MK5 Golf GTI

All Things Mk5 => Mk5 General Area => Topic started by: Chesto18 on July 16, 2018, 07:32:34 am

Title: Air Con not working....at all.
Post by: Chesto18 on July 16, 2018, 07:32:34 am
Hi,

Getting a bit fed up with my non-working air con in all this heat!

I’ve done a fairly comprehensive search on here and it appears it could be a number of things, but here are my symptoms

Essentially pressing the AC button does nothing at all. No cold air, no change in the temp of the air coming through. Neither fan activates after pressing the switch.

Any ideas where to start? Fuses? Recharge? Pressure switch?

Cheers
Title: Re: Air Con not working....at all.
Post by: Octoparrot on July 16, 2018, 12:51:57 pm
My advice is take it to an Air Con specialist (not Kwik fit) and get it properly diagnosed as you say it could be one or several things.
Title: Re: Air Con not working....at all.
Post by: neilw on July 16, 2018, 12:53:46 pm
Have you had it leak tested? Take it for a re-gas, if it's leaking they won't fill it, and normally not charge you. If you have a fault code reader that may give you some clues as well. The pressure switch can sometimes break, that's about £40 to replace, or the solenoid on the compressor can also fail.

If it's leaked then you can try and find the leak with a UV torch, and then go from there.

Title: Re: Air Con not working....at all.
Post by: rich83 on July 16, 2018, 02:57:14 pm
No gas.

Pressure switch faulty and leaked coolant.

Compressor f*cked.


Most likely to be one of those
Title: Re: Air Con not working....at all.
Post by: Chesto18 on July 16, 2018, 07:45:03 pm
Cheers guys. I think I’ll go down the re-gas route first and see what happens.
Title: Re: Air Con not working....at all.
Post by: mo on July 17, 2018, 11:38:31 am
Mine is intermitten. Has already been regassed so will replace the pressure switch before going down the compressor route.
Ordered one off Ebay for £10
Title: Re: Air Con not working....at all.
Post by: neilw on July 17, 2018, 12:29:25 pm
Compressors are readily available on eBay for less than £40 too, if you willing to take a punt on a used one
Title: Re: Air Con not working....at all.
Post by: Cosmos on July 17, 2018, 08:48:57 pm
My air con wasnt working recently even although i got it recharged last October.
The fans blew air through the vents,it just wasnt cool.Got the air con pressure switch replaced and another recharge and all is good now.
Title: Re: Air Con not working....at all.
Post by: mo on July 24, 2018, 06:11:01 pm
Had my pressure switch changed and a regas and now working full time. Though doesn't seem to get as cold as other cars. Maybe that's normal. No complaints here tho
Title: Re: Air Con not working....at all.
Post by: pudding on July 24, 2018, 06:58:28 pm
Agreed, it is pretty weak in the MK5, even with everything working properly.  My friends MK7.5 isn’t much colder either.  Must just be a VW thing.
Title: Re: Air Con not working....at all.
Post by: rich83 on July 25, 2018, 09:57:11 am
Agreed, it is pretty weak in the MK5, even with everything working properly.  My friends MK7.5 isn’t much colder either.  Must just be a VW thing.

Really? My mk5 gets nice and cold.
Title: Re: Air Con not working....at all.
Post by: slim08 on July 25, 2018, 10:31:05 am
This is a timely post.

My A/C hasn't been working properly... takes 15 mins to get cool(ish) air moving. I bought a re-gas kit online and went to top it up - and the pressure is too high already! I tried giving it a couple small squirts of new gas but didn't proceed any further.

Now the A/C will put out some cooler air, and more quickly, but I think something's wrong... pressure switch, ya'll recon?
Title: Re: Air Con not working....at all.
Post by: pudding on July 25, 2018, 05:58:23 pm
It does get cold, just not as cold as other cars.  Maybe I’ll stick a thermometer in the vents and see what it’s kicking out.
Title: Re: Air Con not working....at all.
Post by: muff1991 on July 26, 2018, 04:17:36 pm
My air con in my previous GTI worked but wasn't that cold, i still think to this day something wasn't right, i'd get in other cars and be like... your air con is wicked!

My current GTI air con doesn't work at all... so keeping an eye on this thread, i don't know where to start with process of elimination tbh without wasting money!
Title: Re: Air Con not working....at all.
Post by: pudding on July 26, 2018, 08:01:26 pm
I must admit, in today’s 35 deg heat, it was very welcome!  After a 20 min journey with it running full blast on LO, it was like stepping off a plane in Hong Kong, so I guess it does work.  Just takes too long (compared to other cars - like Vauxhalls ffs!) to chill the cabin.

