Golf IV/Octavia 1 Climatronic: Noise Issues

Hello,

I think my Climatronic system is getting old... right now, it doesn't cool as well as it used to. Even when set to 18°C, it's only comfortable, but not ice cold.

Therefore, my suspicion is that there's a refrigerant leak after 200,000 km. I plan to have it refilled this week. Should the receiver-drier be replaced after almost 7 years?

The pricing is outrageous: a genuine VW part, manufactured by Valeo, costs around €100; however, we can currently purchase the same Valeo part through independent suppliers for just €13.95 (and no, that's not a typo).


Therefore, it should be replaced.


"But what I've noticed now is: When I turn off the engine, the air conditioning continues to run for about a minute, making a noise like water flowing through a pipe... Could this be due to air in the system from insufficient refrigerant? Or is the expansion valve faulty?"


The latter would be disastrous - I installed the climate control condenser with an integrated expansion valve, so not the cheap expansion valve for around 20€ located at the engine compartment/interior partition... but the expensive combined unit costing 380€.




At the top of the condenser, he noticed some refrigerant and compressor oil leaking out - so I'm initially suspecting a leak.


What do you advise me to do?


Greetings.
Georg.

Quote:

The latter would be disastrous - I installed the climate condenser with an integrated expansion valve, so not the inexpensive expansion valve for around 20€ at the engine compartment / interior partition... but the 380€ combination unit...

How is the expansion valve located in the condenser??? I don't understand.
Normally, the expansion valve controls the flow of refrigerant to the evaporator based on the temperature measured at the low-pressure side near the evaporator outlet, thereby regulating the evaporator temperature.

Or do you mean "evaporator," and instead of an "external" expansion valve, you have an evaporator with an integrated expansion valve installed? (Are there such things for the O1?)

Or have you converted to a system with a throttle valve on the expansion valve? (I believe the O1 no longer had a throttle valve originally?)

"Sorry, I misspoke; I meant vaporizer. According to my Skoda dealer, there are two systems:"

"There are two types of evaporators: a standard evaporator with an external expansion valve located at the front of the spray nozzle, and an integrated evaporator with the expansion valve built-in. I have the latter. This configuration was introduced starting with chassis number blabla, which corresponds to the 2001 facelift."

Okay, mine is a 2004 model, and I have the expansion valve on the injection molding machine.

So, if you already know that it's losing refrigerant, address that issue first. It's likely the cause of the poor cooling performance.

Otherwise, the problem could also be caused by faulty valve actuators or temperature sensors.
Valve malfunctions may only be detected during actuator diagnostics or basic settings.

Check the cooling capacity of unit MWB 7, field 4. It should be approximately 3°C - 4°C, even with a high outdoor temperature and fan speed.

"It's just never been refilled before. Since it's already leaking from the dryer, I figured I'd replace it at the same time. The cost of the Valeo part, as mentioned above, is around €14... I think it's a good idea to replace the dryer bottle whenever it's being done."

I'm planning to have the refrigerant refilled tomorrow or the day after. The error memory is clear, and the other measured values seem normal, except for the cooling performance, which is still above 7-8°C even after 30 minutes of driving. And the noise I'm hearing is a clear indication to me of a lack of refrigerant.

750 + 50g = Target

330gr = Current state.


The desiccant bottle, including new seals, has been refilled, and now it's getting extremely cold again.

For informational purposes, is the noise still present after the car is turned off?

A friend of mine has a '98 A4 2.4 V6. Whenever he parks the car, there's a roaring sound coming from behind the dashboard (since he's owned the car), like Niagara Falls. However, the cooling performance is more than adequate.

The rattling is gone , but it seems to be normal for older Audis; our old V8 used to do that too...

Hi,

My old A3 only had a problem with a faulty expansion valve.

Best regards, Rainer.

You're right, I forgot to mention that. That would be option 2 if you're experiencing noise.