Air Con wont turn ON !

Rays18

Rays18

East Tattoo
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Ok so this has happened the past couple of days.
Start the car turn on heating (doesnt matter what temp) the air con stays on the duration of the drive to work around 20 mins. You press the air con button but it doesnt go off. Go to work, have lunch around 3/4 hours later. Air con button will now work as it should.

Any ideas?
 
What do you mean it doesn't go off?

If the ECON light is ON the AC is OFF.

Are you saying that by pressing the ECON button to turn the AC off the light won't come on?
 
Even with the ECON on or off it should still heat up to set temp
my econ is always off so AC on and i get red hot heat at high temp setting.
your stat may be sticking open.
 
Sorry I got a bit mixed up with my words.
The light will stay on (red) and when you press it will still be red.
You can only choose to turn it on or off after a few hours. :S
 
If the ECON light stays on that indicates the compressor isn't actuating, hence the AC isn't working.
 
Has the weather been cold there for the past few days?
Reason being is that I believe the Air-con wont turn on if the ambient temperature outside is low (cant remember what the temperature threshold is)
If you try on your lunch - maybe the temperature has warmed up a few degrees outside?

If the red ECON light is on then it means Air-Con is off "economy" - if the ECON light is off then aircon is on.
 
It's 5C from memory. Either way, the ECON light should remain off.
 
I guess its down to the cold months coming in.
It only started like I said a few days ago.
 
AlexGSi2000 said:
Has the weather been cold there for the past few days?
Reason being is that I believe the Air-con wont turn on if the ambient temperature outside is low (cant remember what the temperature threshold is)
If you try on your lunch - maybe the temperature has warmed up a few degrees outside?

If the red ECON light is on then it means Air-Con is off "economy" - if the ECON light is off then aircon is on.
Click to expand...


Are yous 100% sure on this because anytime my aircon was off, my light was off. I clearly remember anytime i wanted to turn it on, hit the button, red light came on and really cool air blew out of my vents.

Im having same problem with my aircon, my red light is constantly on and i can hear the AC on when i stop with the engine on. I was thinking the mechanic balls my AC up after putting a 2nd hand head into my car.

OP, when you turn the reds on your car, does your AC red light not go on even when you turn heating on. If so, this is what mines is doing and when i start car, the red light comes on.
 
not sure if you know how the CC unit works on the A4
but you can have a/c on low then turn heat up and you will get heat
as alex said above econ light on ac off
econ light off ac on
but you will get full heat with econ light on or off.
 
mrxireland said:
Are yous 100% sure on this because anytime my aircon was off, my light was off. I clearly remember anytime i wanted to turn it on, hit the button, red light came on and really cool air blew out of my vents.

Im having same problem with my aircon, my red light is constantly on and i can hear the AC on when i stop with the engine on. I was thinking the mechanic balls my AC up after putting a 2nd hand head into my car.

OP, when you turn the reds on your car, does your AC red light not go on even when you turn heating on. If so, this is what mines is doing and when i start car, the red light comes on.
Click to expand...
]

you either need a regas or a sensor get it on vcds and get codes
tou have a head fitted the mech could have removed the ac pipe and lost the gas
 
bez101 said:
]

you either need a regas or a sensor get it on vcds and get codes
tou have a head fitted the mech could have removed the ac pipe and lost the gas
Click to expand...

Im now really confused because i honestly thought my aircon was constantly on because i couldnt turn this light off. With this thread now im scratching my head. So yous are telling me that ive always been driving with my air con on because my red light was always off. Another reason thou why i was thinking it was constantly on after i got my car back was that it was eating the petrol more so now than before i gave it to him.
 
econ light on = no aircon
econ light off = comperssor on and aircon on, consuming fuel, but drying the air and keeping the windows clear.

Aircon will not turn on if the temp is around 5 degrees or below, needs a regas, or has a faulty component.
 
So confused hahaaa.
I was told when I bought the car the air con was on unless you press econ button thus turning red light on.
But after a few days I thought it was the other way round as you could hear the air con motor switching/turning on.

God I dont know now.
 
Econ red light on = AC is off
Auto red lights on & Econ light off = AC on
Off switch red light on = Econ + AC are both off.
 
pauldazzle said:
Econ red light on = AC is off
Auto red lights on & Econ light off = AC on
Off switch red light on = Econ + AC are both off.
Click to expand...



