AC went out!

[MCKSHNL]

So Saturday, get in the Passat to go for a drive. No AC! WTF? 6300 miles on the car and the AC goes out. I get the fan blowing air, but nothing cold (yes the AC button was pressed).



Anyone else have this problem? I haven't had a chance to see if maybe I blew a fuse yet. Otherwise making a service appointment with the dealer.

[teknokrat]

So Saturday, get in the Passat to go for a drive. No AC! WTF? 6300 miles on the car and the AC goes out. I get the fan blowing air, but nothing cold (yes the AC button was pressed).



Anyone else have this problem? I haven't had a chance to see if maybe I blew a fuse yet. Otherwise making a service appointment with the dealer.

1. what was the outside temperature? if it was over 100 degrees, or in the 90s, don't expect instant cold.

2. how long did you give the car before you decided the a/c was broken? look at your oil temp guage. did you let it needle up to the middle? sometimes it takes that long. again, depending on how hot it was.

3. hit max a/c and give it time, drive around, get the oil temp up. if you're STILL not getting cold air (and if the outside temp is BELOW 100 degrees) then yes, you have a problem for sure.

here in nashville 1 week ago, my car said 121 degrees in the parking lot at work, i kid you not. obviously i hit max a/c on the drive home from work. it took all the way until i was pulling into my driveway before it finally started feeling like cold air. does not mean my a/c is broken.

btw i only have 3k miles, just fyi.

[TToplessTTs]

1. what was the outside temperature? if it was over 100 degrees, or in the 90s, don't expect instant cold.

2. how long did you give the car before you decided the a/c was broken? look at your oil temp guage. did you let it needle up to the middle? sometimes it takes that long. again, depending on how hot it was.

3. hit max a/c and give it time, drive around, get the oil temp up. if you're STILL not getting cold air (and if the outside temp is BELOW 100 degrees) then yes, you have a problem for sure.

here in nashville 1 week ago, my car said 121 degrees in the parking lot at work, i kid you not. obviously i hit max a/c on the drive home from work. it took all the way until i was pulling into my driveway before it finally started feeling like cold air. does not mean my a/c is broken.

btw i only have 3k miles, just fyi.

Oil temp gauge? Is that aftermarket? I don't have an oil temp gauge and haven't seen one stock on cars in years... Maybe on muscle cars or other high performance cars.

We've had temps here in GA at 107 to 109 and I still had cold air within 2 minutes of running the AC.

[MCKSHNL]

Thanks for the reply. It was in the high eighties, drove for 20 minutes with Max AC on and nothing. Just air from the fan. It normally is cold within. Minute or two even after just starting the car.

Here's to hoping its something minor!

Andy

[cheapa55TDI]

WTH?!!!! I was going to post this today!!!

I had a terrible day at work. Got in my car in 100+F weather. Hit A/C max and started to back out of my parking spot and I heard a super loud grinding noise!!! I immediately turned off the car not knowing what it was. I turned the car back on and there was nothing. No air, fan, or a/c.

I was miserable during my 50 mi. drive home in 100F weather in a shirt and a tie, sweating in my dress pants.

I'm not even calling the dealer tomorrow, I'm taking it in 1st thing. It's going to be 108F this week where I live. Arghhh!!!!

btw, I have 23k miles on my car.

[mknieri]

My SE V6 has oil temperature in the MFD. Wondering what the resolution or problem was with the AC? Blown fuse or something more complex?

[MCKSHNL]

Well just dropped my Passat off at the dealer. Having them check the AC as well as a couple of other things. Fuel door was having trouble closing and staying closed, also having the headliner pull out another owner was having in a separate thread.

Three annoying things on my new car! I'll update once I get it back.

Andy

[cheapa55TDI]

I got a call from my dealership and was told they took out the lower mount? and saw the problem right away. Something broke so they ordered the part for overnight delivery. Hopefully it will be done tomorrow.

time to look into extended warranty.

[BudPytko]

What's the lower mount? Motor ? Air conditioner? Trans?

[cheapa55TDI]

What's the lower mount? Motor ? Air conditioner? Trans?

