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My ECON light keeps coming on after it's been raining and will not allow me to switch back to normal Climate Control. After a day or so of dry weather and running it's all back to normal and I can switch between the two modes. With it only happening when it's damp I was wondering if it's a connection that's not sealed and therefore shorts out with the damp.

Anyone else had this sort of problem?

No.

Bump.

Sorry Max, I really thought someone would've been along and given their (useful) insight by now. I was just answering your question literally, for the fun like.

Sounds like one for the vagcom. There must be someone close to you that can help you out.

Maybe there's too much humidity in the air intake (pollen filter) and the air con is switching off to prevent making ice cubes. I'm just speculating here, but given the other problems due to blocked up drains around the pollen filter, it might be worth a look.

No dampness in the footwell area?

No dampness in the footwell area, in fact when there a good size puddle under the car when the A/C is running normally. So i don't think it's a blocked pipe. I've recently changed the pollen filter and didn't notice anything odd, although to be fair I wasn't looking. Is there a sensor around that area then?

I have a mate with vagcom near by but everytime I remember to pop round the issue isn't there and nothing's reported. So it appears to clear any fault code that relates.

We had a similar problem, A/C used to slip irreversibly into econ mode randomly it seemed, but especially when we really needed it on during the hot days. It would sometimes come good after switching off and restarting. We put up with it for months but the problem slowly got worse. We put the car in for a service and the garage (Elite Motor Tune in Northampton) spent a lot of time trying to trace the fault as there were no fault codes and they had to test drive the car a few times (!) to reproduce the fault apparently, but in the end a new control unit got fitted under warranty (Warranty Direct).

Maybe try a known serviceable control unit to confirm the fault is there.

Cheers Rachael

Might be worth checking the basics of the air conditioning system. Compressor switches off if the pressure is too low/too high thus reverting back to ECON mode? Ambient temperature might affect the pressure in the system. Cold(er) weather might mean that the already low pressure is remaining too low and the system shuts down. Alternatively one of the pressure switches in the piping in the engine bay might be faulty. Get an air con specialist to check R134A refrigerant levels.

You filter/drier in the a/c circuit might need changing. If it is saturated with moisture the a/c system can get too cold and then shut down.

Just things to think about. Basics

Sorry yes, I should have mentioned I did originally think our problem would be something simple, such as a loss of working fluid from a leak. Let's hope it is something simple for the OP!

Cheers R