Why did audi have to go and do a thing like this,lol. Anyone with common sense would think that if you wanted something on, you press the button and the light would come on to tell you that what ever is is you wanted on, is on. Ive been driving my car with the aircon on everytime ive been driving it because i always had my light off. I never felt the cool air thou but as you say above, i musting have had auto on aswell. Im wondering now why my car is burning so much petrol now because i honestly thought it was the AC doing it.
 
I got a suggestion here................do the un-bloke thing! Read the manual for the car. Explains how it all works. :thumbsup:

If the ECON light stays on all the time then it's a fault in the system. You should be able to operated it on and off even below 5 Celsius the only difference is the car see's the outside temp and won't run the AC compressor if it's below 5 Celsius regardless how you push the button as it over rides the system till the outside temp warms up.
 
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pauldazzle said:
Econ red light on = AC is off
Auto red lights on & Econ light off = AC on
Off switch red light on = Econ + AC are both off.
Click to expand...

You don't have to have Auto turned on to have the Air con on. All auto on means is the AC control unit controls fan speed and air direction flow to maintain the temp you set on the AC unit.

If you manually set full fan speed at feet at "low" setting the AC will be on blowing cold air at your feet. Push auto and it regulates the temp in the car by air direction and fan speed.
 
mrxireland said:
Why did audi have to go and do a thing like this,lol. Anyone with common sense would think that if you wanted something on, you press the button and the light would come on to tell you that what ever is is you wanted on, is on. Ive been driving my car with the aircon on everytime ive been driving it because i always had my light off. I never felt the cool air thou but as you say above, i musting have had auto on aswell. Im wondering now why my car is burning so much petrol now because i honestly thought it was the AC doing it.
Click to expand...

Audi did it so you drive around with the AC always working which lubricates the compressor and seals of the system so the AC system won't leak as much as if you constantly don't use the AC. Then when the hot sun comes out you find the AC has leaked the gas and doesn't work!

AC should also be serviced every 2 years regardless if it still works or not as due to the pipes and seals being rubber they naturally breathe over time and slowly gas escapes reducing the efficiency of the system.
 
Ian-83 said:
I got a suggestion here................do the un-bloke thing! Read the manual for the car. Explains how it all works. :thumbsup:

If the ECON light stays on all the time then it's a fault in the system. You should be able to operated it on and off even below 5 Celsius the only difference is the car see's the outside temp and won't run the AC compressor if it's below 5 Celsius regardless how you push the button as it over rides the system till the outside temp warms up.
Click to expand...

Well i must have a fault because when i press the econ button, the light is always on uless i keep my finger on it and even at that, when i keep my finger on teh button for about 30secs, the red light comes back on. Can you tell me what kind of faults would cause this light to be constantly on.
 
mrxireland said:
Well i must have a fault because when i press the econ button, the light is always on uless i keep my finger on it and even at that, when i keep my finger on teh button for about 30secs, the red light comes back on. Can you tell me what kind of faults would cause this light to be constantly on.
Click to expand...

You can have several faults but could be a faulty pressure sensor, no gas in the system or a fault with the AC compressor.
 
god its still here
 
mrxireland said:
Why did audi have to go and do a thing like this,lol. Anyone with common sense would think that if you wanted something on, you press the button and the light would come on to tell you that what ever is is you wanted on, is on. Ive been driving my car with the aircon on everytime ive been driving it because i always had my light off. I never felt the cool air thou but as you say above, i musting have had auto on aswell. Im wondering now why my car is burning so much petrol now because i honestly thought it was the AC doing it.
Click to expand...

I've not known anyone get quite so confused about it before!

ECON means 'economy mode'. When economy mode is on, the light is on. Simple.

If you need to hold the button down to stay in economy mode, then as mentioned you have a fault. I suspect with the timeout symptom you mentioned its probably just low on gas, but its easy enough to get it tested.

I never turn my aircon off, the whole HVAC system was designed to have it on all the time, and its much more efficient to do so. If I was worried about economy I wouldn't have bought a 6 cylinder quattro car.
 
close thred gets my vote !
 
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