Air conditioning - known fault?

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Sparkysmum
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Air conditioning - known fault?

Post by Sparkysmum »

Hi

Basically air conditioning not working, told go to KWIK-FIT - they re-gassed with the right stuff as its the new type of gas. Next day, air con not cold again.
Local garage said go to the mobile air con specialist, so we did. He looked at the car (POLO btw) and said its a known fault with the evaporator (I think he said evaporator???) and he's got customers fighting with VW about this. He said part is about £8/900

so I took the car to the VW garage and they have done the dye thing and said it is leaking. the VW garage said it will cost £1400 to fix. I've said to go ahead - mainly as its 24 degrees outside!

My question is - is this a known fault? Worth pursuing with VW as £1400 is a lot of money??

Thanks v much for any advice
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iichel
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Re: Air conditioning - known fault?

Post by iichel »

No not at all. The only thing that comes close to common is the recirculation flap motor and the heater resistor pack going bad.
RUM4MO
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Re: Air conditioning - known fault?

Post by RUM4MO »

There are more than a few owners of this version of Polo/Fabia/Ibiza and maybe even A1 that have ended up with the evaporator leaking, quite tricky to 100% tie it down to being that, someone suggested that using an acoustic(listening) device in the air vents is the only way to prove that it is the evaporator that is leaking.

My wife's August 2015 VW Polo 1.2TSI started losing its AC charge annually after it was 4 years old, the leak is not enough for me to detect so maybe it is another one of those cars that ended up with a leaking evaporator, the leak is slow enough to allow an AC re-charge without breaking any rules - so far!

And yes, after suffering in the last hot spell, I did get round to using a Groupon voucher for ATS and a week or so later, the AC works okay!

I have a proper R134A pumped leak detector and I can't detect any raised levels of R134A coming out of any of the cabin air vents, so I'm staying positive in the mean time, with plans, after this AC charge has gone, to remove the front of the car, and remove the condenser and examine the rear of it for any dirty oil misting markings, and if so, I'll just fit a new condenser - if not I'll keep watching out next year for a Groupon voucher and use it in time to beat any hot spells!

Edit:- I would hope that any VW workshop would have checked the HVAC controller for fault codes and high side system pressure before looking for a leak, to discount any other possible reasons for no cooling.
Sparkysmum
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Re: Air conditioning - known fault?

Post by Sparkysmum »

RUM4MO wrote: Fri Aug 12, 2022 11:45 am There are more than a few owners of this version of Polo/Fabia/Ibiza and maybe even A1 that have ended up with the evaporator leaking, quite tricky to 100% tie it down to being that, someone suggested that using an acoustic(listening) device in the air vents is the only way to prove that it is the evaporator that is leaking.

My wife's August 2015 VW Polo 1.2TSI started losing its AC charge annually after it was 4 years old, the leak is not enough for me to detect so maybe it is another one of those cars that ended up with a leaking evaporator, the leak is slow enough to allow an AC re-charge without breaking any rules - so far!

And yes, after suffering in the last hot spell, I did get round to using a Groupon voucher for ATS and a week or so later, the AC works okay!

I have a proper R134A pumped leak detector and I can't detect any raised levels of R134A coming out of any of the cabin air vents, so I'm staying positive in the mean time, with plans, after this AC charge has gone, to remove the front of the car, and remove the condenser and examine the rear of it for any dirty oil misting markings, and if so, I'll just fit a new condenser - if not I'll keep watching out next year for a Groupon voucher and use it in time to beat any hot spells!

Edit:- I would hope that any VW workshop would have checked the HVAC controller for fault codes and high side system pressure before looking for a leak, to discount any other possible reasons for no cooling.
Thanks very much for reply RUM4MO.

My Polo is a November 2017 so 5 years old so roughly same as your wife's Polo - so looks like I can't expect that it loses its AC charge annually now!!

So what I am taking from this is its not a known fault - or its not currently being picked up as a known fault.

As per your EDIT - car still in VW garage so don't know what has been checked. Hoping for a phone by close today that it is fixed!

I see you are in Midlothian, I'm in Musselburgh!
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