Air Conditioning Mods

[Andy B]

Can anybody help. I Have an 03 plate GTI T 180model but unfortunately it has no Aircon. Is it possible to retrofit the air conditioning system? and if so how?

Hope one of you guys can help.

[Eshrules]

***deep intake of breath*** im not so sure this is actually possible you know. air con works on compressed gas which cools the air as its passing into the cabin, for this you need a seperate control module for your ECU i would imagine. in all honesty, im not sure it would even be safe, i think youd have to get it done by the pros, with it bein a pressurised system and everything, i could be completely wrong, might be worthwhile waiting for a techies opinion, ubut im guessing its not going to be cheap

[Eshrules]

also, welcome to the forum! LOL try introducing yourself to everyone

https://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/f...splay.php?f=82

[NicholasP]

i know the old climatronic systems used to be refitted to golf mk3s. Breakers would take out the air con system of the mk3 highlines and then individuals would fit them into their cl/gl/gti. However never heard of it being done in later models. From what i remember, it involves quite abit of work behind the dash as the air con unit itself is quite large and hard to fit despite the climatronic front panel looking relitavely compact..

Definately not a DIY job unless you've got some serious VW experience

[Sam]

There's a nice picture of a guy on tdiclub.com holding all the cables needed to do this.

Here;



Posts are here (link one) and here (link two).

Note these cars already have aircon. I can only imagine the headache you'll face!

[Eshrules]

i think the OP is asking about fitting just air con, not the full climate control, would this be any simpler? im guessing not

[Sam]

If all the above work was needed just to move from manual controls to auto controls, imagine the headache you'll face adding total air-con from scratch.

It probably can be done, but I doubt it's financially viable, especially given the weather here in the UK.

BIG EDIT:

From May 02, Climatronic was added as standard to the 1.8T GTI 150/180

[Eshrules]

If all the above work was needed just to move from manual controls to auto controls, imagine the headache you'll face adding total air-con from scratch.

It probably can be done, but I doubt it's financially viable, especially given the weather here in the UK.

BIG EDIT:

From May 02, Climatronic was added as standard to the 1.8T GTI 150/180

LOL good point actually,with the weather we have here im suprised air con is needed at all,ive had my car for 6 months(all winter weather granted) and ive not used it once

[Skidmark]

In a garage that I used to work in I remember a company came in and retro-fitted an air con system into a Ford Scorpio. This was there own system so I would assume that there are companies out there that can do this function.

skidmark

[coolauto.co.uk]

Expect to pay £1300+VAT for the kit and two days labour to fit it at approx £450+VAT.

The engine bay side of things is relatively easy, but fitting the ac evaporator in the heater box is the tricky part. For most vehicles the dash needs to come out to gain access to the back / underside to remove the heater box, fit the evaporator and refit.