Golf IV / Jetta IV :: 1999 - Air Conditioning Won't Blow Cold - Compressor Not Engaging?
Sep 20, 2007
Ok here is the issue, my girlfriend owns a MK4 '99 Jetta. Through the search I was able to figure out why she is having so many issues with her door locks and how they can be fixed on the cheap..thats awesome. But here is the problem. She was driving down the road the other day, A/C working...then suddenly it stopped blowing cold. Fan is still working, just blows hot air. She said it started blowing warm suddenly and hasnt been getting warmer through out the past days or anything.
With the hood popped and the a/c on, you can see that the compressor isnt engaging. The car makes a noise like its engaging the compressor, but nothing is happening that I can see visually. Seems as if the compressor is not getting the signal to engage. It sounds like its trying to make the compressor kick on about every 5 seconds or so. Basically that initial clicking sound that your hear RIGHT before the compressor comes on when its working normally.
We have checked the fuses and no luck with those, all look good. Seems like its an electrical issue to me. What this may be? Bad pressure switch? Low pressure in the system? I know the car has had the compressor replaced before...and the clutch seems to spin freely when the car is off.
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I have an 01 Jetta 1.8t wolfsburg eddition and the AC won't blow cold air. The AC Clutch does engage when I press the AC button on the control unit The refrigerant pressure is good The fan blows, but its hot air. the condenser is working because the pipe is cold when the ac is running I am curious if any of you know what other possible problems could be causing this. It is currently 100 degrees with 100% humidity
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The A/C does not blow cold. The Compressor clutch does kick on and stay on The passenger side fan kicks on only (I think the driver side is toast but i need to test it to confirm) The system has 45psi on the low side
I did not check the high side as I don't have a gauge for it but will get one if I need to test that. So my thoughts are that my expansion valve is toast which is what expands the hot liquid and turns it to cool liquid so the A/C gets cold. I think this because it seems all of the other components work.
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Here's the story: was on my way downtown last night to get a new suit (I'm in Savannah, GA so it's hot) and AC was working great. The Jetta (2003 AWP) is a stock-everything-1.8T that has never had any AC work done to it from the day I bought it new. I figured it was doing just fine so just leave it alone. Anyway, leave the suit shop (bought a gray three-piece) and go back to the parking lot, start up and get ready to leave, no cold air from the vents. I get it home and do some reading on here and also in the Bentley manual and get into some preliminary troubleshooting. Here's what I have so far:
- Engine running/AC button ON/Blower on "3"/Recirculation OFF/Engine at operating temperature
- Turn blower ON - visually verified that clutch is not engaged and compressor is not spinning
- Shut car off, compressor does turn by hand easily
- With AC button on and blower on, passenger side cooling fan (behind radiator) is ON but driver side cooling fan IS NOT on - I think this indicates a problem from what I've read
- Checked cabin fuses 5, 16, & 25. All have low resistance (good continuity) and are not discolored. Just to make sure I scuffed the contacts with a scotchbrite pad and reinstalled them
- Same deal for the top-of-the-battery power distribution block. All fuses checked okay and were scuffed and reinstalled
- Moved on to the pressure switch/pressure sensor. My vehicle has the 3-pin sensor so jumping contacts is not a possibility. I need to rent/buy a duty cycle meter to check it. Any good tutorial on how to do this? Do I disconnect the connector and check it right at the switch or must I break out the wires and check it in parallel with the connector attached to the sensor?
- I grabbed a flat-head screwdriver and gave the high-pressure and low-pressure service valves a poke and got a good blast of pressure from them so I don't think the system is empty.
- Did a little more reading and found I needed to check voltage at the 3-pin connector on top of the battery power distribution block. I did this with the key ON - no power at any of the pins. Repeated with key ON and engine running with AC button ON and blower ON - still no voltage. For these measurements, the connector was DISCONNECTED. Does this matter? Do I need to have it plugged in to get voltage there (i.e., read the voltage from the rear of the connector with it installed?)
