rubbish aircon

J

jungle

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I have just realised that my aircon is rubbish after a day in a courtesy A3. Basically my car still punts out cold air, but its only just "cold" and means driving around with the fans on full blast to avoid melting on sunny days, whereas in my loan car I could turn the fans down to 2 bars and still feel comfortable.

Has anyone else had this, and is it something that can be verified by Audi?

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/beerchug.gif
 
I've never thought that my aircon puts out really 'refrigerated air' its cold but not as colds as I would have expected......
 
Aircon in the A3 is very good indeed from my experience. At least as good as some larger marque cars like large Lexus, BMW, etc.

Maybe in the back seats it's not quite up to scratch but the twin climates in the front both seems to work OK for me.
 
I've always found Audi's aircon to be quite noisy though,A4 or A3.

Try the following;

Close all the vents and put it on 'auto'.
You will get noise,like wind noise.

Now either open one of the vents or press the button that directs the air to your feet.

The difference in noise is quite remarkable.

If I'm carrying passengers I often press the 'feet' button to make their journey a quieter experience.
 
I've had trouble with my air con - and was told that this was becoming a common fault on A3s. Mine needed a new compressor after 3 months...
 
dont forget its has varible vane compressor, so if you select 20 degrees and its 22 degrees int he car, it wont blow out much cold air as theres only a slight difference in the temp.

So if you select LOW it will then work at full Power.

My liner is Black and Black is the worst by far for heat soak /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

I tend to have the passenger window open most of the time anyway to listen to the exhaust tone /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
LeMan, come on, let me dream a bit!

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should be easy enough, you get about 20 hours of night time each day! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/beerchug.gif
 
Mine has vents for the rear passengers feet under the front seat, put it on FEET mode and it sure works well in the back, and ****** freezing too, yours might need re-gasing!
 
Vents for rear passengers? Isn't that optional? And cold air is usually pushed to upper part of the car, since it goes down, just like car warmed from the bottom. At least that's what my car does /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

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should be easy enough, you get about 20 hours of night time each day!

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Actually it's summer, so it's 20-24 hours days, sun shines at nights /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
I also think the new model A3 Climate control is not up to the standard one would expect. I have a 98 1.6 SE which makes it easy to compare the new and the old.
For example, for the same level of comfort, if I have the old model set at 19C the temperature in the new model needs to be set at 17C.
On close comparison of the two cars it is painfully obvious that Audi engineers have embarked on a rigorous cost cutting exercise on the new A3. This of course is presented to a naive motoring press and public as technical progress.
 
[ QUOTE ]
I also think the new model A3 Climate control is not up to the standard one would expect. I have a 98 1.6 SE which makes it easy to compare the new and the old.
For example, for the same level of comfort, if I have the old model set at 19C the temperature in the new model needs to be set at 17C.
On close comparison of the two cars it is painfully obvious that Audi engineers have embarked on a rigorous cost cutting exercise on the new A3. This of course is presented to a naive motoring press and public as technical progress.

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Are you talking about the Celsius scale? Don't you freeze at the 17-19 span? I can hardly set it bellow 21.. Then again it's usually 27-29 outside this time of the year..
 
Answer me this.
I find auto too noisy (I don't like the pseudo wind noise racket in the dash) so I use the 'down' button to make things peaceful.
By doing this,am I switching the aircon off ???
The auto light goes off when you press the 'down' ( I think ). /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/noidea.gif
 
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Then again it's usually 27-29 outside this time of the year..

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31oC here tomorrow /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/fuck_you.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/beerchug.gif
 
Not completely sure but I guess it will just keep purring cold air at the speed and exit points currently selected (thus aircon in 'on', auto is 'off') an then what? Will it stop after the indicated temperature is met? Or will it just disengage the compressor and keep up with fresh air ?
 
[ QUOTE ]
Not completely sure but I guess it will just keep purring cold air at the speed and exit points currently selected (thus aircon in 'on', auto is 'off') an then what? Will it stop after the indicated temperature is met? Or will it just disengage the compressor and keep up with fresh air ?

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Yeah bowfer, it will pump out chilled air at the temp you set it at, but it will keep pushing out the same chilled air even when the desired temp is reached. So as above, the aircon is on, but auto is off.
 
Well I have rung Hull Audi and they said there have been a number of A3s in with the same complaint - unfortunately they have to see the car before they can order the parts required (despite knowing what the fault will be), so whilst we bask in a heatwave I will be sweating like a fat bird I know in Rotherham.
 
Hmmm.... looks like mine is also not working very efficiently - I know it was very hot over the weekend, but it takes about 10 mins to cool down, and then never gets really cold like other cars I have had....

A trip to Audi for me as well by the looks of it!!!
 
Mine must be working properly.
Helluva hot and humid over the weekend,but nice and chilly in the car.

One thing though...

Our daughter fell asleep in the car so instead of letting her sleep in a roasting car,I left it idling on the drive with the aircon on,whilst I washed the wife's car.
Now I know you get some condensation off aircon units,but the pool of 'water' under my car was something see.....
A less experienced owner could have got a real scare and suspected something had gone wrong.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Mine must be working properly.
Helluva hot and humid over the weekend,but nice and chilly in the car.

One thing though...

Our daughter fell asleep in the car so instead of letting her sleep in a roasting car,I left it idling on the drive with the aircon on,whilst I washed the wife's car.
Now I know you get some condensation off aircon units,but the pool of 'water' under my car was something see.....
A less experienced owner could have got a real scare and suspected something had gone wrong.

[/ QUOTE ]

bowfer, It was really humid this weekend, so more water for the aircon to take out, not anything to worry about. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/beerchug.gif
 
get it off Auto, onto Recirc, select LOW and off you go its easy,

Mines a Lava GReay ( Black ) and its been great this weekend,
i even selested 20 and it was cool int he car /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif


dont forget to keep your finger on Unlock on the remote to Bring down all th windows as you walk up to the car /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
If you want it COLD in the car when its HOT outside then put it on LOW. (just like a 10yr old sierra with manual on/off aircon)

The whole point with auto air con is it regulates to a set temp. i.e. 20deg. Which is not COLD at all, its normal room temp.

re-circ & LOW is good for further cooling after a few minutes when the air in the cabin is cooler than the air outside.
 
thanks again miket. may I suggest you accept that some cars have a fault - this is not the first time I have come across climate control. FYI the car is on LOW and the air comes out warm on warm days and cool on cool days. Any other gems please let me know. No offence, but after 3 days in this heat you begin to lose your sense of humour.

JB the girl on the service desk said it sounds like the compressor needs to be replaced, but cannot confirm until the car is taken in. Hope yours is ok, France is even hotter I think?
 
Jungle, thx for the info. Hate to think of you in this heat with no A/C, but it will be interesting to see what is wrong with yours.

My A3's thermometer read 41°C yesterday while in the Cité de Carcassonne.
 
Did the run from there through lezignan to beziers about 4 years ago - absolutely amazing. BTW will be ringing August 12th - 14th, and September too.
 
Sorry, this is totally off-topic, but:

1 - Jungle: those dates might just work for me.
2 - Jungle, Eeef, if you ever want to come to southern France and drive some wicked roads (like Carcassonne --> Barcelona via the Corbieres and coast line) / have some wicked parties, by all means pm!


Back to the topic at hand: a friend's 2.0tdi A3 had a complete compressor failure yesterday. The car is just out of warranty, but they are replacing for free anyway!! Pretty nice (or should I say... cool ;-)
 
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