The great air con saga !!

Z

zinc

Member
Faulty climate control panel ... At a total loss!

Hi my a2 climate control only blows cold air when sent to vents at window screen .everthing else does not work bars go up and back to zero .. Heated rear widow button works the rest is goosed totally .. Need advice as winter draws in options so far 1: maim dealer £ 60 plus estimate £300
2: cluster repairs they took my fault details and rang me back and said quote £100-129 plus vat .. 2 year warranty don't see how they can quote over the phone ... Anyone used them?
3: buy second hand from eBay £80
4: audi non main dealer glasgow diagnostic £60 plus costs told me I get the £60 back if I do work with them.

So many options at a loss as best course of action all of the above just appears to be how longs apiece of string in terms of costs

Has any one had a near total ac crash and got it fixed ... Any help would be very much appreciated
 
Last edited:
Hi Zinc, welcome to the A2OC.

If you're willing to drive it down the M74 to Lancaster, then I can at least diagnose the problem for you. I've also got a few spare climate control ECUs, so if the fault does lie there, you'll be able to drive home with a working system.

Cheers,

Tom
 
Thanks will indeed consider this . Live in Glasgow but could be heading to London just before Christmas... You have any views on sending it to company that say they can fix it ... With me just explaining over the phone what problems I'm having ? . Looking at the forum . I seem to to be the only post ever to have
this problem

Thanks in advance
 
Hi again Just checked only 2 and half hour drive so not bad will be back in touch ... Really cool of you to offer by the way !!!
Ray
 
Yeah, I'm only about an hour south of the border, so not too far at all.

Whilst people have contacted companies like Cluster Repairs before, it's always been about instrument clusters, not climate control units. I don't believe Cluster Repairs have ever actually taken on any work from the club's members, so I can't comment on their service. However, given that climate control units generally change hands for £80 - £100, I don't see the point in using their service on this occasion. Also, without a diagnostic scan, we can't be sure that's where the issue lies.

I've known climate control units go doolally before, though it's very uncommon. Like I say, if you're happy to make the trip, you'll go home knowing where the problem lies, even if we can't fix it with a replacement ECU.

Cheers,

Tom
 
Hi there been meaning to get back ... Had a diagnostic
Done ... Didn't get the fault codes but will do ... Anyway told it was a flap that was seized . Told the garage had reset ecu and
He had managed to free one but would now have too completely remove dash take it apart and try to free other flap. If he couldn't new flap £91 and labour £350 plus vat ..... Any suggestions. Been searching site and found someone who says you can unseize flap via vag com , wand also a method to remove flaps without removing dash board ....instruction in German on German a2 forum of course..... You know anything about this ...Cheers again for your first offer
 
Replacing the flap positioning motor is a definite dash-out job, and I think the calibration process for replacement is fairly involved.
You can "exercise your flaps" (so to speak) by going through a lot of cycles on the air-con with the blow direction - screen, face, feet etc and in various combinations, but I guess it depends upon how badly seized the motor/ flaps are as to whether that'll be effective or not.
 
Thanks ... The worry is that there is talk on the forum that this garage work could be a waste of time and i should first see if the compressor is done in ... I thing someone was saying you check first if the compressor centre will spin with engine off if it does then compressor is broken ...

I just trying to come up with some logical steps I can ensure the garage will take first , as opposed to taking out The dash fixing the flap then saying "oh dear it's not the flaps , it's the compressor by which time I could be up to £ 1000 mark any advice on things I could suggest / steps i perfer him to first take when I meet the garage man on Monday would be well appreciated
 
Get the error codes and post them here. In the mean time do the compressor check yourself and let us know the results
 
Hi have been told it is likely to be g263 a temperature sensor after they played around with flaps.

after leaving i did the following compressor manual check myself( see below) and found there is a quart inch movement and stops with a clicking sound but no spinning ?? does that mean its toast as stated below ?

if it is the compressor then as I cant afford a new one plain and simple .

So would I be right in saying there will then be no point in doing the dash out and sensor job at this point in time ?

instuctions: from Mike
I Looked down into the engine on the driver’s side and followed these instructions “”, you'll see the auxillary belt - it runs around the alternator pully at the top and drops down by the intercooler.
The next pully it goes around at the bottom front is the climate compressor.
Put your hand down there and grasp the raised centre portion of the pully - NOT the grooved pulley itself. Try to turn it either forwards or backwards.
If the centre of the pulley moves or spins whilst the outer is static, then the compressor is toast."
 
