Dead Aircon Compressor

[S3 AKR]

Noticed yesterday that the aircon was no longer cold. A mate regased it today but I noticed that the compressor is not kicking in. Also, the aircon had gas in it.

I've checked the fuses sat on top of the battery and they are all OK and the belts are OK.

Any other pointers to check electrically speaking ? Is there anything in the relays under the drivers-side lower dash that could be a part any problems or any other fuse locations to check ?

 

[JimCupra]

Sorry to hear this mate, I cant help electronically....but I hope you got a warranty....my compressor was dead when i bought the car from SEAT.
Replaced under warranty but would have set me back £1000.
I really hope you get it going.

 

[olliep]

have you seen the 'secrets of the climate control unit' thing on the scn info base? enables you to bring up a limited diagnostcs check on your ac via the ac controlls. definitely worth a look. and as for jimcupra's comment... i'll just coppy and paste it because it applies exactly to me... ""....my compressor was dead when i bought the car from SEAT. Replaced under warranty but would have set me back £1000. ""

let us know how you gte on

 

[S3 AKR]

I did a search but didn't see that. I'll go and have a look and see if it can tell me anything.

cheers.

 

[LEE69]

Here they are http://www.lee69.co.uk/Car stuff/Leon/codes.txt

 

[S3 AKR]

Here they are http://www.lee69.co.uk/Car stuff/Leon/codes.txt

cheers fella!

 

[Robb1990]

If i were you, id try getting a re-con compressor then getting a small back street garage to fit it. It looks easy tbh, its the bottom front pulley and shouldnt have many holding bolts tbh, only like the power steering pump ect. It all depends if you can get to a small enough garage with an air-con machine to de-gass it, the re-fill the new one.

Just had a quick search on ebay,
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2005-SEAT-LEO...14&_trkparms=72:1683|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318

Cant see you getting charged more than 2 hours labour really, even with the re-gas. So, dont jump to main-dealer prices just yet

 

[Seat Adam]

My AC isn't as cold as it should be. Mine has one of the fans on the rad not working and keeps blowing the fuse. Seat picked it up on its last service and quoted me £465 to repair it. That was to change both the AC fan and cooling fan as it's common for them both going.

 

[S3 AKR]

My AC isn't as cold as it should be. Mine has one of the fans on the rad not working and keeps blowing the fuse. Seat picked it up on its last service and quoted me £465 to repair it. That was to change both the AC fan and cooling fan as it's common for them both going.

Would that stop the aircon compressor kicking in as a kinda "safety measure" to protect it from overheating or something ?

 

[Seat Adam]

No, mine still works just doesn't get as cold. It blows the fuse, 60Amp I think. I need to sort mine out. Might buy the parts and fit myself at work. Apparently you need a ramp to take the fans out from underneath.

 

[Markyboyt]

Could also be a pressure sensor in the air con circuit failed and as a result the control unit isnt activating the compressor.

 

[S3 AKR]

My mate runs his own garage and he's a VW Mastertech too so I have the swap over covered if I need it, but he doesn't have the top notch diags gear. He is going to check on saturday for a voltage at the compressor etc to see if its the unit or if its not getting a message to kick in.

If I'm being honest, I was worried that with me having the lower dash in bits to fit my S3 vents (...and banging on about how easy it was to do on here!!) that I may have disturbed or knocked something under there.

I'll have a look at the codes tonight as per the earlier posts and see what the pressure sensors are saying as Markyboyt has suggested too.

 

[Willie]

If my one dies I wouldn't replace it TBH.
The air con is good but not worth £1,000 to replace it if it fail, especially in Scotland

 

[S3 AKR]

If my one dies I wouldn't replace it TBH.
The air con is good but not worth £1,000 to replace it if it fail, especially in Scotland

I would have to stump up the cash...... if its on the car it has to work!

 

[olliep]

If my one dies I wouldn't replace it TBH.
The air con is good but not worth £1,000 to replace it if it fail, especially in Scotland

could always just take thewhole thing out... put it back in in a year, by which point you've probably saved so much fuel its paid for its'self!!

 

[Markyboyt]

could always just take thewhole thing out... put it back in in a year, by which point you've probably saved so much fuel its paid for its'self!!

Or just turn it off so the compressors not running anyway lol

 

[S3 AKR]

Finally got around to checking this out today. I checked the voltage at the plug on the compressor itself and this was at 12.4v so I'm getting a voltage to the unit at least.