- Finally, and perhaps most enlightening, I suspected I may simply be low on R134a so I bought a can with a pressure gauge on it. Connected it to low-pressure side with engine running, AC button ON, blower on "4", recirculation OFF. The gauge read ~150 PSIG. Yes, this seems high to me too; however, the compressor is still not turning at this point. Does it need to turn to get a good pressure reading from the LP service valve? I recall from everything I read that if pressure is too low, the clutch won't engage, and if pressure is too high, the clutch won't engage
So, as far as I can tell I have a few problems...
1. The driver side fan doesn't run when AC button is ON
2. No voltage at the 3-pin connector on the battery power distribution block Incorrect methods...there is voltage there.
3. Low-pressure side of the AC system is too high Called and checked with a local mechanic...I won't receive correct pressures if the compressor is not turning.
My next steps are to check the voltage at the compressor connector for 12VDC. I suspect I'll get 0V because it's clearly not turning. I'll do this once I can figure out how to get the dang connectors apart without breaking them. 11-year-old heat fatigued plastic is brittle...
Finally got the compressor connector apart.. there is 12VDC on pin 1 and 0VDC on pin 2 (it's a ground, so there shouldn't be..ground continuity check good). Ohmed out the clutch...from what I can tell, that circuit is open. However, I am not 100% sure I was on the contacts because of how the connector is positioned. I'm going to get a dummy connector from a salvage yard and connect it up and make sure I have good contact before I call it a bad clutch.
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I have a 2003 Santa fe 2.0 diesel which I got 2 weeks ago, but the air con does not blow cold, I suspect that the air conditioning needs re-gassing, my question is how often does the air con need re-gassing on the santa fe, I've had cars before and for a number of years and the sir con always have been fine, I just hope it needs a re-service , are there any common faults with the air cons on a santa fe?
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I am having a problem with my MKIV, @ 182k. I think problem first arose a couple months ago when reverse began not engaging on cold starts, so I would have to sit there 5-10 minutes waiting for car to 'warm up' enough for reverse to engage. This led me to taking it to a local tranny shop who I asked to change fluid only, which they did. Problem persisted however, but forward driving was noticeably much smoother. If that matters. I gave up on it, since I knew it was only reverse messing up, and started parking in reverse overnight etc.
Simultaneously I had a code for P0420/P0411 (the SAI incorrect flow crap which causes catalyst inefficiency) so I went ahead and swapped out the cracked SAI plastic hose leading to stock airbox, after doing so I reset the CEL and ran the car. And it ran like crap, I think it was in limp mode (i had never experienced this in my Jetta) from what Ive read, but not sure. So, I pulled to the side, and restarted car, let it sit, same problem. Finally, after 3-4 cycles it threw a CEL, which ironically FIXED the problem. It ran fine from then on. Made it home, hooked up scanner and CEL code was P0732, which I read elsewhere is a 'Gear 2 - Incorrect Ratio' meaning 2nd gear is messed up somehow.
So, overnight I reset CEL and today in the morning I let it idle for 10 minutes before taking off, immediately same issue, where car will not accelerate/ change gears it seems. Went back straight home, waited for CEL to display, and VOILA, runs fine again. Same code P0732. Running fine as of writing this. Problem only arose after taking a swing at SAI code and reset of CEL's. Once CEL lights up its fine.
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I have a 1991 Bonne LE with 150,000 miles. Have had GREAT luck with this car but realize it is getting high miles. I recently drove it about 250 mile trip and the A/C worked perfectly staying nice and cold. The next time I drove it, when I turned the A/C on, it got cold after about 5-10 seconds and then it was like you turned only the blower on with no A/C. It does the same thing every time I turn the A/C on, gets cold fast, then just neutral temp with no cold air.
I checked the compressor switch and it is working fine, and the compressor is engaging and staying engaged, but not outputting cold air except for the first 10 seconds or so. I do believe the temperature door inside the dash is opening properly. What I might check myself before taking the car in for A/C service? I am capable of replacing the compressor & seals myself but would have to have someone discharge the system and then recharge it afterwards.
