Heating & Air Con not working

[LeonardSkinner]

I have a P reg 1997 A6 Avant 2.5 TDi SE. The car is manual and climate controlled. It's basically a re-badged 100

I have no heat coming into the car at all. The heating system blows cold air all the time. I have had the car round to my mechanic tonight and his experience is that the likely problem is the control panel in the car’s dash. However, he does not want to condemn the panel until he knows exactly what could cause the problem. This is where you lot come in

When increasing or decreasing the temperature via the control panel, there does not seem to be any movement in the flaps that allow the hot or cold air to come into the car. Both of the water pipes are hot.

When selecting the air con, there is no ‘clunk’ of the compressor kicking in or no drop in revs.

He is not too sure if the system needs to be re-gassed. Does the compressor work if there is no gas in the system ?? Are there any valves/fuses etc that could fail that could give the impression of the panel not working ??

Any help appreciated – be as technical as you like – I will print off the replies so that my mechanic can see them for himself.

Thanks in advance.

 

[fjtwelve]

My A6 is 2001 not 1997 but it does have separate fuses for the climate control system.
If the air is colder than outside then the refridge is still working, if not then at 10 years old you may well need a regas. If you have had the climate control turned off for extended periods it will shorten the life of the seals. Having said that my 148000 mile 1997 A4 is still fine except we are starting to get noises from the fan indicating imminent failure.
Before you condem anything see if you can find someone locally who has got VAGCOM, see the VAGCOM forum. Will tell you lots for the price of a few pints

 

[LeonardSkinner]

fjtwelve - the air is as warm/cold as the air outside - no difference. It doesn't matter what temperature I set the panel to, it blows at the same heat. I've never had the climate control turned off for lengthy periods so the seals should be OK

However, I am now reliably informed that the cause of my problem could be a blockage in the system.

Has anyone else experience of this ??

Apparently, these systems have a habit of silting up. The guy who I asked states that the last half dozen of these that he's had to sort out have been down to blockages.

As I said before, both the incoming and outgoing pipes are hot. Anyone know of the best way to tackle this kind of problem ??

Thanks again in advance

 

[fjtwelve]

Sounds like amongst other possible problems you need a regas as there sounds to be no cooling.

 

[LeonardSkinner]

I'll put this suggestion to him and see what he says. I'm trying to get it sorted out for the winter as 6.00am in a cold car on the way to work is pretty miserable and tends to set the mood for the rest of the day.

Thanks for your help