I've also had the system regased due to the aircon not working. On the compressor, the outer ring is spinning but the centre piece (with the bolts on it) is static. It can be moved fairly easily by pushing it round with a screwdriver.

Also did the interior checks through the climate control panel and got a few expected values and a few wierd ones as below :-

Code 1 System Malfunction - .0
Code 20 Aircon Compressor (A/C Clutch) Voltage - 14.6
Code 22 Cycle Condition of AC Refridge High Press Switch - .1
Code 28 Engine Speed - 44 ???? Dash Rev Counter = 900ish
Code 29 A/C Compressor Speed - 0
Code 31 Display Check - 2 ???? supposed to light up all panel segments
Code 49 Malfunction Counter for Speedo Signal - -60 ??? Minus large 6 small 0
Code 61 Software Version - 106 (large 10, small 6)


Any guidance welcomed but I'm pretty certain that its the compressor thats shagged - I just don't want to buy a new one to find that its a faulty switch or something daft!

 

[olliep]

Finally got around to checking this out today. I checked the voltage at the plug on the compressor itself and this was at 12.4v so I'm getting a voltage to the unit at least.

I've also had the system regased due to the aircon not working. On the compressor, the outer ring is spinning but the centre piece (with the bolts on it) is static. It can be moved fairly easily by pushing it round with a screwdriver.

Also did the interior checks through the climate control panel and got a few expected values and a few wierd ones as below :-

Code 1 System Malfunction - .0
Code 20 Aircon Compressor (A/C Clutch) Voltage - 14.6
Code 22 Cycle Condition of AC Refridge High Press Switch - .1
Code 28 Engine Speed - 44 ???? Dash Rev Counter = 900ish
Code 29 A/C Compressor Speed - 0
Code 31 Display Check - 2 ???? supposed to light up all panel segments
Code 49 Malfunction Counter for Speedo Signal - -60 ??? Minus large 6 small 0
Code 61 Software Version - 106 (large 10, small 6)


Any guidance welcomed but I'm pretty certain that its the compressor thats shagged - I just don't want to buy a new one to find that its a faulty switch or something daft!

was the aircon actually on when you did those diagnostics checks. it wont display the correct values if its not

 

[Markyboyt]

Finally got around to checking this out today. I checked the voltage at the plug on the compressor itself and this was at 12.4v so I'm getting a voltage to the unit at least.

I've also had the system regased due to the aircon not working. On the compressor, the outer ring is spinning but the centre piece (with the bolts on it) is static. It can be moved fairly easily by pushing it round with a screwdriver.

Also did the interior checks through the climate control panel and got a few expected values and a few wierd ones as below :-

Code 1 System Malfunction - .0
Code 20 Aircon Compressor (A/C Clutch) Voltage - 14.6
Code 22 Cycle Condition of AC Refridge High Press Switch - .1
Code 28 Engine Speed - 44 ???? Dash Rev Counter = 900ish
Code 29 A/C Compressor Speed - 0
Code 31 Display Check - 2 ???? supposed to light up all panel segments
Code 49 Malfunction Counter for Speedo Signal - -60 ??? Minus large 6 small 0
Code 61 Software Version - 106 (large 10, small 6)


Any guidance welcomed but I'm pretty certain that its the compressor thats shagged - I just don't want to buy a new one to find that its a faulty switch or something daft!

I cant say for definite as i'm not familiar with the system on these cars but, i'm assuming that you did the diagnostic read out with the engine running and the air con switched on as the compressor clutch says its 14.6V.

I would think the clutch reading shown is what the control unit is supplying on the wire to the compressor, it doesn't mean its getting there but the fact that you have tested and got voltage there suggests that the wire may be ok.
The fact the outer of the pulley is turning but the centre is not should mean that the clutch is not engaged to drive the compressor.

I would check that the engine earth is ok although I would expect other faults if it wasn't. Then if you definitely have voltage to the compressor and an earth from it and the clutch isnt engaged, there is a good chance the compressor is your fault.

As mentioned above I'm not familiar with the system used so my information is based on BMW's.

 

[S3 AKR]

Cheers guys.

The aircon was on, engine running etc as you both suggest. I have since noticed on ETKA that there are individual part codes for the compressor and the electromagnetic clutch part so I'm guessing that the a/c clutch is duff as it isn't engaging when there is a voltage to it.

I will price up the part tomorrow for new, but am awaiting a response for a 2nd hand item also that I put an offer in on which I'll dismantle for the clutch.

Also, found that LEE69's list of codes and meanings is more accurate than the one in the SCN Info Base.