Check out my website ; www.diagnosedan.com For DDTSB visit ddtsb.com For the Topdon tool used in the video: US: www.topdon.us UK: www.diagnosticconnections.co.uk/ EU: eu.topdon.com
13:42 - supplier issue with a pretty huge bill I bet cause the owner got a loaner too. And now they will try to find the employee who had built the cable harness and who had checked it at the end of the assembly line of the supplier. It is a pretty big issue if that happens again across europe from time to time or even does work in the beginning and might become loose 1,5 years later. Then a lot of parts can be replaced before someone gets close to that error. But why did the diagnosis throw out this weird error message (short via plus or so) cause you had not spoken about it and why it did not help at all or did I miss a part ?
And I hope that you told the owner of this vehicle for this bill brought it to Volvo and had them pay the bill or at least pay them back you know that's not right
I notice that you stuggled a little with English. Spare a thought for those of us that don't have any alternative because it's the only language we know.
The bloopers are always funny, BUT the big thing I get from it . . . I really appreciate you taking the time to make the English videos!!! I get so much from them. Thanks Dan!
I never realized until now that Dan is in the Netherlands. I honestly thought he was in the UK, it does explain the Dutch language settings in most of the cars though.
I just wonder how fast he had to guess that the problem can be in some connector somewhere. I swear, there are lots of connectors. Maybe something was let out in the video, I mean the moment when he decided to check all relevant connectors, starting with the ones at the compressor. Such a problem could be anywhere. It's also important in such a case to understand what was tested at the factory. I don't think they can wait to see if the cabin cools down! Everything can happen. I have myself assembled Volvo truck gearboxes long ago, and know that it's not possible to test every little detail when the gearbox is completed.
@@leiflillandt1488you are right! Could have turned into a very long video. What if the loose pin was on the control panel side? I started at the compressor because of the faultcode but it could have been anywhere really
The only problem with this channel is ? you don’t get enough blogs quite often but when it comes, you know it’s full of gold and diamonds.Thank you for sharing your skills and experience.
Customer - " Hello, I was in before with an AC problem and you could not find the problem, it is still not working. When can I bring it back?" Service writer to mechanic- " It's that guy with the AC problem, he wants to bring it back" Mechanic-" Oh No- tell him we are booked up for months"
@@Vespastendert Same in Belgium. Three months to get a service appointment where I live. Crazy. I think it's because of the very low quality cars they pumped out in the covid period.
@@Vespastendert Same in Norway. 5 weeks if you want a service, up to 3 months if you need a technician for a diagnosis. But we try to prioritize AC and safety complaints.
Believe it or not same thing happened when I contacted Dan's garage. It had a problem no one could find, so I thought Dan will fox this for sure. But his colleague told me they can't help me and I had to wait like 2 or 3 months minimum.
@@RespectedDesperado Dan is probably backed up because dealers are too busy trying to figure out how to fix all those diesel cars with the tricked up software.
I'm smiling all the time when you tell us: Let "US" diagnose it "TOGETHER". Yeah, I was working real had ... watching you. 😂 Thank you for another diagnose lesson. Regards from Belgium
Hi sir,I did work at a Volkswagen dealer in the 90's a new Volkswagen Passant arrived from the owner of the Ford dealer in that time,but the service advisor notice that the a/c don't work(the ambient temperature sensor was reading -47°F,so I did jump the sensor to make work till the new sensor arrive..You always have very good explanation..
U are the KING when u want to buy a new car at the dealership, but when U want service....even under waranty....U are a simple peasant...and goodluck to you.
Thank you Dan. Im always learning something. About 1 1/2 years ago, i ran into a similar situation with my sisters Sonata. She was quoted $3,000.00 to fix the system. Just like you did. I went step by step. I was stumped as to why the ac system was not working. Just like the VW ac Kornpressor. The ac clutch was working. Until i found the regulating valve issues. I ordered a new One. Pumped the system down. Replaced the valve. Cost $25.00 plus shipping. Plus the new refrigerant. System worked as it should. She drove it home and not anymore problems. And another as ac system problems with my daughter Toyota sienna. Ac didnt have any issues. On the way to work, they had an accident. Car got fixed. Then ac system issues developed. Since it was accident related, she took the car to a shop for diagnose and repairs. Shop said, bad ac compressor. They replaced it. Ran good for a while then intermittent ac system. Got cool for a bit and then no ac. Off and on. The shop wouldn't warranty the work. They wanted to replace the ac compressor again. So i took over the diagnosis. No codes at all. I downloaded wiring diagrams and read the system description. After i read the description, i asked my daughter, what does the temperature display for outside temp ?? She said its reading below freezing? I got curious. I found during the repairs. The shop had twisted the wires and just added black tape. And left it hanging. The sensor is located in front of the radiator. I admit i did buy a radiator cooling fan module. This was out of haste because, this issue was in the middle of summer and my daughter was on a trip. I ordered a new pigtail and repaired the connection using solder. Note: If the ambient air temp starts to drop and goes below freezing. This will shut down the ac compressor. Because of the bad previous repairs, the ambient air temp would work intermittently. Then the compressor would work.