I have no idea, that's why I put ???? I didn't ask further bc I was very busy at work. I will post the details from the receipt when I get the car back.

[MCKSHNL]

Dealer just called.

So apparently a faulty AC Pressure Switch is the culprit. It is on the outside, underneath the car. Dealer won't be able to cover it under warranty because it appears RATS HAVE CHEWED ON THE WIRES! and they consider it an "outside incident"... as in outside the parameters of warranty coverage. $350 to fix.

I haven't seen the part yet. Will look at it when I pick the car up. They are ordering new pieces for the rest of my issues.

Rats? Really? I wonder if feral cats would do this too? There are 5 stray cats my lousy neighbor feeds and they like to hang around my street.

Andy

[teknokrat]

Oil temp gauge? Is that aftermarket? I don't have an oil temp gauge and haven't seen one stock on cars in years... Maybe on muscle cars or other high performance cars.

We've had temps here in GA at 107 to 109 and I still had cold air within 2 minutes of running the AC.

coolant temp guage?

[capclassicv2]

Dealer just called.

So apparently a faulty AC Pressure Switch is the culprit. It is on the outside, underneath the car. Dealer won't be able to cover it under warranty because it appears RATS HAVE CHEWED ON THE WIRES! and they consider it an "outside incident"... as in outside the parameters of warranty coverage. $350 to fix.

I haven't seen the part yet. Will look at it when I pick the car up. They are ordering new pieces for the rest of my issues.

Rats? Really? I wonder if feral cats would do this too? There are 5 stray cats my lousy neighbor feeds and they like to hang around my street.

Andy

Andy... I feel your pain. Same thing happened to my B6 a few years ago. Rats chewed up the wires to the coolant senor and the fan would run for 30 minutes after turning the car off. Wasn't covered for me either. The rat, actually fried itself on the wire, and they were going to show me, but of obvious reasons I declined.

Apparently it was hot one day, rained that night and got really cold. The rats were probably trying to get warmed as my engine was still warm after coming home.

[teknokrat]

Dealer just called.

So apparently a faulty AC Pressure Switch is the culprit. It is on the outside, underneath the car. Dealer won't be able to cover it under warranty because it appears RATS HAVE CHEWED ON THE WIRES! and they consider it an "outside incident"... as in outside the parameters of warranty coverage. $350 to fix.

I haven't seen the part yet. Will look at it when I pick the car up. They are ordering new pieces for the rest of my issues.

Rats? Really? I wonder if feral cats would do this too? There are 5 stray cats my lousy neighbor feeds and they like to hang around my street.

Andy

ohhhh man i would blow the roof off that dealership with anger. i mean really? they will find any kind of reason to make something out-of-warranty. i mean TECHNICALLY sure it makes sense, but in the interest of having a good relationship with CUSTOMERS and realizing you didn't do this on purpose, they should just bite the bullet on this one. if it happened at say 40k miles, yeah you're paying for it. but 6k? and all you did was think the a/c was broken? it's just offensive to say "nope! we didn't do it, and we're certainly not going to go out of our way to please you." that will leave a great taste in your mouth next time you consider a vehicle purchase. idiotic short-sighted dealers.

[capclassicv2]

teknokrat, I was pretty pissed when it happened to me. But it's really not VW's fault or responsibility for the crappy condition of our city (Baltimore in my case). It would be nice if Home Depot told me that they would let me have a second drill after the first fell and broke before I got to use it. I probably would have been happier to shop with them again, but that's sorta irrational to expect.

[BudPytko]

It happened to me with my F250. Squirrels chewed the engine wire harness in a number of different places. Dealer had to clean out a huge garbage can full of nesting material. It was something like $1300.00 to replace the whole harness. Wasn't covered by warranty of course, but my COMP coverage on my insurance did - Zero Deductible. The OP ought to check with his insurance company.

Oh yeah, I went to war with all the squirrels in my yard then.... I now have them down to 4! It was over a hundred in 5 years!

[tdiatlast]

capclassicv2: You should change your member name to "capclassy" for how you're handling this. I would agree that the dealer has no reason to pay for this damage, as no way was it caused by them or the operation of the car.

