Golf IV / Jetta IV :: Air Conditioning Clutch Not Engaging
Jun 29, 2014
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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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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My mother In law's a/c is not working. Last year I replaced the compressor, fcm, and pressure sensor and nothing. Well fast forward a year and I'm here again trying to sort it out. I unplugged the connector to the compressor and there is 2 black wires 1 wire has 6 volts (not 12v) and the others reads nothing. When I turn the A/C on the fans do come on.
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Driving home yesterday and the ac wouldnt come on my 2003 golf. Worked fine day before. All fuses are fine. Small fan works but large one needs to be replaced but its been that way. Ac button works fine too. What else would cause the clutch to not engage? I believe the pressure is fine as it worked fine the day before.
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Got a weird issue that I've never encountered before. I tried searching but you can't search for just "A/C", so the search was pretty generic and I couldn't find anything similar to my issue.
Hot or cold, doesn't matter. When I turn the A/C on the clutch try's to engage and slowly starts to spin with the pulley until until it finally engages then the a/c will blow out cold air just fine. Also noticed a burning smell coming from it.
01 Jetta 2.0
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I'm just over 45k miles, have a new mechatronics unit as of 39k, and I am beginning to see a new symptom for the first time since the replacement.... wondering if any of you have experienced this.
It's happened 2 or 3 times in the last couple weeks. The symptom suggests the clutch is not fully engaging. It is as if I had the clutch pedal in while in first gear, and I am feathering the clutch. This happens in "M" mode -- but I basically only drive in M so cannot say if it may happen in D or S.
Today, for example, I was at a red light on an incline. Light turns green, right foot off the brake and onto the throttle. Engine free spins up to nearly 4k and the car hold its position on the incline, without any movement or even a hint of movement. But there apparently was enough force going to the wheels to keep the car on the incline.
The engine does not rev as if it is in LC mode. It is free revving without any sound of it being under load.The clutches seem ok, this is not a clutch slippage problem. It's something occurring in the DSG's control.
I called my service advisor and he looked me up and said I have the latest and greatest MU, and my VIN does not qualify for the recent MU recall that is in the works. He said to just keep an eye on it for now (of course)
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Exactly what the title says.....when its cold out/cold start....engaging the clutch pedal it makes a click sounds up top of engagement?
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I got my R32 back 2 days ago after deploying to Iraq for a year. Upon driving it for the first time I took it a little easy on the car. I made sure the clutch was fully out before I did anything silly and what not.
Today I took it to the track and on the first launch I dropped it from like 3500 rpm and the RPMs shot up to 7500 and the car was moving at like 5 mph. I hit second gear and the rpm almost instantly shot up to 7500 rpm's again with the car moving at like 10 or 15 miles an hour.
After that, i let off completely. I tried one more time out in the warm up area to see what the hell was going on. Did the same thing. I could smell what I'm guessing was clutch burning pretty freaking bad. I'm, not 100% sure it was the clutch because I've never smelt a clutch smell that strong before.
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So i just took my 2010 Golf 2.5 into the dealer because it was not going into gear. Its a 5 speed with 12, 900 miles. They tell me they have to pull the trans and open it up before they can even tell whether or not the problem is covered under warranty!
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Lately I've noticed that when slowly engaging first or reverse, the clutch has noticeable but not loud chatter, kind of like its gargling a little. I JUST changed the trans fluid from OEM to Amsoil 75W-90 API GL4 and its about the same time the noise came, but I'm not going to assume right now that this is the source of the noise. Clutch acts just the same, apart from this gargle.
Might be worth mentioning that this all seems to have started about the same time the temps around here started to dip below 30 on a regular basis
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Today I parked my golf on the street and it was raining, when I came back to the car after four hours the street had flooded and water was about an inch below the bottom of the door on the driver side, and about an inch (or more) on the passenger side and up to the bottom of the exhaust pipes in the back.
The car started fine, but when I began to drive it the clutch would slip and then bang while engaging. Once I had taken off a few times gently everything smoothed out. Car drives fine and the engine bay was dry when I got home (a 40 minute highway drive). NO water got inside the car at all, so the interior was completely dry, every thing appeared to function perfectly. My question is, assuming just the bottom of the motor, trans, and undercarriage got wet is there anything I should be weary of? Any sensors or electrical things down there? Lights, ac, door locks, everything is working and running fine and dry at this point.
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The other night I threw an EPC light. I've tried reading older posts but haven't found anything.
I was at the top of a hill, slowly engaging the clutch while accelerating. I wasn't trying to floor it or anything. My car immediately went into limp mode and the EPC light came on. I pulled over, restarted the car, and it went away. It happened again the next day in the same place.
I am only having the problem on a steep hill while engaging the clutch. Other than this situation, the car seems to be running fine. The car is completely bone stock. I don't have a VAGCOM and can't really afford to purchase one at the moment.
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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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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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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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Just put transmission back in car after getting 3/4 gear synchros replaced and tdi 5th gear installed. I adjusted the shift linkage multiple times and did the procedure 100% correct. Now, all gears work except for 3rd. I can't get into 3rd at all whether shifting with cables installed or just freely from tower.
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My03 GLI will not engage first or second gear.
This morning, i was having some issues getting the car in reverse, but it eventually engaged and is fine now. I drove to the barbershop, and on the way home, the shifter stopped engaging 1st or 2nd gear. it moves freely into position (TOO FREELY) and all other gears will engage. common sense tells me that the clutch is fine and the problem is with the shifter.
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Mk4 2005 TDI 190,00 KM
Background: Purchased this car couple months ago. Did a bunch of maintenance, including rear pads/rotors, fronts still good. Also decide to bleed the system while I had the car on jacks. Followed Bentley procedure as I have previously, using a pressure bleeder making sure to stay at 12 psi and kept the reservoir topped up at all times. First I did the clutch slave, brakes and last I did VAG com procedure to bleed the ABS unit. Upon completion pedal felt good and I took it for drive ..
Brakes worked fine under normal braking force but when the car was slowing down and coasting to a stop with my foot on the brake (light pressure) the ABS engaged briefly(speed around 10-15km /h) right before the car came to a stop. Assumed maybe air in the system so re-bleed the ABS pump again .. Nothing same ABS kicks in right before stopping .. Cleaned all speed sensors and rings .. Nothing, still happening.
Recap:
-ABS does not engage under regular braking force, brakes work fine.
-ABS engages under light braking pressure right before complete stop. (ie parking car or pulling into a drive way)
So my question is, is it possible an ABS sensor out of the 4 is causing this? How about the brake switch? I know that on older VWs used to be 2 pin but this one is 4. Is it possible there is ABS pump problem? Air still in the system? Master cylinder?
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Yesterday my 2003 VW Golf TDI turn signals stopped working. The hazard/emergency lights do work. Also, when I push the signal lever forward the brights don't engage. Does this sound like a bad relay or blown fuse?
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For the past few months, pretty consistently, whenever I engage the clutch from full stop into first gear (it does it when starting in second gear too; and reverse) there is a pretty obnoxious and loud screeching noise that I would liken to a subway/train braking or just metal on metal grinding situation. When I took the car in to Douglas for an oil change and APR Stg 1 flash, they told me it's just the brakes being cold, etc. After driving the car some more, I really doubt that it's the brakes and I can reproduce this regularly by slowly releasing the clutch and get the noise usually just before the gear engages.
That car has just over 16K on the clock and has never been abused. The clutch pedal feels fine and there is no issue shifting into any of the gears other than the noise. No mods other than the APR Stage 1.
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