Climate Control

[tartanmartin85]

Hi Guys! I finally picked up my laser blue GTI yesterday and absolutely love it! Only problem is that when I tried the aircon, it was making a gurgling/hissing sound and not very cold.

Is this the air compressor? If so I'm very worried. I bought the car from a large independent second hand dealer (Parks) who give a standard 1 year warranty. Should this be covered? What position am I in given that it was clearly faulty when I bought it as I have only had it a day.

Could it be something less serious?

Your help please?

Thanks

Martin

[Creatz]

sounds like a loose pipe ? was it from a dealer ?

[Boothy]

Go back ASAP and take it up with them mate and I'm sure they'll sort it out. Warranty or not if they sold it saying at had aircon and it ain't working then they have mislead you so you should be ok.

YOU DO NOT WANT TO BE PAYING FOR A NEW COMPRESSOR!

 
Check around the pressure valve in the front left of the engine bay (if your stood looking at the windscreen) as VW told me they were prone to leaking and failure. Just follow the silver pipes and you should see it protruding. See if there is any fluid around it. 

[bacillus]

Nice colour laser blue.   

Early models like yours tended to come with a Zelex or Valeo compressor that tended to fail prematurely so take it back and complain asap.

[Creatz]

by dealer i meant was it a just VW only garage.

also read the exclusion items area on your warranty paperwork

[phil1975]

Take it back to where you bought it from and ask them to fix problem, if you try claiming on the warranty and they realise you had the fault from day one they might argue the fault was already with the car before the warranty cover starts (from when you collected the car) and refuse to pay.

I had the same thing when I bought mine second hand from a vw dealer, the warranty was with the dealer group not vw when I took it to my local vw dealer on day one thinking I just needed a regas they diagnosed a new compressor. When I tried claiming through the warranty company they looked at the dates when I reported the problem and said the fault must have been with the car before I collected it and they would'nt pay.

Had to take the car back to the vw dealer I bought it from and they had to pay and they would try to recoup their costs from warranty company. Big bill as others have said if you need a new compressor!!

[tartanmartin85]

The dealer is not VW but is of similar ilk to Arnold Clark or Evans Halshaw.

What are the symptoms of compressor failure? Do you just get no A/C? The strange noise appears to be gone and may have been the seals resealing after no use.

Do you hear the compressor start or does it make the car idle slower? It's difficult to tell if it's working because of the low ambient temperature. I just don't have anything to compare against.

I will ask to drop it in to have it checked this week. Guy wasn't in today but I left an email for him. Warranty says they will contribute £45 to a re-gas but nothing mentioned about parts of aircon.

As was said, the car was advertised with aircon so it should be working.

[v2brett]

sounds like mine when it was low on gas last year,  i was fearing the worst too but a regas sorted it.  i do have a slow leak though which i think is the high pressure switch as mentioned above.  im going to swap mine at service time next month.

But id definetly get it checked asap because compressor failure is common and can cost a lot of ££££

[tartanmartin85]

Given that it is an '05, do you think it is more than likely that it has already failed and been replaced? The car seems to have been well looked after as it had full service history, recall done etc.

I am hoping that a re-gas will solve the problem. I was worried because I couldn't hear/see the effect of the compressor coming on but my Dad reckons that if there is no gas then there is no load for the compressor anyway.

[Creatz]

i wouldn't re'gas it.

I would just take it back and tell them to sort it mate

[Boothy]

^^^ Yep, go back to them first. Mine is an 05 and my aircon was spot until it just totally failed in an instant - £800  If its kicking in then there should be a slight drop in revs and a tiny click when it starts but bare in mind it won't work when below 4 degrees anyway.