Using car air con, good for the car, or money down the drain?

reddwarf2002

Iceweasel wrote: »

That's weird - as you say it might well be a Mk5 Golf thing.

You mentioned a drainage pipe for the condensate - I wonder whether this could be blocked? Does anyone have an idea where this could be located on the Mk5 Golf?

Iceweasel

reddwarf2002 wrote: »

You mentioned a drainage pipe for the condensate - I wonder whether this could be blocked? Does anyone have an idea where this could be located on the Mk5 Golf?

Yes - that could well be your problem - I had constantly wet carpet in the front of an e28 which was eventually traced to the condensate drain pipe having been knocked off by a passengers foot up behind the dash on the side of the transmission tunnel.

On my Freelander there was a little pipe with a bend near the end which ran down from the back of the heater/AC unit behind the bulkhead, which was liable to be blocked by flying mud, road-crud and debris.

When working correctly on a humid day there should be a little puddle of condensate appear under the car if you leave it idling for a few minutes after a run.

Good luck.

Richard53

reddwarf2002 wrote: »

You mentioned a drainage pipe for the condensate - I wonder whether this could be blocked? Does anyone have an idea where this could be located on the Mk5 Golf?

I've been reading this thread and thinking exactly this. I had a Disco 2 that started fogging up inside with the aircon on. Quick check on the forums, under the car (easy with a Disco) and put a curtain rod up the A/C drain tube. Problem solved, along with a face full of mucky water


My Mondeo is ten years old and the aircon has never been switched off, as far as I know. It has never needed any attention and works perfectly. I take the hint from Ford, who give you a button to turn the A/C off, but the button that puts it back on again is labelled 'auto'. If it makes a difference to fuel consumption, I haven't noticed.

londonTiger

aircon is good for demisting the windscreen during the winter. I dont know how non AC cars cope in the summer. Especially if you drive on the motorways.

reddwarf2002

londonTiger wrote: »

aircon is good for demisting the windscreen during the winter. I dont know how non AC cars cope in the summer. Especially if you drive on the motorways.

However, in the case of VW, the clever engineers decided that it would be de-activated when the temperature falls below 4C - arguably when it's most needed for clearing up the windscreen!

(Just googled the location of the drain pipe; it seems there's few trims that need to removed so probably too much hassle.)

londonTiger

reddwarf2002 wrote: »

However, in the case of VW, the clever engineers decided that it would be de-activated when the temperature falls below 4C - arguably when it's most needed for clearing up the windscreen!

(Just googled the location of the drain pipe; it seems there's few trims that need to removed so probably too much hassle.)

damn i thought it was due to air condenser just being ineffective when the cindenser temp is higher than the atmosphere.

takman

I always leave mine on and to turn it off you have to go into the climate control menu and untick the box so it's designed to be left on. I tried turning it off one and the screen kept misting up. My car is a 2003 vectra and it's been on for 185000 miles and still works perfectly!.

Herzlos

I always leave mine on on a minimum setting, seems to keep the car clearer. In the last car, it had to be on or the windows would fog up within minutes.

reeac

[QUOTE=motorguy;70059095

A friend of mine has an XF Jag. Keeps the aircon OFF. Every 6-9 months the car goes back to jaguar due to bad smells in the cabin. They clean out the aircon system, and hand it back with the advice to keep it on. He doesnt. 6-9 months later it goes back..[/QUOTE]

I dread to think what replacement tyres he'll choose.

chrisw

reddwarf2002 wrote: »

However, in the case of VW, the clever engineers decided that it would be de-activated when the temperature falls below 4C - arguably when it's most needed for clearing up the windscreen!

It's not just VW, it's most/all makes to prevent ice forming on the evaporator which may cause blockages and damage to pipework and casings.