The ECON button - What a confusing little thing

[Dubbin]

Are you sure your AC is working i.e. in either switch position does your air get really chilled? You say that you turn the heater control down to LO so you may be just getting colder air from the outside. AC compressors are common failures on these cars.

[alexmccabe]

I turn the dial to LO then it blows cold-ish air. If I then press the ECON button so that the light is illuminated, it blows even colder air. This is why it's so confusing. Heh.

[Scrubadub]

sounds like your air con aint working.

[Kalpsn2000]

I was confused at first as the 'normal' way on most cars is, light on = AC on but as others have said the ECON light on = AC off.

Basically it works as AC default on and you press the 'economy button' to turn it off. But this obviously confused people so VW changed it to the standard AC button in the later models.

OP if you're getting colder air with the ECON light on then there could be a fault with your AC system/compressor.

[alexmccabe]

Now here is a interesting development...it didn't blow cold air either way today. So that was great driving home in 24° heat... hah.

We've established it is screwed, so where do I go from here?

[Stanipkiss]

Now here is a interesting development...it didn't blow cold air either way today. So that was great driving home in 24° heat... hah.

We've established it is screwed, so where do I go from here?

I read this thread last night, as my car also has the ECON button i thought i would see what happened before I posted.
This morning was NO difference driving to work. Gave it another go on the way home and still NO difference!
I think your right Alex!!

[Scottymon]

Was the same on the SAAB's, you want Economy press Eco / Econ, if not, don't.

TBH, I very rarely use A/C, but I did today and it was very welcome.

@alexmccabe : have you tried having it regassed?

[kenGTI]

I find that one way to find out if the AC is working is to have a look at your MPGs for that journey, if the AC is on then your MPGs should be lower

[alexmccabe]

Was the same on the SAAB's, you want Economy press Eco / Econ, if not, don't.

TBH, I very rarely use A/C, but I did today and it was very welcome.

@alexmccabe : have you tried having it regassed?

Not as yet as it only stopped blowing cold today, it's £70 for an aircon service at my garage and I don't have the spare money at the moment. I will get that done eventually. Probably at the same time as an actual service.

[Stanipkiss]

Had a look in the manual and it says
"Button ECON- switches on economy mode. When the lamp in the button lights up, the cooling system is switched off to save fuel. In vehicles with a supplementary heating system the supplementary system is switched off, and in diesel engines the supplementary heater for the engine coolant ia also switched off,giving the heater less heat output."

Hope this helps.

[SRC]

I'm going to confuse things a little more.

The GTI (UK model) has automatic climate control.  It's designed to work like this:

If you press 'auto' and set the desired temperature, the smurf inside your dashboard will switch on the air-con system if it thinks it needs it and directs the airflow around the cabin as it sees fit.  There are sensors in the cabin to monitor interior temperature.  If the temperature and humidity dictate, then air-con smurf may decide not to bring in the air-con (although, as far as I can tell, this is rare).  It will turn fan speed up and down to heat or cool the cabin temperature as quickly as possible.

Econ is one of the ways to override the automatic climate control and as others have already said, it stops the air-con compressor from kicking in.  Everything else will still work, but you may never chill the car to the desired temperature on a hot day by using ambient air.  Windscreen de-mist and the directional buttons are other over-rides.  You can speed up the chilling of a car by using the recirculating button, which works by sending the air you've already chilled back round again and again.  Don't leave this feature on for too long - the lack of fresh air may make you drowsy.  A bit like reading to the bottom of this reply, I guess.

[alexmccabe]

Right, so to actually engage the aircon you have to turn it to auto and choose the temperature?

[Scrubadub]

just turn to "low" and dont have anything lit up.
If you press and light up "auto" it will adjust fan speed to cool car quicker

[Kalpsn2000]

Right, so to actually engage the aircon you have to turn it to auto and choose the temperature?

Yeah and make sure the ECON light is off (usually goes off when you press auto).

[ARV_90]

I'm going to confuse things a little more.

The GTI (UK model) has automatic climate control.  It's designed to work like this:

If you press 'auto' and set the desired temperature, the smurf inside your dashboard will switch on the air-con system if it thinks it needs it and directs the airflow around the cabin as it sees fit.  There are sensors in the cabin to monitor interior temperature.  If the temperature and humidity dictate, then air-con smurf may decide not to bring in the air-con (although, as far as I can tell, this is rare).  It will turn fan speed up and down to heat or cool the cabin temperature as quickly as possible.

Econ is one of the ways to override the automatic climate control and as others have already said, it stops the air-con compressor from kicking in.  Everything else will still work, but you may never chill the car to the desired temperature on a hot day by using ambient air.  Windscreen de-mist and the directional buttons are other over-rides.  You can speed up the chilling of a car by using the recirculating button, which works by sending the air you've already chilled back round again and again.  Don't leave this feature on for too long - the lack of fresh air may make you drowsy.  A bit like reading to the bottom of this reply, I guess.

I think you are bang on m8... Although I think it will only stay in recirc for a set time...

Is it possible that the control panel has been changed to the later type but someone has fitted the older type knob that has Econ on it instead of AC ...