AC Leak investigation

[RudyH]

warranty is expiring in November, and of course back in July I lost AC.

So quick run down, was on a roadtrip with my family and noticed it end of July. However, after parking the car it seemed to come back, mind you it was later at night and not has humid as earlier in the day. Didn't really use AC until a second roadtrip when I had 0 AC and it was a hot sweaty 12 hr round trip lol (reminder of road trip as a kid in the 80's...)

Took it to VW and they refilled and put a dye in the system. Went on another 12 hr round trip with the car and though I didn't use the AC too much, again was low on coolant though. So they topped it back up and they looked everywhere, don't see it leaking anywhere.

Any ideas / suggestions? I mean it's warranty, however entering winter I feel like the ticket will eventually close and 8 months later, you know...

Often the community has some great tricks over the years, so I thought I would reach out

 

[jimlloyd40]

warranty is expiring in November, and of course back in July I lost AC.

So quick run down, was on a roadtrip with my family and noticed it end of July. However, after parking the car it seemed to come back, mind you it was later at night and not has humid as earlier in the day. Didn't really use AC until a second roadtrip when I had 0 AC and it was a hot sweaty 12 hr round trip lol (reminder of road trip as a kid in the 80's...)

Took it to VW and they refilled and put a dye in the system. Went on another 12 hr round trip with the car and though I didn't use the AC too much, again was low on coolant though. So they topped it back up and they looked everywhere, don't see it leaking anywhere.

Any ideas / suggestions? I mean it's warranty, however entering winter I feel like the ticket will eventually close and 8 months later, you know...

Often the community has some great tricks over the years, so I thought I would reach out

It's probably leaking from the evaporator and they can't see it because the entire dashboard had to be removed to get to the evaporator. Ask me how I know.

They know it's leaking so don't let them off the hook while you have a warranty because it's over $2000 to fix it after the warranty expires.

 

[gixxerfool]

if it is the evaporator the sweat from it should be dragging the dye out it may not hit the ground now to see it in the water. It will stain the drain though. A tracer dye light will light it up like a Christmas tree.

The easiest areas to check your self are the lines and the condenser. I would check them if you could and look for basically oily, dirty areas. As the Freon leaks out it will take the pag oil with it and dirt sticks to the oil. A good indicator of a leak.

If it was low on coolant it is likely the thermostat housing. They know that. It’s extremely common.

If you do pickup a tracer dye light, it should come with yellow tinted glasses. Use the glasses. Most people won’t thinking the dye will still be visible. It may not be in some cases. The glasses make the difference.

 

[RudyH]

it took 4 visits, and finally they found it on the condenser.

After talking to a few folks, looks like this is a common issue with the MQB platform in general. Couldn't find it because of the small leak and where it was located. Plus side when you need a new condenser, you can jump into an intercooler upgrade too...didn't get that done since it was warranty work

 

[gixxerfool]

it took 4 visits, and finally they found it on the condenser.

After talking to a few folks, looks like this is a common issue with the MQB platform in general. Couldn't find it because of the small leak and where it was located. Plus side when you need a new condenser, you can jump into an intercooler upgrade too...didn't get that done since it was warranty work

Good to hear. Thanks for updating the thread.

 

[Triple B]

I had a condenser leak - I added a Wagner intercooler, the extra thickness moved the condenser forward and it lightly rubbed the central locating bolt and rubbed a tiny hole in it. I've read of a few others having this issue.