Climate Control Fault Finding

[HoG38]

Can anyone suggest where I go from here...

The climate control has stopped working... I took it for a re-gas at a "reputable" garage... they vac'd out the old gas, held the vacuum for 20mins and recharged the system (950g).  No joy... still not chilling! It appears to be "leak free" but not circulating the refrigerant correctly... "That'll be the compressor that needs changing sir" they said...(and then started talking mega-bucks!)

Took it away and looked at the compressor... it seems fine.  It turns freely when off and spins nicely when the AC is switched on and stops when switched off (and engine running) - I'm guessing the clutch is working fine.

Took it to another garage, they agreed that the compressor is working - pressure gauges indicated that there was a high pressure and low pressure side! They suggested that the control panel needs replacing...

The panel does not "flash" when the engine is started (indicating no stored fault code?) but the temperature sensors appear to work... 1) The external temperature is displayed correctly, 2) When on AUTO the fan speed increases and decreases according to the temperature difference & 3) When turning up the set temperature, the heater comes on as expected.  To me this indicates that the control panel functions correctly.

The question is .... where do I go now?  I'm guessing that there must be some sort of blockage on the high pressure side.  (But then why does the compressor not burn out - perhaps it has a over pressure cut out??)

Any good ideas what to try next?

[SilverBeast]

(i) Buy a VCDS-LITE/VAG-COM lead from ebay  Here's one for Ã,£6.95
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/USB-Cable-KKL-VAG-COM-409-1-OBD2-II-OBD-VW-Audi-Seat-Skoda-Auto-Diagnostic-Tool-/321793156563?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item4aec5de5d3

(ii) Download and install the software linked in the listing.

This will talk to all your electrics on the vehicle including Air-Con, Engine and Booster Heater.  It should show any error codes, and will be useful for anything else on your vehicle if you intend keeping it for any length of time.

What year is your Alhambra?

950g sounds too much for a single zone system and not enough for a Dual Zone system (5 vents in the roof of for the Row 2/Row 3 passengers).  There should be a plate on the slam panel at the front of the engine bay that says how much it should need.

[marinabrid]

wold def agree with the gas quantity due to my own recent goings on

with 950g in  its a wonder the compressor isn't cutting in and out every few seconds causing the rpm to raise an dip    mine did,   also on the last mk 1 we had  i did  a home top up with one of those aerosols from amazon    i overfilled a bit and the compressor was cutting gin and out,   i let some out and it was fine .

on my mk 2   the plate states   700 + 50 for single and 1050 +50 for dual

[Paul.benjamin55]

Hi what code reader would I need for a mk2 2.3 petrol please i have read that there are different I have tried a reader but don't work for climate control faults and there is Defo a fault code as display flashes just really want to work out what the fault is 🙏🙏??

[SilverBeast]

Everything apart from engine is VW so a VAG-COM/VCDS-LITE lead from ebay as above though this is the one I have which is a bit more expensive http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VAG-GROUP-USB-OBD2-II-KKL-ECU-DIAGNOSTIC-CABLE-LEAD-Compatible-VCDS-LITE-or-409-/221104144547?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item337ad580a3

Software is free though as in the link in the listing.  Make sure ypu download VCDS-LITE though, not VCDS.