First check is vag-com, then gas leaks, then condenser, then pump.  It can get expensive if it’s duff hardware.
Title: Re: Air Con not working....at all.
Post by: probedb on July 26, 2018, 09:09:41 pm
Got mine in for a checkup, one thing I knew about from the previous owner, wish I'd have got it sorted before this heat tho! And leather seats in this weather when my parking space is in the sun most of the day is not good :D
Title: Re: Air Con not working....at all.
Post by: pudding on July 27, 2018, 02:02:17 pm
I'm not a fan of leather for that reason, and also in winter!

I took some temperature readings this morning out of curiosity.  After a 20 min journey, windows closed and sunroof screen shut, the temps were well into the minus coming out of the vents, and cabin temp was around 10 degrees.  It works a lot better than I gave it credit for!  I had a new condenser fitted last year.  The bottom half of the original one had completely rotted away.  If the pump passes the test, really would recommend a new condenser and regas.  AC will barely work at all if the condenser is knackered.  Being the front most radiator, it gets all of the stones, twigs, debris, birds and mouse nests.

(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/921/29800990878_1c92125577_b.jpg)

(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/837/29800990378_804767b4f8_b.jpg)

(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/854/42954737654_9c97184c51_b.jpg)
Title: Re: Air Con not working....at all.
Post by: pudding on July 27, 2018, 02:05:32 pm
After a 20 min drive this morning.  It appears to work a lot better than I gave it credit for!   Cabin temp around 10 degrees and well into the minus coming out of the vents!

(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/921/29800990878_1c92125577_b.jpg)

(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/837/29800990378_804767b4f8_b.jpg)

(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/854/42954737654_9c97184c51_b.jpg)
Title: Re: Air Con not working....at all.
Post by: muff1991 on July 27, 2018, 04:01:15 pm
First check is vag-com, then gas leaks, then condenser, then pump.  It can get expensive if it’s duff hardware.
[/quote]

cheers pudding... ill go down this route as its much needed! my vents blow warm air! :)
Title: Re: Air Con not working....at all.
Post by: DavGTI on July 27, 2018, 09:24:11 pm
After a 20 min drive this morning.  It appears to work a lot better than I gave it credit for!   Cabin temp around 10 degrees and well into the minus coming out of the vents!

(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/921/29800990878_1c92125577_b.jpg)

(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/837/29800990378_804767b4f8_b.jpg)

(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/854/42954737654_9c97184c51_b.jpg)

I wonder if this is symptoms of possibly needing a re gas soon?. As mine occurred in this sequence of events.

Air con worked fine and got cool pretty quickly.
Air con started taking longer to get fully cool.
Then only drivers side air con was working.

Then no air con.

Scanned last night HVAC fault low pressure exceeded limtit or something I think it said
Title: Re: Air Con not working....at all.
Post by: pudding on July 27, 2018, 11:12:39 pm
Was there a specific fault code for either the high or low pressure sensors?

I'm no HVAC engineer, but I'm guessing there's a pressure drop and the pump is pumping air.  It works for a little while and then the what remains of the refrigerant can't compete with air leaks.

I really recommend replacing the condenser and getting a proper leak test done with a sniffer, or UV dye in the refrigerant.  This is beyond Kwik Fit unfortunately.  You need to take it to an AC specialist.

AKS tuning replaced my condenser last summer because the bottom half of it had rotted away, and the rest of it was completely beaten up with stone dents and clogged with debris.  Even if the pump is fine, a knackered condenser won't give you cold air.  Being the first radiator in the stack, it bears the full brunt of impact and debris damage.
Title: Re: Air Con not working....at all.
Post by: DavGTI on July 29, 2018, 08:39:34 am
No mate no fault codes for pressure sensors. 1 fault found 00229 - Refrigerant pressure.

002 - lower limit exceeded.

I suspected mine was just in need of a regas as there is no history of it being done (2007 model) and I’ve got a folder full of history for everything from the previous owner. Although a leak as you say is also very possible which lead to the sequence of events I stated above. Which I agree a full leak test should be done first. No point filling it if it’s gonna piss back out lol. I was wondering if the OP possibly experienced the same sequence of events? Or did it just stop working?

Also with your own pudding taking 20mins to get fully cold. Did it always take that long or did it ever get colder quicker? As I’m pretty sure mine got colder a lot quicker then like I said started taking longer. 
Title: Re: Air Con not working....at all.
Post by: Gtcpaul1971 on August 03, 2018, 07:47:41 pm
I just seen on you tube that a common issue is the solenoid on the compressor that can be changed. Part is about £20 I think?