Air conditioner leaks

[MaybeGolfer]

Last year, I bought a used 2016 SE. A/C seemed to work fine.

This summer, A/C was not working very well, so I took it to the mechanic. They said "pretty much every seal in the a/c system is leaking," and that the compressor is broken. He called the VW dealer about the compressor and they said there is a block on the part (meaning VW has determined it has an issue) but there is no replacement part yet in the system.

Has anyone else had any issues like this?

 

[Rsolaregolf]

March 2019 our 15 sel had a ac line blow apart just before we traded it for a super deal on a 18 Volt LT. It was fixed under warranty.

The Volt is fine, no more range anxiety for my lovely wife.

 

[f1geek]

The A/C in my 2017 works fine, so I'm unable to provide any insight. Out of curiosity, how many miles are on your 2016 SE? Has the car spent a lot of time in hot places (lots of A/C use)? Do you know if the compressor is unique to the e-Golf or is it a generic ICE Golf part?

 

[MaybeGolfer]

23k miles. It hasn't spent much time in hot places. First 3 years of it's life in SF Bay Area (19k miles), and then I bought it in MN. So I suspect not much A/C use, though I did wonder if the cold winter could have done something.
I called the dealer who sold it to me - it's a small operation that only sells EV - and he said the compressor is unique to the e-Golf because it uses high-voltage. He said the high voltage system has a 5 year, 60k warranty, so I should first try to take it to VW and see if they will replace the compressor under this warranty.

 

[f1geek]

You might want to read the fine print on the warranty, but I believe the 5/60 warranty refers to the drivetrain not ancillaries. I hope I am wrong for your sake, so bringing it to a VW dealer is probably a good idea. When I searched the part, it said it was replaced by a part for the 2019 e-Golf. You might want to verify.

 

[MaybeGolfer]

VW refilled the A/C system, included some dye, and said come back in 500 miles to see if it is indeed leaking. They also said that the first garage may have created the leaks they observed by overfilling. He said something about eGolfs being very unique in this regard, that you have to "flash the system" (or something like that) in order to "get the car to accept the fluid." He said he only has one tech who is allowed to work on eGolfs because of quirks like this.

 

[f1geek]

Great to hear you got it repaired. Hopefully it was not too expensive. Maybe the dealer said “flush”? Did the dealer provide any insight into why you had the problem initially?

Clearly you now know to stay away from the mechanic who claimed the compressor was broken.

 

[Ronbester]

Have a 2017 and put 70000km on it... And just today began to experience a real issue with the AC. It's our first warm day and system was blowing warm air. This has never happened since owning the vehicle. Contacted dealer waiting for news...

 

[f1geek]

Does your car have the heat pump?