I think it would be a nice touch if they offered to sell you the part at cost, though. That would go a long way toward "good-will", and wouldn't cost them more than a few $$$...

[teknokrat]

capclassicv2: You should change your member name to "capclassy" for how you're handling this. I would agree that the dealer has no reason to pay for this damage, as no way was it caused by them or the operation of the car.

I think it would be a nice touch if they offered to sell you the part at cost, though. That would go a long way toward "good-will", and wouldn't cost them more than a few $$$...

he lives in maryland, the richest state in the country, according to the 2010 census. so of course he's going to shrug off repair costs on one of the vehicles in his stable. the rest of us are savages who can't casually afford such mishaps.

alright alright a little early-morning hyperbole there. but i certainly think more companies should be forward-thinking about good will and "the customer is always right" instead of their soulless bottom-line mentality. yes they are a business and yes they want to make money, but they can't make their money without customers. period. unless there's some new legislation about that...

[capclassicv2]

he lives in maryland, the richest state in the country, according to the 2010 census. so of course he's going to shrug off repair costs on one of the vehicles in his stable. the rest of us are savages who can't casually afford such mishaps.

alright alright a little early-morning hyperbole there. but i certainly think more companies should be forward-thinking about good will and "the customer is always right" instead of their soulless bottom-line mentality. yes they are a business and yes they want to make money, but they can't make their money without customers. period. unless there's some new legislation about that...

Maryland may be the richest state, but Baltimore City is by far not a good measure of that. And whether or not I was comfortable with my income, I still would be rational when it comes to my expectations for my car company. Or I'd buy a used beater and never have to worry about a dealership repair.

But... I have a degree in Business... and I agree with your mentality. Many times corporations, large businesses and the government are just hungry on whatever money they can get, and don't mind giving the finger to a small group of people if they find they can charge someone else more. And that ends up becoming why our economy is messed up.

Under current business models, it is irrational for the dealership or VW to cover us for something that not in our warranty when we sign that purchase/lease agreement. And rats and other animals aren't any of their concern, and honestly, it shouldn't be. But if they started covering stuff for "good will", where is the money for that work going to come from? Probably from the initial purchase. That's why it works for Mercedes to build a car at say 35k, charge everyone 65k for the badge and offer more "good will" to the customers. And it works for that class of buyer. But this is VW, one of the Walmart's of the auto world. You can't expect them to just throw out free services for stuff not covered in the contract we signed.

[mknieri]

Rats...ugh...I had to spend about $350 in repairs and clean up on my Honda Pilot over last winter due to a mouse that took up a home in the HVAC system. Died very quickly when he/she fell into the blower motor.

[MCKSHNL]

So I went to the the dealer to pick up my car. When I went in I told the service manager I needed to see the chewed wires as she described because I had a hard time swallowing the story.

She call s the service tech out to show me the damage. He opens the hood, shows me the module with the wires hanging off it. Sure enough, they have been chewed all up! I really thought they were trying to get out of a warranty call, but in this case... effing critters!

Anyway, looks like an easy enough splice job that I can take care of to get things back in order. I have photos but how the heck do I post them?

Andy

[cheapa55TDI]

sorry about your situation. I should consider myself lucky in a way since mine was covered but at the same time, I wonder if my problem will happen again.

Here's the update:

Blower motor actually broke, so they replaced it and it's all good now.

[BudPytko]

So I went to the the dealer to pick up my car. When I went in I told the service manager I needed to see the chewed wires as she described because I had a hard time swallowing the story.

She call s the service tech out to show me the damage. He opens the hood, shows me the module with the wires hanging off it. Sure enough, they have been chewed all up! I really thought they were trying to get out of a warranty call, but in this case... effing critters!

Anyway, looks like an easy enough splice job that I can take care of to get things back in order. I have photos but how the heck do I post them?

Andy

Join PhotoBucket (free) and just follow their instructions..... real easy. Copy/paste

[teknokrat]

Maryland may be the richest state, but Baltimore City is by far not a good measure of that. And whether or not I was comfortable with my income, I still would be rational when it comes to my expectations for my car company. Or I'd buy a used beater and never have to worry about a dealership repair.

