with a voltage drop which seemed to coincide with the blasts of hot air and identified a fault with  the alternator so I had that checked by the garage and it was faulty and it was changed.

The problem remained and the specialist fitted a new AVAOE Climate Control module as well as carrying out four days of investigation trying to trace where the voltage drop was occurring [I was not charged for these days!]

 

The problem remains.  The A/C side of the system works in that moisture is removed from the inside of the car. The problem is the temperature control – I get only very hot air at almost any setting except extreme cold, when I get extreme cold air! Sometimes it behaves itself but most times it does not.

Can anyone offer some advice / guidance please??

What type of aircon system is fitted: Climatic or Climatronic? If you are not sure, the spec level of the car should help narrow it down.

 

Has the control module been scanned with a diagnostic tool that can read VAG codes? VCDS, ODIS or VCP would be the most commonly used tools. If the control module has detected a fault it will store the code which can help point you in the right direction.

Chimaera, thanks for the question.

Its NOT a Climatronic, sorry for not making that clear in my first post. Just three knobs, reading from left Temperature, Fan speed, Air Flow direction.

The analysis reports are "VAG/VAS Emulator", running on Windows 10.

These scans [there have been quite a few] indicate a short in the wiring, rather than a fail in a piece of equipment like a sensor or control module.

Is it possible to rig up some sort of mini-loom to  by-pass the original wiring/plugs etc., or are some functions or the loom interconnected with other operations? 

A fault code for a short could indicate a failure on a sensor or a break in wiring. Find the components related to the fault codes you have found and test those first. If you know what you're doing with electrical diagnostics, you can test sensors with a multimeter: most sensors are resistive so if you measure the resistance across the terminals as you vary the 'load' on the sensor you can see if it's working. No change in resistance or constant zero resistance suggests a failure of the sensor. Zero resistance creates a short which the controller will pick up. You should also test the switches this way: if a switch or control fails shut it will also result in a short. Start with the temperature control dial.

 

If you think, or know, that the sensors and controllers are ok, the next thing to do is trace the wiring harness from one end to the other looking for signs of damage. Some fancy multimeters can estimate the distance to a short or break along a cable.

 

If you're not confident with any of this, find a good auto-electrician.

 

 

Good, sort of, to hear you have the exact same issue with a mark 2 Superb. It has stumped 3 garages locally.

2 regassed, though they said pressure was good (why regas then?) 

I3rd then suggested I need a new compressor, £500 but no guarantee it would fix it (and no refund!!!)  I decided to limp on with intermittent AC. 

It now appears, from an engineers report I found among the paperwork, that the issue was raised by the first owner shortly after purchase. Skodas engineer said everything was fine and that the aircon was expected to cut out occasionally - huh??? 

A friend with a similar age VW Tuareg reports an almost identical issue - maybe it's a VAG issue? 

I've finally found, hopefully, a more expert and experienced garage and, with luck, I'll be able to report success soon. 

Showing them the forum post may help point them to a solution 

Interesting! We have the same problem (but with Climatronic), the local AC expert told us the compressor was failing and quoted some horrific sum to fix it. He then unplugged the AC saying it would fail very soon and then we'd need a complete replacement.  Considering this was on the hottest day of the year I told my wife to return to the mechanic and tell him to plug it back in. Four months later we still have the same issue but it hasn't failed.

 

 

Happy to report that I have had my issue with air conditioning fixed.

chimaera was right!! Thanks!

After scratching around with local auto electricians I finally took it to a Skoda Dealer who were much more competent than the first!

Had the car scanned and located a fault in the wiring - this turned out to be a failed External Temperature Sensor.

Seems it was telling the A/C that it was very cold outside so the A/C ramped up the heat and fan.

Seems a logical explanation and I have reason to believe its a known fault/problem.   jonty1960 might apply to you?

Cost £75 for the initial scan plus £250 for a new sensor.

Thanks to all who commented, read and tried to help

Did you mean £25 for the sensor?

https://www.allcarpartsfast.co.uk/vw-audi-seat-skoda/vw-audi-seat-skoda-8z0820535a-temp-sens/

Edited 23 September, 20196 yr by Wino

for when the above link fails,

Outside Temperature Sensor part number 8Z0820535A

Does that sensor not just fit under the passenger side scuttle panel
@HantsTaxiDriver
£250  hopefully a typo🤑

Wino ... The £250:00 was to supply and fit the sensor, sorry for any confusion

Del8oy.... Certainly needed to have some of the dash removed, possibly the scuttle, to fit the sensor

I am new to this forum activity but this topic lines up with a problem on my low mileage 62 reg 2 litre superb elegance.

I get unstable temperature to the drivers side only with sudden blasts of very hot air for a short time before reverting to the setting and then off we go again.

The Skoda garage has fitted 2 new flap valve motors to no avail. I can't see that replacing the outside temp sensor would resolve this , but reading all the posts could it be the drivers side temp controller on the dash is faulty?

Would appreciate any comments.

Additional info. In the cold weather it is not a problem but in warm weather when the aircon is needed it certainly is.

I drove my 66 L&K Superb 280 miles last Thursday with 24.5’C outside temperature, thinking my AC was defective – very low air flow, and air not cold. –

So after a search, I found this video,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRa6c9UfyEs

I didn’t think I had a “flaps” problem but being so easy I tried.

The effect was like switching the equipment on, enough air to blow my hair up and after 15 minutes the air was down to 9.4’C (20.5’C outside)

Being a retired Siemens controls engineer I’ve guessed what must have caused my problem…

Last week, with the engine and ignition off, I decided to pump up my bicycle tyres from the boot socket, the recommended pressure was 5bar so a heavy electrical load, just as the second tyre was hitting 5bar I thought that I had blown the fuse as the compressor stopped, I checked the socket and it was OK? Strange? I thought no more about it.

Thinking back of course the dip in voltage caused by my pump’s final few strokes (engine not running) had somehow caused the flap control for all flaps to reset to the wrong position!

It may be why a “6 hour job” only actually takes less than 1 hour? (mentioned elsewhere on this site)

Thank you THE DRUID for your post.

With  all our local lock down problems I have at last got round to watching the video and applied it to my Superb. Very simple and very quick.

 I went for a 30 mile drive last week on a very hot day and hey presto, the problem seems to have gone away. This action appears to resolve a number of different air flow problems.

I had been convinced that my issue, being specific to the driver's side, related to a sensor and exchanged the  temp sensor in the face level outlet with that on the passenger side to see if the problem would be transferred to the passenger side. It didn't. 

I am disappointed that my local main dealer was not aware of this solution. Thank goodness for a forum!

I had tried to talk to somebody at Skoda but they just referred me back to the dealer who said they would investigate it again. This would be at my cost despite their previous efforts being unsuccessful. Doesn't give me much confidence in them for the future.

Thanks again for your suggestion, or as you are THE DRUID perhaps I should say " diolch yn fawr"