Since my previous post re. no air con, I've been directed (by the dealer I bought the car from) to two independant garages, who gave the following verdict:

Garage 1: Air con is charged, but no rise in pressure on the high pressure side when air con is switched on. Condenser fan doesn't switch on. Conclusion...electrical fault???

Garage 2: There is only 40g of gas - needs recharge and also new compressor as the compressor is 'permanently on' ?

You can see I don't have much faith in either of these!

I also visited a genuine Skoda service centre who first mentioned that putting the car on diagnostics would not display any A/C faults (but I've read that vag-com can display faults with evap temp sensor) - they also wanted £80 just to look at the car.

So, can anyone tell me of a decent garage in Sussex who REALLY knows Skoda, particularly air con, and preferably also has both decent diagnostic facility (VAG-com?) and also a brain!

Can anyone answer these two:

1. Should the condenser fan come on directly the A/C button is pressed?

2. How does the Fabia compressor work - I've read about it being clutchless? Don't be shy to explain technical stuff......

I'd wanted the dealer I bought the car from to get this sorted (I don't really want to pay!), but they keep directing me to non skoda people, and there isn't a local dealership. I'm getting fed up now and want it sorted before the weather warms up and before the waranty runs out!!

THANKS!!!!!

The Fabia's compressor is always on - IIRC it's driven off the cambelt directly.

Generally, I reckon it's a good thing as you don't get as many compressors failing due to lack of usage (in winter).

When my air con did work (doesn't at the moment!), I don't remember hearing the fan come on straight away. Although the noise coming from the air vent when switching ac on and off did change slightly.

Presumably the light comes on when you press the AC button? Same thing with the recirculation button?

Thanks for your reply. Yes, recirc and A/C buttons light up ok. Theres a change in air noise when you press recirc, but no difference when you press the A/C.

If the compressor runs all the time, how is the A/C switched on and off?

Sorry for my ignorance, but what is 'IIRC'??

Compressor runs all the time, however the load on it changes whether you have the ac turned on or off. Not too sure how it works exactly

Do you remember when did your air con last worked? When mine "failed", I decided to turn it on, then heard a louder-than-normal hissy air sound. The air was definately chilled. The next time I tried the air con a few weeks later, it didn't cool, nor make any sound, but light still comes on. I need to get it checked out - I hope it's just a gassing issue.

I've checked mine with VAG COM and it doesn't show any errors on air con. I do get heat flap sensor motor problems, but that's a common fault and not related to the air con.

FYI (for your information ), IIRC = If I recall correctly

You really need to get the car read for fault codes, preferably with the Skoda VAS tool or VCDS (formerly VAG Com). A common fault is the evaporator outlet air temperature sensor, this costs around £20 but can be a pain to fit - do a search on here and it should bring up a guide.

Looking at your posting history I see that you have an early Fabia, some of these left the factory with an incorrectly coded engine control unit. Basically it would show up an 18020 exhaust fault and the air conditioning would not work as due to its coding the ECU doesn't know it is fitted to the car. It is just a simple matter of re-coding of the control unit to rectify this.

To answer another one of your queries, any fuse layout diagrams in the hand book are for left hand drive, your fuse layout will be a mirror image of this.

The air conditioning compressor is driven by the auxiliary or V belt.

I agree with fordfan, main dealers should only charge half hour labour to put your car on the machine. If you have no faith, take it to a reputable a/c specialist.

One problem that can happen with the compressor is the overload device (serrated rubber ring breaks) will operate if there has been a mechanical failure within the compressor. This is fitted in the pulley/drive arrangement, and I don't think it's repairable without buying a new compressor, but I'm not sure. If you need a new compressor, there are some good deals on ebay from time to time, (£200 ish), but you'll prolly need your specialist to fit and recharge the system.

My condenser fan cuts in within a few seconds of me switching on the a/c, I wonder if it is controlled by the evap outlet sensor or (more likely) the condenser outlet sensor - or something else entirely??

Thanks for your help.

Fordfan - I'll copy your reply and give it to the garage when they check the car (if I can find a good local one) - it would be strange if the previous owner would never have noticed an A/C fault and had it rectified, but you never know. What should the ECU code be? I guess you read my other post about the ECU fuse being absent - this was definately the case, I don't think I made any mistake about the fuse layout.

Can anyone recommend a good dealer/expert in the sussex area?? Alternatively, anyone around sussex got VAG-com??

At least I don't need the A/C at the moment - lots of snow here today!

my aircon tale of woe here:http://briskoda.net/forums/fabia/air-conditioning-fixed/89749/

Cut a long story short, my pulley and compressor shaft had become uncoupled, they are held together via a 'plastic' friction material, and it was hard visually see the problem as the pulley was spinning.

The only indication was spidery slithers of plastic around the pulley.

new compressor sorted me out and all working again.

ECU coding as follows:

00061 petrol engine and air con

00071 petrol engine ABS and air con

00005 diesel engine and air con

00006 diesel engine air con and ABS

VAG Com owners are here:

http://briskoda.net/forums/diagnostics-vag-com/vag-com-owners-map/80992/

Well, the air con is finally fixed!

Its seems that Fordfan was correct - the car came up with 'incorrectly coded ECU'. The garage reprogrammed it with a code they constructed, and it now works! Apparently 'incorrectly coded ECU' still comes up on VAG-com, but no other faults and everything works. I'll leave it like that until I get vag-com myself and can play about myself.

Thanks for everyones comments. A lesson for the future - run the car through vag-com before anything else!

Just for reference - it was Clarion cars of Worthing who sorted it out. They've been working on Skodas for years and know what they are talking about (unlike the authorised Skoda service centre I went to!)