Hi have been told it is likely to be g263 a temperature sensor after they played around with flaps.

after leaving i did the following compressor manual check myself( see below) and found there is a quart inch movement and stops with a clicking sound but no spinning ?? does that mean its toast as stated below ?

if it is the compressor then as I cant afford a new one plain and simple ?? .

KEY POINT : if you answer "its toast" would I be right in saying there will then be no point in doing the dash out and sensor job at this point in time as it will make no differance and i will just be wasting £273.00 ?. The garage i believe doesnt really want this job due to the aggrevation for little return (sensor job) and are being very coy about any questions regarding the compressor.( they say they dont think it is ) ie in their mind the real earner is getting me to do dash out , fixing the sensor and then saying look its the compressor too.

instuctions: from Mike
I Looked down into the engine on the driver’s side and followed these instructions “”, you'll see the auxillary belt - it runs around the alternator pully at the top and drops down by the intercooler.
The next pully it goes around at the bottom front is the climate compressor.
Put your hand down there and grasp the raised centre portion of the pully - NOT the grooved pulley itself. Try to turn it either forwards or backwards.
If the centre of the pulley moves or spins whilst the outer is static, then the compressor is toast."

if any one has suggestions or an answer to the quater inc movement in the test , much appreciated . i live in scotland so not looking forward to new year driving son around
 
zinc said:
Hi have been told it is likely to be g263 a temperature sensor after they played around with flaps.

after leaving i did the following compressor manual check myself( see below) and found there is a quart inch movement and stops with a clicking sound but no spinning ?? does that mean its toast as stated below ?

if it is the compressor then as I cant afford a new one plain and simple .

So would I be right in saying there will then be no point in doing the dash out and sensor job at this point in time ?

instuctions: from Mike
I Looked down into the engine on the driver’s side and followed these instructions “”, you'll see the auxillary belt - it runs around the alternator pully at the top and drops down by the intercooler.
The next pully it goes around at the bottom front is the climate compressor.
Put your hand down there and grasp the raised centre portion of the pully - NOT the grooved pulley itself. Try to turn it either forwards or backwards.
If the centre of the pulley moves or spins whilst the outer is static, then the compressor is toast."
Click to expand...

The instructions indicate that if it DOES spin, then it is "toast" and you are saying that yours DOESN'T spin and so therefore yours is NOT "toast" at least as far as that test goes.#

Steve B
 
Those instructions were written by me a few years ago and it's a good indicator of the internal state of the compressor.

As the compressor spins all the time in normal operation (as it's driven by the aux belt) then there needs to be a safety device so that if the compressor fails or sticks, the rest of the stuff driven by the belt (chiefly the alternator) remains working and the belt doesn't suffer any damage.

So, the spindle that drives the compressor is attached by a clutch system that is effectively a block of rubber with squared off corners. If the compressor jams, then the corners of the rubber shear off and the belt and pulley are still free to turn.

So, because the test you performed is good, you can presume that the compressor is being driven as it should be, but it's not 100%

Has a scan of the system been done? Has this shown any faults?
 
Hi Ray,

I’ll offer a warning and a little advice.

If you have not yet had a scan done and had the scan results given to you, then this should be your first step.

It is quite likely the issue is with the evaporator sensor (G263), but take great care when choosing someone to do this work for you.
The dash out, sensor change and dash back in is a lengthy process, so whoever is doing this work should be allowing 5hrs if they’ve done it before, or 8hrs if they haven’t.
If you choose someone to do the work for you on a fixed price and they’re not 100% knowledgeable on this topic they might quote what seems a low price, but you know what you’ll end up with – damaged interior items and rattles all over the place, because once they realise they’re loosing money on the job it’ll just be slammed back together.

I would advise you seek the guidance from Timmus, who has already offered the scan. I know he has performed this task, so is very well aware what to look out for, and how long the job takes to do correctly.

Just my thoughts, but as he’s only a couple of hours away from you it seems to make sense to me.

Cheers

Jeff
 
Skipton01 said:
Those instructions were written by me a few years ago and it's a good indicator of the internal state of the compressor.

As the compressor spins all the time in normal operation (as it's driven by the aux belt) then there needs to be a safety device so that if the compressor fails or sticks, the rest of the stuff driven by the belt (chiefly the alternator) remains working and the belt doesn't suffer any damage.

So, the spindle that drives the compressor is attached by a clutch system that is effectively a block of rubber with squared off corners. If the compressor jams, then the corners of the rubber shear off and the belt and pulley are still free to turn.

