[Eos_Up]

First warm day of the season and I was on the road with my Eos. The temperature was 82F/26C. So I turned on the air conditioning and only got hot air coming out of the vents on my 5 month old '08. Couldn't believe it. First new car I've ever owned where the air failed so soon.

I have an appointment at the VW dealer to look at it next week. Just wondering if anyone else has experienced a failure on their air conditioning? Hope it's nothing serious as I don't want a lot of dashboard paneling opened up that might rattle after it is put back in place.

I can't believe the compressor failed as the unit has had very little use. I've notice the A/C light on occasionally this past winter mainly when the defroster was on. I'm thinking the freon might have leaked out.

 

[maxscience]

Maybe it failed just because it had so little use. It's good norm to activate A/C every month or so.

 

[bneeos]

Most AC units need to be run regularly to lubricate the seals. If these seals "dry" the gas escapes. In warmer climates it is advisable to run the AC weekly, not sure what the need is in cooler climates.

 

[toureos]

I've had problems in the past with the A/C becoming less effective or packing up completely within three years (though not in less than a year). With my previous VW Touran, which I kept for 3.5 years, I left the A/C on all the time, winter and summer, and the A/C was working fine still when I sold it.
I'm continuing to do this with my present Touran and the Eos, though I do turn off the A/C on the Eos when the top is down. Having said that, on a really hot day it's quite nice to have cold air blowing through on the footwell setting.

 

[Eos_Up]

If I didn't make it clear when I started this thread, I've seen the A/C light on more times than not since I've had the car that I bought new about 6 months ago. The only difference is that I have not required the A/C to put out cool air so I ended up with blended A/C heated or semi-heated air.

The car goes in the shop tomorrow for a Tuesday inspection. I'll let you know what my problem is when I find out the details.

 

[toureos]

In that case you must have a fault because you seem to have been doing things 'correctly'. Funnily enough their is an article on the 'What Car' website about the importance of keeping the aircon turned on regularly http://www.whatcar.co.uk/news-article.aspx?NA=232906

 

[Eos_Up]

Got my Eos back today with the A/C fixed. I was told that the "pressure sensor" failed which cause the coolant to leak out.

This problem was quoted to me as rare. However, my dealer had another Eos in with the same problem and I ended with getting the part for that car since the owner had not yet scheduled an appointment for the repair. The part had to be shipped in from a central location somewhere in the US.

I sure hope this is not a reoccurring problem.

 

[SiJ2000]

Frankly, due to the efficiency of modern AC units, you are better to just leave them on all the time. Mine is on ALL the time, hot or cold and this keeps it in the best possible shape... I have always done this and, as a result, have never had any A/C problems in any cars I have had. Hope it stays that way!

 

[schoolhousefred]

Good thought Simon ..... thank you!

 

[Eos_Up]

Frankly, due to the efficiency of modern AC units, you are better to just leave them on all the time.

While this might be an accurate statement, I think there times when the use of AC will cut your gas mileage a bit. Google "gas mileage A/C" brings up several reports about this issue.

The short version is that driving with the AC on and the windows up is around the same as driving with the windows down and the AC off. No argument there. Where you will save a bit is on those cool days (21C/70F) with the windows up and the AC off. That's the configuration I found myself in when driving in to my dealer to get the AC fixed with the problem above.

The outside air blowing in through the vent system felt so good that I thought at first my AC has started working again and I ALMOST cancelled my service appointment.

While almost every car manual will say to occasionally use the AC just to keep the seals intact, this has never been a problem for me. The car I traded in for my Eos was a '95 Mustang convertible and most of the time, the top was down when I drove that car (mainly a summer time.) It only had 30K on it at the trade so you can see I didn't drive it much.

When I traded it in, the AC still worked fine even though the car set for months at a time during the winter. So, I'm not sure I'm buying using the AC all the time, but it can't hurt that much if that's what you want to do. For those who don't use the AC much, you should at least exercise it every so often.

 

[eos3]

I think there times when the use of AC will cut your gas mileage a bit. Google "gas mileage A/C" brings up several reports about this issue.

Indeed, the difference is about 1l/100km (no I don't know in mpg) in my EOS, in between A/C on or off...
Fred

 

[neh321]

Also the A/C will use up some power and performance could suffer accordingly. It won't make a noticeable difference on a 2.0 T but on lower-powered models it could well make a difference.

One of the first cars I ever drove with A/C was a Chevrolet in the US about 30 years ago, and its 2.5 V6 was so pathetically asthmatic that it simply wouldn't climb hills 4-up with the A/C on! The only way to get over the Rockies was to switch it off on the uphill stretches!