Climatronic Problem

[Brian Shaw]

VW Passat 2002 2litre Automatic Estate. I have a problem that has recently arisen with the Climatronic. It works fine on Econ. but when on Auto the air flow settings disappear from the display and it emits a strange noise like it’s trying to do something but can’t. Try to switch on the air flow and it will revert back to Econ setting and the air flow arrows on the display reappear. However, even though I have noticed a much better m.p.g. on the Econ setting, I would still appreciate any help or advice to sort out this problem before I go to the local VW garage.

Brian

[r25 cwh]

sounds like dodgy wiring

if you can take it to an independant specialist it may help?

[westie383]

Hello Brian,
The climatronic on my 2001 TDi works in exactly the same way, but I'm sure this is the way it's supposed to work. In full Auto, the air conditioned air is blended through all the vents at the same time, and is constantly monitored to maintain the preset temperature, hense the display doesn't show it being directed in any particular direction. As soon as you hit any of the airflow direction buttons, it changes to Econ, the airflow is still air conditioned, but works much the same as any other car with manual air con.
Whereas in the B6 Passats, you have to pay a fair bit more for Climatronic, otherwise they have semi-automatic aircon, all B5.5 Passats (I believe), came with Climatronic as standard. A sign of the times I think, to keep the new car costs down, they cut back on some of the luxury items..
Hope this helps,
Trev.

[MalcQV]

Going to check mine in the morning. I can't remember if the arrows go off or not.

I did think that in Econ mode though that the compressor was switched off so the system would still control the temperature but could not cool below the outside temp?

[MalcQV]

Direction arrows do go out on auto.

[Brian Shaw]

sounds like dodgy wiring

if you can take it to an independant specialist it may help?

Many thanks for your help, I will investigate further.

Brian

[Brian Shaw]

Hello Brian,
The climatronic on my 2001 TDi works in exactly the same way, but I'm sure this is the way it's supposed to work. In full Auto, the air conditioned air is blended through all the vents at the same time, and is constantly monitored to maintain the preset temperature, hense the display doesn't show it being directed in any particular direction. As soon as you hit any of the airflow direction buttons, it changes to Econ, the airflow is still air conditioned, but works much the same as any other car with manual air con.
Whereas in the B6 Passats, you have to pay a fair bit more for Climatronic, otherwise they have semi-automatic aircon, all B5.5 Passats (I believe), came with Climatronic as standard. A sign of the times I think, to keep the new car costs down, they cut back on some of the luxury items..
Hope this helps,
Trev.

Hi Westie 383,
I get the impression that you know what you are talking about so I will switch back onto Auto and see what happens. Had the car for 3 years and cannot remember this happening before so it's either me having a senior moment or I'm becoming paranoid. Many thanks for taking time to reply to my query.

Brian

[Brian Shaw]

Direction arrows do go out on auto.

Hi Malc.
I get the impression that you know what you are talking about so I will switch back onto Auto and see what happens. Had the car for 3 years and cannot remember this happening before so it's either me having a senior moment or I'm becoming paranoid. Many thanks for taking time to reply to my query.
Brian

[Huweth]

Econ = no compressor (No Aircon) and full control over fans and vents.
Auto = Compressor all the time (to dehumidify and cool below ambient temp if needed) and no control over fans and vents.
If you try and use direction arrows or fan speed with Auto it will switch back to Econ. That is normal. To switch back to auto again press 'Auto'. If you press econ it seems to go back to the last saved fan/vent settings.

[iaint]

Don't get yourself confused, Econ is not the opposite of Auto. At least not on my B6 Passat and not on any other make of car I've owned. I'm assuming therefore that the previous generation of Passat is the same.

If you press the auto button then all you need to control is the temp, everything else is done automatically. The fan speed and direction are all controlled in such a way that the desired temp is achieved as quickly as possible and then maintained.

To turn auto off you simply over rule either the fan speed or air direction settings and only the temp will be maintained automatically. However it will not switch to econ automatically, unless of course you press the econ button. By pressing the econ button you are telling the system that you do not want it to cool below ambient and as it may not be able to maintain the desired temperature then it will drop out of auto mode. This may be where the confusion has come from.

The econ button only controls the compressor. you can toggle econ on and off without going into full auto mode and as Huweth points out if it's off it will not dehumidify or cool below ambient. But it will maintain the set temperature if physically possible.

I hope this hasn't confused you further.
Iain