The car is a rebuilder that I bought about 10 years ago. The fellow (very trustworthy) who rebuilt it replaced all the A/C o-ring seals when I bought it and made sure the system was fully charged. It has worked perfectly this whole time. He also gave me the a/c compressor and other parts from the parts car that was used to rebuild this one.
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I seem to be having an issue with my air conditioning. I don't think it's an ID-10T error, but it is very peculiar.
My driver side vents blow hot or lukewarm air, however my passenger vents are ice cold. I have the 15 limited, so it does have the "dual" control, and as such I think the issue may be related to that.
Both controls are set to low, max fan, head only, and AC. The "Sync" and "Auto" buttons have no effect.
Any things I can check? I really do not want to bring it into the dealer as they treated me very poorly the last time I came in and my car was out for a month.
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My ac stopped blowing cold. The compressor turns on when I turn the ac on. When I pressure tested the low line port, it showed it was too high to add any recharge. 2001 jetta wolfsburg 1.8t....
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I have a 98 Buick Regal. When my air conditioning works, it is beautiful. On a hot and sunny day when I pull out of the garage, I can run the air conditioning until the car is turned off. After reaching a destination and parking in the hot sun the compressor will not blow cold air. If the day is overcast or cool, the air conditioning works fine. What the problem might be?
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The AC on my car (2002 Jetta 1.8t) quit blowing cold. Did some troubleshooting and...
1. Checked Freon- level was ok
2. Noticed cooling fans were not coming on with AC button pressed and ignition on. Fans also not coming on when car up to temperature, but gauge never went above normal. Seems strange considering I live in Houston and it was 95+ out.
3. tested fans with direct power and both high and low are fine.
4. jumped terminals 1,2 and 2,3 on plug for cooling fan switch and fans turn on high and low...so thought must be bad cooling fan switch.
5. Replaced cooling fan switch and still no fans or ac when AC button is pressed and ignition on.
6. replaced Fan control module. Still no fans.
7. Checked Freon once more...and although it was in the ok range decided to add a little more. (was in the middle of ok range, and a cheap gauge)
8. Compressor kicks on, along with cooling fan. End up using the 1 can I had and now have cold air and fans that come on when hitting the AC button with ignition set to on position.
I thought the mkiv cars would always turn on the fans when AC button is pressed with ignition on? Or does the compressor also need to be charged?
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I have a 2007 F150 with a 5.4. I am having an issue with my A/C and more.
Here are the symptoms:
1) A/C doesn't blow cold, at times.
2) Compressor not coming on, according to mechanic.
3) Engine sounds like a freight train, at times. Like on a super cold day and it has to work hard.
4) Very poor fuel mileage since this started.
I took it to a shop, and they said it was the engine cooling fan that would not come on. So I replaced it. Same issue. I then took it back and was told there is a wiring problem. After 3 days they couldn't find it. I needed my truck back and dropped it off again. Then they said it was the A/C compressor, maybe. They wanted to try it and then see what happened. I told them no way.
Temperature, according to the gauge is good. Noise comes and goes. Not dependent on anything. Weather, temperature, car heated up or dead cold. Just comes and goes.
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129k miles, first time ever noticed a/c compressor not engaging -- hadn't tried a/c in a few months, winter and all... Jumpered the cycle switch and determined it was low pressure situation -- took to dealer, who recharged/diagnosed leak situation. Compressor oil leak at front seal (needs replacement) and refrigerant leak at manifold hose assembly.
However - compressor running nice and quiet, after recharge, no problems, silent operation. Couple questions:
1. Ford manual says no need to replace accumulator unless there is evidence of compressor failure (which mine hasn't yet) -- is that 'evidence' trash in the orifice tube? If so, where precisely is it? I know it's in one of the tube assemblies, but can't visualize the location from the diagrams.
2. Since my compressor hadn't failed, still running quiet/smooth, can I just replace that and the leaky hose assembly and be done w/it?
