Air Con woes - blowing felt/foam

[mattross]

My GL A/C has decided to not blow cold air, and there is black felt/black foam bits coming out of the internal vents. Not sure if i have "blown a seal" and am sucking in air from the engine bay??? Not fun now Brisbane has finally hot days....
Other Observations:
* The compressor kicks on, the revs go down, but the air never gets cold...compressor seems to be running more than usual
* A/C was working perfect a week ago
* There is gas in the system (tested with probe/nail)
* Only one A/C pipe running at the back of the engine bay gets cold, the rest get hot
* The car did feel like it was running hot, but the days have been much warmer lately
* the fan stays on for a while after i switch it off, nearly all the time now.
* Recycle button light not working
* Fuse was very hot

Anyone have any ideas, diagrams, etc, i'd love to try and solve this on myself and learn some more about the car..

[camhaz]

The foam is simply the strips of foam around the flaps that close the vents deteriorating and falling apart, and being blown out through the vents. A very common problem.

As to your aircon woes, you might want to get a Bentley manual off Amazon. The best $60 you'll ever spend.

Rob.

[MISS VDUB]

Same problem with my MK 2, needless to say i dont have a working heater or air con.

[Glynn.]

spent 1k on my aircon a year ago new compressor regass etc
stil doesnt work..............
same problem as you bud

[Ironman]

Where in Brisbane are you? I used to work for RACQ and know alot of GREAT workshops all over town. If you go into the city pop into Toowong Milton Body Repairs and speak to Chris or Anthony (Brothers). They have a Mechanical dept set up there and if they can't fix it they know the people who do. Its a family shop, the Brothers are very knowledgeable, Just tell them Speedy sent ya and you'll be fine.

[mattross]

Guys, i may have solved this (not 100% sure)
When was the last time you changed your cabin filter?????
My Windscreen water deflectors rubber failed and water/leaves/dirt had been getting in for a while. This caused the felt to rot and come off. This blocked the flap valve which controls the fresh/recycle and A/C (my recycle switch in the cabin also failed) and shorted the system somewhere. As far as i can see this flap is controlled by the vacuum system, so check the vacuum system out. This solenoid is attached inside the engine bay to the wall, hidden under plastic strip at the top, and on my car doesn't work. Also nearly every vacuum hose close ways frayed and off.


The rubbers failing also did not create a seal which meant air was being sucked in from the engine, including the rubber strip on the underside of the bonnet.
I also had some other cooling system problems which compounded the problem or was caused by this.

Strangely enough the vacuum system isn’t working that great either, the locks go down slow and sluggish, the cruise control works very slowly and will drop off randomly.


Now I am pulling the dash apart to get all the leaves/felt and gunk out of the system

[badgerboards]

ive got almost same problem hahah
i also have a brand new aftermarket a/c compressor that im willing to sell

[Ben J]

mine still goes nice and cold does spit foam at me on occasion and fills the car with a smell like gas though (which is a little ironic for a german car...) My PCV is just vented to the atmosphere so maybe its bringing that into the car cuase of a dodgy seal or something?

[The_Hawk]

As has been said, the felt is just the inner lining, it will come off over time, just pull it out when it appears…. although it may take a long long time for it all to come out. I had my heater core replaced in 2006 and they guy pulled out all the loose bits he could see... I'm still getting the odd bit now. As for having the system tested, get it done properly to see if it's up to the correct pressure.


Now, I should dig up the diagrams for you, but to summarise while I'm away from the diagrams…

The vacuum system for the AC recirculate vent runs off the engine and a solenoid that activates the flap. There is also a big air tank in the passenger side wing that stores pressure to keep the flap where it should be when the engine is not producing vacuum.

There is an air line running THROUGH the heater core and to the flap to control it. There should be a little nipple and pipe between the water pipes for the heater. If it's missing, your flap no work There is a good chance that no one bothered hooking it back up if your heater core has been replaced or it fell off when they were bypassing it.

In my case I re-ran a new dedicated line to the flap because I couldn't get at the line where the heater core sits without pulling the whole damn car apart. It's neat and it works so I'm not fussed.

Strangely enough the vacuum system isn’t working that great either, the locks go down slow and sluggish, the cruise control works very slowly and will drop off randomly.


Now I am pulling the dash apart to get all the leaves/felt and gunk out of the system

Your Vacuum issues are not related.

The cruise control has a small dedicated pump behind the washer water tank, the line then runs into the cabin and to the various components through a plastic pipe. There could very well be a leak in the line if it coming up very slowly. It could be the pump on it's way out, but more likely a cracked line.
Dropping off could be a loose pedal or something knocking the break or clutch switch causing it to turn off. Depending on how often that happens will decide how far you try to track that one down.


The central locking again has a dedicated pump on the drivers side in the boot behind the lining. It's in a grey Styrofoam padded boxy thing. Again the lines are all rigid plastic and prone to cracking which can cause sluggish performance. Again, the pump could be on it's way out. I say if it's working reliably (although slowly) leave it alone till it breaks

[timiteo]

I am getting foam out of the aircon vents. The air is still nice and cold though

[mattross]

UPDATE:

If you have hot/warm air still coming out, go to you two large pipes that go in the firewall for the heater core. Inbetween them is a very small air hose that helps to flip the temp flap.... attches to the above soleniod. Hard to fix, might be easier to run the vac hose thru the firewall at a different spot to reconnect back to the heater core flap...
THis has some good pics
http://www.vwwatercooled.org.au/f47/recycled-air-jammed-28141.html

The flaps foam covering also act as a seal, you will need to take half the dash out to access and replace the felt/foam...... painful job.

[mattross]

THe Hawk - Awesome info, thats what i was looking for, i wondered what the little thing tucked behind the Washer bottle was.... why did they put it there so far from the CC? Is it attached to the vaccum bottle behind the front quarter panel???

Heater core - that little nipple is almost impossble to grab, i tried to get a cable tie around it, but i think i might just glue another pipe onto it and have it as a extender connection. I seen a DIY heater core change once that said the otherside was very flimsy and don't wanna break it and cause myself more problems.

FELT:
grey - are from the actual vent outputs (they create final seal when you close them with the dials), you can easily get them out (screws/clip ins) and fix, but painful. Also seal the connections of all the internal ducting. Put a torch into your vents you'll see it
brown - is for the main connection behind the climate dash buttons, painful to fix the rear of it without full dash take out, in my car it is at least 10mm thick.
grey/black with plastic backing - from the recycle flap under the pollen filter, and internal temp flap (heater core).

So if you can ID your felt blowing out, you may be able it pinpoint the problem.

If anyone wants photos, ask me.