So, because the test you performed is good, you can presume that the compressor is being driven as it should be, but it's not 100%

Has a scan of the system been done? Has this shown any faults?
Click to expand...

Thanks ... Okay a little history without boring you to tears
Last 6 months no air con .. Switch it and the bars return to zero no air , hot or cold . Very occasionally cold air would blow through front window vent for 5 mins then go dead
3weeks ago all sequences of front down left right work only cold air

3weeks ago take in to garage he spends 2 hours says come back in a week it's seized flaps

Drive away now loud humming sound of motor / flaps when turning on off


2weeks ago took to garage 8am ... I did not get faults ( stupid ) told it was seized flaps. Left him with it said it was a dash out job . He would try to unsieze flaps . Come 5 pm he says he has worked freeing a seized rod but now thinks its the g263 sensor and now needs a full dash job ( so what's he doing all day and the week before?

I m no expert obviously but it looked like he had worked trough the glove department as there was my stuff on seat ... Not das out as first told

Told to bring back on nTuesday next week to have full dash out new sensor £273.00

Assuming you think I should go a head with this I have 2questions
1: is there anything else I should get changed as a precaution with dash out
2: should I gamble that its not the compressor based on my own check

The bottom line is I can't afford a new compressor and don't wish to spend best part of 300 to be told its the compressor all along and and have no option to walk away gutted. Compressor £500-700?

I feel there's no quick or right answer to this
But thanks guys for your replies and the good will shown to a2 drivers by all forum members . I will report back so other may learn form this !!!
 
Mustang-owner said:
I'm unsure why you have 2 posts running with this same topic and updating one or the other at random, but this is my comment on your other thread:

Hi Ray,

I’ll offer a warning and a little advice.

If you have not yet had a scan done and had the scan results given to you, then this should be your first step.

It is quite likely the issue is with the evaporator sensor (G263), but take great care when choosing someone to do this work for you.
The dash out, sensor change and dash back in is a lengthy process, so whoever is doing this work should be allowing 5hrs if they’ve done it before, or 8hrs if they haven’t.
If you choose someone to do the work for you on a fixed price and they’re not 100% knowledgeable on this topic they might quote what seems a low price, but you know what you’ll end up with – damaged interior items and rattles all over the place, because once they realise they’re loosing money on the job it’ll just be slammed back together.

I would advise you seek the guidance from Timmus, who has already offered the scan. I know he has performed this task, so is very well aware what to look out for, and how long the job takes to do correctly.

Just my thoughts, but as he’s only a couple of hours away from you it seems to make sense to me.

Cheers

Jeff
Click to expand...

Hi jeff yeah 2 posts thing my mistake thought I needed 2 to get feedback

Thanks for your sound advice ,the garage is an independent German car specialist and said he's done it before
. I will go and put your points to him and get the results of scan and post ... If unhappy will contact timmus who you rightly point out has very kindly offered to help

Cheers

Ray
 
Hi ,the german car specialist spent 5 hours working on car , would appear that that he ignored the suggestion to test sensor via control panel but instead did the dash out .... 6 hours later told NOT THE G263 SENSOR. He nows says he has tried everything ,freeing flaps .resetting them, compressor is ok and he is now at a total loss. told me to take to dealer or google
dianostic read out :

all faults have been erased ( why? i ask)
00818 - sensor for evaporator outlet tempreature (g263)
30-00-open or short to plus

told me the car is a gonna . he believes it is the entire heater unit which would cost 600 + 600 to install and it is in his opinion not worth it.

any suggestions ?? , thinking of selling before things get worse audi a2 tdi se 1.4 75 bhp 02 103,000 miles .. if i was to sell any ideas what i could sell it for ? or better to trade in
 
Zinc, have you looked through this thread yet:

http://www.a2oc.net/forum/archive/index.php/t-13817.html

It gives some pointers to the fact that an 0818 fault can sometimes be related to a compressor that's about to fail.

Whilst you've done the 'spin test', it is only an indication of the inside state of the compressor and from what Humps said on the above thread, a new compressor fixed his issues.

So, you could try this route first - I've had a re-manufactured compressor fitted in the past (in fact I fitted it myself - not a tricky job, but the re-gassing is obviously a specialist-only task) and it's still going strong 5 years later.

They can be had for less than £200 - for eample: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AIR-CON-C...ts=Car+Make:Audi|Model:A2&hash=item2577801f47

No link to the seller of this one and no inference that it's the best option either.

Cheers,

M
 
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