air conditioning, how cold should it be?

haudi partner

haudi partner

Member
Whe I bought my A2 the air-con wasnt cooling so I took it to Audi for an "air-conditioning service" £50, fair enough I thought but this just turned out to be a re-gas. A few weeks later I checked it again and it was not cooling again. This suggests to me a leak. Audi said they would check it free of charge and give me a quote to repair, as I was expecting them to check for leaks the first time. The service manager said they would run a dye through and check for a leak. So I took the car in today. Its only about 2 or 3 degress C outside today. The garage rang me to say it seems to be running "quite cold".I said it would as it's quite cold anyway! They rang again to say with the thermometer in the vents it says about 1 degree, I said I was hoping they would check for a leak. They even asked if I knew how to turn the setting to low "as it doesnt work in auto" !
I have asked them again to check for a leak. How much colder should it run than the outside temp? Surely just the fan will cool the air a degree or 2 anyway? Do I have to wait until warmer weather by which time the warranty will have expired? Opinions please guys??
 
It is probably not their standard policy to use a dye in the regas. I paid £63 for a reputable local air-con man to service at my place. He ran a vacuum test before re-gas with a dye so that made sure there is no leak. And this is what I expect from an air-con service!

Someone may correct me, under auto mode, the a/c doesn't run when outside is <5C. But if you put it on LOW, it will force the a/c to switch on. But I'm not sure if there is a protection circuit that stops the a/c from running when outside temperature is too low.

Lastly, did they run a scan to see if there are sensor faults?
 
I dont think they have done any diagnostic scans, just a temperature probe in the vent. I cant see how they can test it this way as it's already too cold outside? It should be warmer, 9-10 degrees tomorrow, do you think it would be better to check it then? Does anyone know if you can force the ac to work below 5 degrees? Surely the technician should know this?
 
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GFF=Guided Fault Finding - it's the way that most dealership diagnostic systems do a scan and is OK, but not as thorough as VCDS

Cheers

Mike
 
I think they need to put it into LO to force the compressor to switch on and generate chilled air as otherwise it won't engage A/C due to it being rather cold!

I also think it's ridiculous that they'd claim to be performing a system test without putting in the fluorescent dye. I had an a/c service by an a/c specialist a few years ago on my S2 and they ran the leak test with the dye in it and I was able to see with my own eyes the source of the problem, which they could then fix (in that case it was the chassis seal on the compressor itself, new compressor time!).

If Audi aren't doing it properly, take it somewhere that will and demand your money back. I'm cross on your behalf. FFS :(
 
You have to take it out of auto right? Then keep pushing the bottom temp button till it wont go any lower? I think it may be working better now, perhaps they just topped it up again though.
 
TBH, if Audi technicians don't even know how to force the compressor to turn on, then there isn't much hope they can correctly test your system, right?

If the electrical components aren't reporting fault, then it is down to either a leak or compressor. If they didn't put dye in there, I don't know how they verified there isn't a leak. More difficult to check is whether the compressor is healthy. But hopefully with warmer temperatures, this can be checked correctly!
 
"LO" comes below 18C on the temperature selector, and it should also then step the fan speed up.
I'd seriously recommend you take it elsewhere and get a leak test done. These guys don't sound like they have a clue.
 
I'd expect the car would be in a warm workshop while they checked the aircon as Audi specify the ambient temp must be at least 15C with the engine up to working temp before conducting the test. Between 15 and 20C ambient, the vent temp should be between 2 and 5C. At 25C the spread is 4 to 9C and at 30C its 6 to 11C.

Cheers Spike
 
spike said:
I'd expect the car would be in a warm workshop while they checked the aircon as Audi specify the ambient temp must be at least 15C with the engine up to working temp before conducting the test. Between 15 and 20C ambient, the vent temp should be between 2 and 5C. At 25C the spread is 4 to 9C and at 30C its 6 to 11C.

Cheers Spike
Click to expand...
Thanks Spike, I bought a kitchen thermometer and checked it myself. The outside temp said 9C and next to the vent I got it down to 5 degrees, stick the thermometer inside the vent and it came down to 4C. I guess it must be working, perhaps they topped it up. I will just have to see how it works if we ever get any warm weather in the UK !!
 
Guys - Is there a recommended service interval for the A/C in Audi's manuals i.e a regass every 5 years etc. I am thinking about summer (abroad!) and with the car 6 years old I am wondering whether a service may be in order although as mine is running OK, I have to say I am tempted to leave well alone.
 
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