Reliability Of Galaxy Aircon

[Ivor_E_Tower]

SA I - Bredbury eh? I have fond memories of staying at the Bredbury Hall hotel a number of times when working on a project that took me to Stockport some years ago now.

[Dally]

I,m fed up with my Aircon.

I was really pleased that I got a ford garage to accept that my a/c was faulty. Yesterday it had a new compressor, condensor and a/c clutch. But on the way home from the garage, I noticed that it seemed to be over revving. On inspection, I found that the cooling fans on the radiator were running (would go of for a second or two and restart again and again) constantly but stopped when i switched of the a/c. Perhaps they were supposed to be like that but just didn't work before? Anyway they're loud. on constantly and cause the car to vibrate. Furthermore, the a/c wasn't any colder than before - upset!!!

 

Anyway, I went back to the dealer in the morning who had a look and suggested that the fans should cut in but not like this and did feel that something was wrong, He also stuck a temperature probe in one of the vents and we found that even with recirculate on, the lowest temprature was 7.9 degrees. He said that it should go below 7 but has had some that went right down to 1 or 2 degrees.

 

It's booked in again for thurrday for a full diagnostic - the garage now suspect a pressure switch within the a/c system.

 

Guys-please pray for me and my aircon. Amen :blink:

[gazza007]

Ivor, Bredbury hall club = pick up joint.

 

Dally, I know how you feel. It drives you nuts.

From the chart I was sent by SEAT the temp depends on how warm it is outside and seems to go cooler as it gets warmer(see above). Possibly as not to thrash the system when not needed or so that it isn't too cold coming out on the passengers.

Would love to get my hands on a proper tech manual.

All the best.

[Ivor_E_Tower]

Never went to the club - preferred to venture into Central Manchester's China town to get some decent nosh!

[Guest ANDY FITZGERALD]

:blink: The chap that fixed my Heater Blower, had also previously serviced my air-con on behalf of the dealer before I purchased It..

He informs me that if annual air-con service was carried out a lot of troubles could be avoided, I quizzed him on the cost of said service and he said about

[Dally]

Thanks for your best wishes gazza007. Will let you guys know what happens after Thursday.

 

Andy Fitzgerald, I agree with you about regular maintenance but the galaxy issue is more sinister and perhaps a design failure. This is further compunded by the Ford mechanics not really understanding the system properly.

I've had several cars with air con and they have never given me problems. In fact my wife's current fiesta ghia was the first car to give me an air con problem - but that was just a loose wiring connector - this was sorted and does blows much colder than the galaxy.

Regards

[Ivor_E_Tower]

Other enquiries I have made about the aircon system have produced responses saying that it is a bad design and that regular maintenance will not necessarily keep it trouble-free. Apparently there is a badly designed oil return path to the compressor (whatever that may mean) and the conbined condenser/drier unit in facelifted models is not working as well as the designeds thought - witness many people who have had gas leaks through corrosion producing holes in the condenser; no amount of routine maintenance will stop these units corroding through from the inside.

Aircon expert advice is to buy Japanese or Korean (eg Previa or Trajet or Sedona). I know what I would prefer - just hope I can afford to keep my Galaxy's system working!

[Ventoux]

Hi all,

 

unfortunately I am just joining people with AIRCON problems.

Also my aircon is finally gone on my Gal 01. So keeping in mind the headline of these posts I have to say that aircon on Galaxy is really crappy bricolage. I expected the failure in future but it came quite early.

I am just thinking if makes any sense to repair now before winter considering

ephemeral life time of aircon.

Anyway I will keep you informed!

 

Cheers, Ventoux

[gazza007]

It would be interesting if there have been any modifications to newer models and if Ford/Seat/VW have acknowledged that they have a problem with the systems and are prepared to modify older vehicles.

Perhaps an email to the CS dept of each company with a link to this forum may help. The other concern is that the dealerships don't seem to have the expertise in identyifing and correcting the problems. They have enough trouble putting the correct oil and oil level in the cars.

[Ventoux]

Yes, if someone is willing to compose a "letter of thanks" to VW/SEAT/Ford I am ready to sign it.

[Guest EMDEE]

I have a full Korean air-con system for sale.

 

Comes complete with a free Sedona.

[Guest Nik]

Posted part of the story already on another topic. But here's the full one. After the regassing I mentioned before in this thread, the magnetic clutch failed and also the compressor. (I heared somewhere some squeezing noise and in a while I had no airco anymore).

 

They replaced the compressor and the clutch, but one week later, I felt some loss of power, repeatidly, each minute or so, one second or two loss of power. When I turned off the airco, it disappeared. Sunday, it was warm, put the airco on, with some loss of power. My wife put it off because of the comfortless ride, but I put it back on because I said that I paid for a car with airco, so I use airco :angry: ! (it's a company car but we have to pay a certain amount). And some minutes ater, it disappeared... but it went warm in the car :o . Again: no airco anymore!!!

So next thursday, this is my xx'st visit to the company garage, and we'll see what the problem is!