But... I have a degree in Business... and I agree with your mentality. Many times corporations, large businesses and the government are just hungry on whatever money they can get, and don't mind giving the finger to a small group of people if they find they can charge someone else more. And that ends up becoming why our economy is messed up.

Under current business models, it is irrational for the dealership or VW to cover us for something that not in our warranty when we sign that purchase/lease agreement. And rats and other animals aren't any of their concern, and honestly, it shouldn't be. But if they started covering stuff for "good will", where is the money for that work going to come from? Probably from the initial purchase. That's why it works for Mercedes to build a car at say 35k, charge everyone 65k for the badge and offer more "good will" to the customers. And it works for that class of buyer. But this is VW, one of the Walmart's of the auto world. You can't expect them to just throw out free services for stuff not covered in the contract we signed.

there's a slight air of snobbishness in that response. why shouldn't rats chewing the wires be the concern of an auto maker? if you want to stand out and be different, you will think of these things and act on them. after all, this is oft-touted 'german engineering.' and why does everything have to be done for $$$? good will means you are genuine and passionate about your business, NOT about the money. you have a business degree, ask any true successful ceo... you do not go into business to make money, you go into business because you love what you do and care about your work. the money comes as a result. any ceo who says differently, bought their way in and/or inherited it, and just works to please shareholders and probably doesn't even know how to physically work the business they "run".

when companies ONLY care about money, you get the mess we are in.

and vw is wal-mart? very condescending. vw WANTS to be as mass-market as wal-mart here in the states, but they definitely do not carry the same "always the lowest price" attitude. i would lump ford and toyota into the wal-mart category wayyyyyy before vw.

i do hope you've finished paying for your degree. "education" has become another capitalist commodity. a product you buy in the hopes of earning more money, not simply for the sake of being educated.

[teknokrat]

now that i think of it, some auto manufacturer recently had a rash of spiders living in the exhaust pipes? i think it was nissan or something? google.................here we go... mazda, recalled their cars because spiders liked something about the fuel system.

http://blogs.wsj.com/drivers-seat/20...se-of-spiders/

this is not quite the same as rats chewing wires, but just think if vw manufactured preventative (covered) wiring... it would be one of those little touches that reminds you that they thought of everything.

do you want to just be another car company that says "sorry, warranty doesn't cover that" or do you want to make the news for actually correcting something? and look, the company filed it themselves with NHTSA, one of those "big government oversight" agencies that are supposed to be so evil.

[MCKSHNL]

Let's see if this works. Photos:





Very clear that something chewed the wires up.

Top photo is the AC Pressure Switch. It's under the hood, passenger side, behind the headlight assembly. Second photo is the other end of the wires coming out of that switch.

[BudPytko]

Guess you don't drive it much...or at least it stays parked a lot, eh?

[MCKSHNL]

Guess you don't drive it much...or at least it stays parked a lot, eh?

I drive 500 miles a week so it's always moving. I do live up at the base of some foothills and I have seen a mouse in my garage before, but a few years ago.

I'm wondering if a cat could have done this. There are five stray cats roaming my street that my lousy neighbor feeds. I don't know... didn't see any animal hair or droppings anywhere in the engine bay though.

[5potguy]

I drive 500 miles a week so it's always moving. I do live up at the base of some foothills and I have seen a mouse in my garage before, but a few years ago.

I'm wondering if a cat could have done this. There are five stray cats roaming my street that my lousy neighbor feeds. I don't know... didn't see any animal hair or droppings anywhere in the engine bay though.

Awhile ago I had a few issues with critters...I purchased some critter spray & powder from Lowe's...sprayed the engine bay and powdered all around the battery area etc.. Then I sprayed a complete circle around where I park at night... Be aware the spray & powder smell atrocious..anyway no more critters.. after a couple of weeks I hosed down my engine bay & parking area. Airfreshed the car..fingers crossed

[jkinzel]

Maybe every car should come with the option of a case of DeCon, i.e. rodent poison.