Aircon.....again What A Shock!

[Coxsey]

I hope you can help, I purchased the car second hand in November last year so I could not tell if the Aircon was working correctly but it seems that it wasn't.

 

I live in the Warrington (Cheshire) area and was wondering could anyone recomend a reputal company to have a look at it......

 

Thanks

 

Also the car has the full setup and the pannel flashes when the ignition is switched on and whilst in Econ mode the word "econ" doesnt show up properly..... is this fault diagnoses? :rolleyes:

[seatkid]

Surprise, surprise :rolleyes:

 

Well definitely not Ford,Seat or VW (although there must be one reputable dealer somewhere? - probably in Bulgaria)

 

Flashing display on startup usually means low or no gas - its leaked from...

 

Evaporator (- in dash) (No 1 suspect)

Condensor (- front radiator)(check for damage/corrosion)

Pipes or joints (corrosion)

Compressor (highly unlikely - don't listen to the dealers)

 

Not much else left to go wrong! :rolleyes:

 

Likely previous owner knew there was a problem. If you bought from a garage you could complain.....it will be expensive to fix

[HJT]

When was the car registered? Are you outside the 3 year warranty for the Galaxy. If not, get it to a dealer quick before it does run out as Seatkid says it will be expensive.

I think it's time for all the people here who've had the aircon go bellyup complain to BBC watchdog. I think if this goes out to the general public there will be an awful lot of Galaxy Sharan and Alhambra owners who have had this happen who think it was just their car. Maybe we can get the manufacturers to admit there is a problem with this system if enough pressure is brought to bear.

Here's a link to the Watchdog page Watchdog and choose the transport option.

 

Howard

[seatkid]

Ford certainly know they have problems - there are some TSB's concerning failing A/c. I think most dealers ignore TSB's because A/C is a future cash cow.

SEAT and VW are even worse than Ford.

 

All TSBs genreally start with the phrase "Should a customer express concern"

 

e.g.

TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN No.116/1999

Car and Light/Medium Commercial 25.11.1999

 

Model: Galaxy with 2.0L and 2.3L DOHC engine with A/C, built from 03.11.98 to 11.99 inclusive (build codes WA to XM)

 

Markets: All

 

Subject: A/C failure, damaged A/C compressor, or compressor clutch does not switch on after engine ON with A/C switched on

 

Summary

If a customer expresses concern over failure of the air conditioning (A/C) system, then the cause may be a damaged A/C compressor. In the event of compressor failure, the air conditioning system should be drained, the compressor removed and the refrigerant oil checked. If there is no dark discoloration of the refrigerant oil then a new compressor, a new compressor clutch, a new collector/dehydrator, a new modified compressor suction pipe and high-pressure pipe with oil reservoir, a new expansion valve and a new auxiliary drive belt should be installed. If a dark discoloration is present, then install all new lines and all new component assemblies throughout.

 

In addition, the powertrain control module (PCM) should be recalibrated on all vehicles with the aid of FDS2000/WDS. CD-ROM 31 or a later edition should be used.

 

Note:

After the PCM is calibrated, a yellow sticker marked

[HJT]

Knowing they have a problem is one thing, getting them to admit it and do anything about it at their expense is another that only public pressure and bad publicity will bring about.

 

Howard

[seatkid]

Agreed..anyone care to set up a poll to gather some stats about a/c failures? Might be better ammunition...

[HJT]

I have set up a poll under "Aircon Problems"

 

Howard

[Coxsey]

Thanks for your replys guys. I did buy it from a garage so i will try and get them to cough up as it was flashing when i bought it.

[Ivor_E_Tower]

If you're still covered by a Ford 3-year warranty (depends when in 2001 your car was first registered), get it done by a Ford garage under that warranty - I speak from experience. I bought mine at 2 years old and one month afterwards the aircon failed catastrophically - about

[charles]

lot of problems to the galaxy are due to moisture ingress. Causes corrosion, leakage, electric shortage. If you look at the water flowin the wiper area i'm not suprised. This bay has to swallow a lot of water coming from the windscreen and was badly engineered.