3. Is this a job that's beyond the moderately skilled garage mechanic? I handle most of my own jobs with exception of heavy engine (i.e., heads, etc) but have never attempted a/c-related due to the refrigerant portion of this job. I'm sure I can obtain the proper vacuum equipment somehow, if it's something that's not too overly complicated...
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2012 6.2 XLT 50,000 miles with manual single zone controls. I haven't had time to work on it yet, but it seems that my AC compressor is not engaging. The dash controls light up normal, fan comes on, etc. I am just looking to see if there are any common failure points. I know it COULD be low on charge, clutch could be bad, etc. I am just checking if there is a common failure with these trucks AC system.
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I had just picked my car up from the shop after getting a new 3" downpipe installed (welded to stock cat) and attached to stock catback exhaust. I mention this because I never had this problem before and have already had installed a TIP, boost hose kit, DV, larger intercooler, and breather hose kit, all for a Unitronic Stage 2 tune.
So I go to turn on the A/C and the idle drops to about 400 rpm, almost stalls, interior shudders, vacuum jumps from about 20 to 10 as the engine revs itself a bit, and then it settles back out and the car runs fine (awesome with the new tune) and A/c works great. I have used the A/C a bit since getting all other upgrades done and never had a problem, or I didn't notice, but I'm wondering why a new downpipe would make a difference. I tried turning it on and off a few more times and the same things happened at idle, but after that initial dip and near-stall the engine was just fine around town and on the highway.
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Got in my truck this morning and everything worked fine, no problems. Arrived at my destination and parked. Come out about two hours later start the truck and my A/C wont blow air, My truck is an 05 lariat so it has the climate control A/C. Everything was working fine it just wont blow air, When i turned the A/C on and off i could hear/feel the small thump of the clutch engaging on the compressor. I am thinking the blower fan just went south? or maybe something stupid that controls the blower fan? Summer is in full swing here in central florida, temps are 95+ not including the humidity...
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How many degrees should cool the air conditioning? My Golf 4 has about 14 years and doesn't seem to cool as much as before. Measuring with the probe of a multimeter, the temperature of the air coming through the air vents drops 10 C below ambient temperature. For example at 28 C ambient temperature I can get 18 C through the air vents, but doesn't seem that low. After the air mixes inside you don't really notice a big drop.
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2001 jetta 4 dr. 2.0 gas
The other day I was driving and the air just quit. No screeches bangs or anything. I checked all the fuses and realized my main fan wasn't working.
I replaced both fans but still no air. When I push the button on the dash for recirculate my brake light on the instrument panel comes on.
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I have a 2003 Model F150 4x4 that has always ran good for me, and has only had minor issues ever since I've had it. Not too bad considering it has 266,xxx miles on it and running 100 miles a day on the original motor & transmission.
Here's my problem - my air conditioning will only blow thru the defrost. I can hit vent on the control panel and it will blow thru the vents, but if i hit max ac it switches to defrost. It has gotten super hot around here and i really need this to work correctly. I'm not very knowledgeable about this stuff (have worked more on older vehicles) so i guess I'll need a fairly detailed reply if possible. I have looked under the hood looking for messed up vacuum lines but haven't seen any that looked bad.
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I have a 2003 Model F150 4x4 that has always ran good for me, and has only had minor issues ever since I've had it. Not too bad considering it has 266,xxx miles on it and running 100 miles a day on the original motor & transmission.
Here's my problem - my air conditioning will only blow thru the defrost. I can hit vent on the control panel and it will blow thru the vents, but if i hit max ac it switches to defrost. I live close to Memphis, and it has gotten super hot around here and i really need this to work correctly. I have looked under the hood looking for messed up vacuum lines but haven't seen any that looked bad.
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I can't seem to get the engine temp to middle range on the marker, but yet my heater blows "to me" hot air. Even while sitting in idle for extended amounts of time I cannot get it to "operating" temperature. I would think if my thermostat was stuck open my heater would blow either cold or slightly warm air. I have the 5.4L engine with knn air filter and no cats.
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