Winter Climatronics: Tips & Tricks

Hi.

I have a Climatronic system in my Passat 35i AFN, manufactured in September 1996. I've often heard that during the winter months, when you don't normally need the air conditioning, you should turn it on occasionally so that the A/C compressor and its shaft (or something similar) are lubricated. If you don't do this, supposedly the compressor can be damaged or even break down. Is there any truth to this claim, or is it just nonsense?

Best regards,

Hello fellow diesel enthusiasts!

To the best of my knowledge, besides...
Kältemittel noch ein spez. Oil.
I turn on the air conditioning about once a month for 10 minutes, so that...
All parts will be re-lubricated with fresh oil. Any condensation should also be addressed.
It is then flushed into the filter and bound there.

Best regards, Chrigu.

I think I noticed that the heating only kicks in when the temperature is above 5 degrees Celsius. So, it wouldn't be useful during a frost period.

Greetings, Klaus.

Hi.

I've heard stories about oil in the coolant before, so there must be something to it.
However, I actually have a problem with the Climatronic system. When you set the Climatronic to 'AUTO,' it initially tries to cool the interior using normal outside air. Only when that outside air is too warm will the air conditioning be activated (which is unlikely to happen at the temperatures we experience in winter). Now, my question: Is there a way to force the compressor to start with a Climatronic system?

Best regards,

But then, I actually have a problem with the Climatronic. When you set the Climatronic to AUTO, it initially tries to cool the interior using normal outside air; only when that air is too warm will the air conditioning be activated (which probably won't happen at the temperatures in winter). Now my question: Is there any way to force the compressor to start with a Climatronic?
Regards.

'In my case, the compressor always runs, even when it's 6°C outside and I want to maintain 25°C inside. Otherwise, the dehumidifier wouldn't be effective.'

It's possible that your Climatronic system has a very outdated firmware. Unfortunately, I don't have access to any vehicles of that age with a Climatronic system.

CU Gremlin.

Okay, so below approximately 5°C, the compressor will not engage, whether it's a Climatronik system or a standard one.

It is recommended to run the system once a month to keep the hoses lubricated with oil. Otherwise, they will dry out and coolant may leak.

Okay, so what do you do in the winter? You need to take advantage of opportunities like a parking garage. If the temperature is above 5°C, turn on the air conditioning. In principle, just a few seconds is enough for the oil to circulate once.

Okay, so: Set the climate control to 'AUTO' mode; you can't really go wrong with that, as it will automatically turn on or you can manually monitor and adjust it yourself.

'By the way, air dehumidification using climate control only works up to approximately 5°C because the AC itself doesn't cool below that temperature. The greater the difference between the outside temperature and those 5°C, the better the air dehumidifying effect.'

Hi.

My Climatronic displayed an outside temperature of 7 degrees Celsius today. So, I switched it to AUTO mode. From the outside, you can hear a noticeable 'click' coming from the engine compartment, and the engine sounds like it has a higher load on its auxiliary components (similar to how it sounds in the summer when I turn on the AC). In the summer, you can tell that the compressor is running based on the airflow (especially below 2000 RPM). However, I don't think that's the case now. Could it be because the air conditioning system doesn't have to work as hard at these temperatures and therefore consumes less engine power? Unfortunately, I'm not very knowledgeable about climate control technology.

Regards,

Arnold.

That's exactly right! The warmer it is, the more gaseous components are present in the system that the compressor needs to convert back into liquid form. The higher the proportion of these gases, the more energy is required. At 5°C, very little evaporates, so it hardly costs any energy to run the compressor.

By the way, when driving at full throttle, the compressor is switched off, which means you won't have any air conditioning at maximum speed in the summer.

Hello,

In ECON mode, the Climatronic system automatically switches to AUTO periodically to prevent the seals from drying out. This was at least the case with my Golf III from May 1996. I now have it in my Golf IV as well, but I'm considering leaving it running continuously. In my Golf III, I had no more refrigerant after only 4 years...

The compressor in the Climatronic system is regulated to adjust its performance, so that not much engine power is consumed in winter. However, the fans run continuously, which also consumes fuel due to the alternator. In my TDI, I estimate annual extra costs of about 50 euros for continuous "AUTO" operation. Nevertheless, the windows don't fog up even below 5 degrees Celsius. With a manual system, I would have to manually turn it on regularly, once a week, and once a month was unfortunately not enough. And also not too short; that's not good either. However, 15-20 minutes should be sufficient. It's best to switch it off a few minutes before the end of the journey so that the system can be shut down dry. Otherwise, it will soon start to smell very unpleasant.

There's some truth to that. But don't be alarmed. The air conditioning doesn't turn on when it's below 5 degrees Celsius. I initially thought mine was broken.

Best regards.

The air conditioning system definitely does not work below 5°C. That's as certain as anything. First, there's an outside temperature sensor, and second, it's physically impossible for the air conditioner to cool the air at such low temperatures. The air may still flow through the ventilation ducts, but cooling from the air conditioning = 0!!!!

and secondly, the purpose of climate engineering (to cool) is no longer physically possible.

So, my freezer *) reaches -35°C .

The purpose is to prevent ice formation on the evaporator. This would lead to damage because of the properties of water (as its volume increases when it freezes). *)

Furthermore, if everything is frozen, no air would be able to pass through.

And of all times, we need a food dehydrator in the winter... grumble.

CU Gremlin.

*) A freezer does not have an air heat exchanger, which makes ice formation easy to manage.

Hi!

You don't need to dehumidify when the temperature is below approximately 5 degrees Celsius because the air at that temperature already contains very little water vapor.

Best regards,
Uwe

Do you mean like this morning?

3.3°C and 100% humidity, causing condensation and falling as rain?



I'm thinking more about the snow that accumulates in the footwell and the damp jacket that's releasing moisture. It would be really helpful to have absolutely dry air blown into the cabin.

Sure, here is the translation of the text from German to English:

'Cu Gremlin'

Gremlin wrote:

Do you mean like this morning? 3.3°C and 100% humidity, causing condensation and falling as rain? I'm thinking more about the snow that accumulates in the footwell and the damp jacket that's releasing moisture. It would be really helpful to have absolutely dry air blown into the cabin in those situations. Cu Gremlin

.

Hi!

Yes, exactly! Even at 100% humidity and 3°C, the air contains a very small amount of water. At an indoor temperature of 22 degrees Celsius, you will have very dry air.
The air conditioner does nothing more than cool the incoming air to about 3°C (37°F). During this cooling process, it reaches 100% relative humidity. If the cooling continues, the water condenses and drips out of your car. By reheating the air to a comfortable indoor temperature, the saturation of the air with water vapor decreases, resulting in dry air – either by briefly cooling the air down to 3°C with the air conditioner, reaching 100% relative humidity, or by initially drawing in outside air at 3°C with 100% humidity.

Best regards,
Uwe

Hey there!

I have a Passat 3B from 07/97 with Climatronic, and I've had the same experience: when the temperature is below 5 degrees Celsius, the air conditioning compressor doesn't operate, resulting in fogged-up windows inside the vehicle!

Regards,

Andreas.