N280 aircon valve replacement - and/or good aircon service recommendations Melbourne

[Skooter]

2010 Octavia Scout 2.0 TDI with Climatronic.

Aircon is reluctant to start the warmer the weather - very convenient that! Pressing the Auto, On, Off buttons alternatively out of frustration may be helping - it does eventually kick in but may take 3-5 minutes - but when new, it used to kick in immediately. Aircon works but has also lost efficiency when it's really hot (been 40+ in Melbourne recently!).

I've done some research and it seems pretty clear the culprit is the N280 valve. Anyone know where to source one or whether it's possible to even replace it? Some forums state that VAG claim it has to be replaced with the compressor, but that's apparently untrue.

Also looking for a good aircon specialist in Melbourne with direct experience with VAG cars (I found one in Brisbane ). My auto elec does regassing and the like but didn't seem to be on top of this problem and didn't seem interested in going there.

[Fred Nurk]

It might be the valve, but it might also be the compressor itself, unfortunately. I'm not sure who to recommend in Brisbane, but at least one of my cars has had symptoms similar to yours, and the compressor itself had failed.

[Cheezel]

I bought a valve on ebay for about $30 delivered. From what I gather, you just have to have the system gas removed, then the valve can come out the side of the compressor, then re-gas. I'm waiting on a fridge mechanic friend to pull the gas. It looks like a simple circlip removal and the valve comes out. I found that I'd have difficulty in the Jetta to get the clearance from the compressor to the thermo fans, but I found that the fans come out as a full moulding with one plug removal, then four screws, so that's OK for heaps more room.

Any A/C place should be able to replace the valve if you procure it. They won't do any warranty or the like, but I think that if the system is working once it gets going, then the compressor can't be too bad. If it works, you've saved the cost of the compressor, if it doesn't, then you've cost yourself a cheap valve and one re-gas. You'll have to spend the compressor money and another regas if that's the case.

[woofy]

Yeah its lucky dip, it might be just the valve....or the compressor may have metal all through it. The valve also fails because its got filings in it so its just prolonging the inevitable if thats the case. My 2008 had it happen and my parents bought it from me and still haven't had the valve replaced. It means it takes over 10min before it might finally kick in, but has been like that for nearly 3 years. So in their case highly likely just the valve still, there are several variants of valve btw so make sure you confirm which one you have.

[Skooter]

As mentioned in a post here re aircon woes, the N280 fixed the prob. May well be that the compressor duds out but for now it's returned to perfect functioning. Only downside was that the N280 I sourced ended up wrong and the mechanic had to source one overnight from the ACT for %179 vs my $23 (free shipping!). Do you know what part you got and can you tell me from where, Dubber? For future ref ...

[Hem020]

My car getting checked out today to see if its the valve also, like the earlier poster said there are many different valves. I’ll let you know what we find.


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[Transporter]

My car getting checked out today to see if its the valve also, like the earlier poster said there are many different valves. I’ll let you know what we find.


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Oh, not necessarily. But there always are the rejects, 2nd, 3rd in every production and in many cases you get what you’ve paid for.