So here's the next part of the story:

Past thursday, I put my Galaxy in the garage of our company. Now I'm still driving a replacement car :angry: . There was no current at the compressor. So they replaced a relay. Oh! There was current now but the clutch was - AGAIN - not working anymore. So my car is back to the dealer for a new clutch again! I hope I will have my car next thursday... Today I asked in the garage of our company (we have about 1200 cars, many galaxy's) if they all are so 'poor quality'. They told me they have from time to time, more than another car, troubles with the compressors / clutches... :blink:

[rwtomkins]

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but if you're supposed to run the aircon 30 minutes a month to stop the seals drying out, what are you supposed to do in winter when it's too cold for the aircon to come on (even if you could bear the low temperature)? Is the answer that the aircon runs even when the heater's on, to help dry out the air?

 

No problems yet with my 10-month old TDI but it's only done about 3,000 miles. Mind you, I've never been very impressed with the aircon's effectiveness. Wish I'd ordered dual A/C - but then again, perhaps that's just doubling the chances of a problem!

[rwtomkins]

Thanks for the good news, fredt. Could get a bit parky with the aircon running full blast in January.

[HJT]

Yep the aircon kicks in when de-misting on CC Galaxys. That includes the dual aircon that some of us flash g#ts have :lol: :P

 

Howard

[Ivor_E_Tower]

..and CC demist also allegedly switches on the heated front screen for even faster clearing of the mist.

[rwtomkins]

As a flash CC git, I'm still a bit worried about this. I mean, if you've got CC and the heater's operating, how do you know whether the aircon is operating or not? From memory, the handbook says it comes on in "certain conditions", one of which would obviously be demisting. But does this mean you have to put your heater manually into demist mode for at least 30 mins a month in winter to be sure you're stopping your seals drying out?

[Ivor_E_Tower]

A ggod question. Does anyone know the answer though?

[gazza007]

On my manual system putting the dial to the screen automatically turns on the air-con (A/C light comes on)but you can then turn it off. To be honest running the system even when warming provides a much more comfortable driving environment and keeps all the windows nice & clear especially with everybody in.

Also I want to make sure that it is still OK following my various problems.

[Ventoux]

Hi all,

 

I was last Friday in local garage with my Tdi 2001 to repair non-functional aircon.

Firstly they sucked out the remaining gas. They found only 10g what means nothing left (gas was on). After they did vacuum test for 20min

[gazza007]

did all that with mine and still leaked even after the dye test. Not convinced mine is 100% even after the compressor replacement. Was running about 11 celcius yesterday but with the outside temp about 18 outside its within the limits on the chart SEAT sent me. Will have to wait till summer now when the temp gets up again to see if it goes cooler. At least the part is covered by 2 year warranty now that its 3 years old, I still have some come back. The place where I had my MOT done do an air-con service for

[william]

This is a popular subject!

 

I can answer some questions..

 

The A/C will work down to ambient temperatures of about 4 deg C. If CC is fitted then the outside temp probe will be used to measure the temperature. If a manual system is fitted then the low pressure switch on the drier will stop the system from working due to low suction pressures (the pressure going into the a/c compressor, low suction pressure is bad for the compressor life).

 

Low gas in a system will cause the low pressure switch to turn off the compressor. This will have the effect of reducing performance of the system. A long term effect is either a failure of the switch or the compressor. On CC systems the controller will only allow up to 4 cycles per minute on the low pressure switch before the compressor is locked out.

 

Using the system every month is required to circulate oil around the system. This is not only for the o ring seal in all the joints but also to ensure that there is oil in the compressor. Most A/C compressors are a sumpless design and rely on the oil mixing with the refrigerant to lubricate it. The oils also to coats the inside of the flexible A/C hose and helps to seal it, the hose is constantly leaking refrigerant gas and absorbing water (this is why the drier should be replaced every 3-4 years and the system should be re-gased).

 

4 to 8 deg C is a reasonable vent temperature but is totally dependant on heat load on the system (ambient temperaure AND humidity, transmission load, number of people in vehicle, solar load)

[Ivor_E_Tower]

...drier should be replaced every 3 to 4 years...

 

This is interesting; I have previously read something to this effect but when I have asked at garage or A/C specialists they say that it's not necessary.

What exactly is the drier, and does it not "recover" in normal use so that it does not need replacing?

[william]

A drier (or receiver dehydrator, depending on which side of the pond you are) is a small steel/aluminium container that has 3 basic functions. It contains a dessicant (XH-9 for R134a) which absorbs water (it has a finite limit and does not recover), a fibreglass pad to filter out any particles in the system and it acts as a storage area for the refrigerant.

 

If the system has an expansion valve (TXV), like the Galaxy, then the drier is after the condenser before the TXV. If the system has an orifice tube, like the mondeo, then the drier is actually called an accumulator and is between the evaporator and compressor.

[Guest Steve Cox]

Hi. I have a 2001 TDi Ghia Auto, and I must admit, I just leave the CC at "Auto" the whole time, winter or summer, just adjusting airflow and temperature. This is the first of three Gals I've had to experience aircon problems (at 17K miles), requiring a new compressor and clutch. It works fine now, but for how long? (Please see my post on used car warranties!) Apart from a fuel consumption penalty (not too bad unless you drive like a pr*t), should I be doing this, or is it best to use the aircon only when required?