It's great you were able to fix those problems yourself! Most technicians get very limited time to diagnose problems, almost no time to study the system and do all the necessary checks.
are those valves more eco garbage like alternators that make no juice at times? Ice sensor turns off AC when evap freezes. What more do you need on an AC?
Dan is an inspiration to anyone who has an interest in fault diagnosis. I spent my career working on commercial heating systems and trouble shooting systems installed by others, its the most rewarding thing to do.
Thats also interesting! I recently installed a Automated Pellet stove at my home. Nobody wanted to do it here because most people use gas heater and nobody is really experienced. I can now heat my house with my heatpump, gas central heating or with a pellet stove😂
I saw that bad connector the first time you back probed and the system started working. I’ve seen those intermittent connector issues often, but rarely in a new vehicle. But it happens. Good job Dan. As always, you fixed it again!
@@jasoneldridge4738 Get yourself some needle probes (or make some with 30awg insulin syringes) and if you still can't sleep at night, smear a bit of silicone on the area.
Intermittent faults should always trigger you to check wires, plugs, grounds, fuses etc... I once diagnosed an older cars ignition issue, when cold it worked fine, when hot it refused to start... Turned out to be a grounding issue, I traced it all back and ended up in the ignition ECU which had a burned copper trace on the PCB. When cold, this copper trace had low enough resistance to properly ground the circuit, when hot the resistance went up and not providing a ground... The owner said there was some welding done to the car and likely the welder didn't disconnect the battery 😮
About half a year ago I got a two year old Peugeot 5008 to fix an intermittant AC problem. It was cooling the cabin just fine when driving but it wasnt working while the car is moving slowly in a congested city traffic. The problem was, of course, that the radiator fan was not working. But there were no faults on the fan, and no faults at all in ECU, BSI and AC modules. It was running the Fan test just fine, also the fan was working perfectly, when the engine coolant got too hot. But when you turn on the AC, the compressor clutch engages, pressure valve gets controlled, pressure rises up and as the fan doesnt engage, it overheats, reaches overpressure and the clutch disengages until after a few minutes it cools down a bit, the pressure falls down to acceptable and the cycle continues. The problem was found after a long and torturous diagnose to be in a software of a BSI module, which is a central control unit of a whole car (Peugeot/Citroen branded). It is not in any way responsible for the control of the fan, but it is responsible for gathering some of the information for AC module and it also kinda connects the AC module with the engine ECU, that controls the fan speed. Somewhere in between that request for the fan was being lost. It was either: 1. Made this way and left the dealer completely new with a software or a module configuration bug. 2. I found in the module identification data, that the current software release date was newer than the manufacture date of the car. So the soft was probably updated at the dealer, when the owner went for oil/service/inspection. The date of the last diagnose in the diagnose history was a winter month, so it probably went unnoticed for a pretty long time, as the AC was not actually needed in winter and on spring it only helps to demist the windshield faster. So it may be unnoticed too. It was fixed by updating the software of a ECU module and BSI module. Factually, I wasnt really sure it would help, I just tried it as it was kinda last resort as everything else was already tried. Luckilly, PSA (Stellantis) still gives the ability for independent garages to access the software updates.
The moment it started working with the backprobe i was suspecting that connector. But i get how you needed to prove it great fix man keep it up. And indeed it did get warm 2 months later. Glad my ac did work😂. I was feeezing my nuts off yesterday
Nice video and great catch on the loose pin in the connector. I’m glad the A/C drain missed the scope and didn’t fill it up with water. That would have put a crimp in the diagnosis. 🤣🤣
When you know and understand how an electrical and mechanical circuit works, it makes it easier to troubleshoot. Most intermitten problems, my last test is to shake, twist and gently pull on wires. Good job Dan 👌we fixed it together again. 😁
I know that Dealership technicians need to follow the testplan. If ODIS ( the VW factory tool) tells them they need to replace a component they have to do so it in order to claim waranty
@@Diagnosedan ODIS for that code would ask you to inspect the wires and connector if it has loose wires, corrosion or broken plug, and would never lead to compressor replacement. 😄
I heard Teslas are never broken nor panel gaps and perfect paint jobs. And in their self driving mode never even tried kill a person or attempted murder biker. Amazing.
Looking good Dan - and congrats on a difficult fix. You fooled me badly with this one - was betting the compressor was bad, which shows how little I really know about A/C stuff.
1. Two months till an appt? I don’t need AC the dealer has already frosted me! 2. Intermittent is real world thanks for seeing it through! 3. Seeing no pressure change I would have mistakenly swapped the compressor. Great advice mechanical problems don’t fix themselves!
I was sitting on the edge of my seat when you said the first step was to drain and refill the system😬😬😬😬With intermittent problems I usually try to do as little as possible so the problem doesn’t disappear before I see it. Good one Dan! The only thing I would have done more would be to test the pin drag on each of those pins in the connector to make sure they weren’t loose from a bad assembly procedure at the factory
Great vid, Dan :) I am a little disappointed that the dealer couldnt find a fairly common factory fault, that they didnt even have to dig for. Ive probably seen this more on VW/Audi than anything else, here in Canada. Thanks, again!
@@ferrumignis to be clear, im referring to backed out pins in connectors being a common fault in new warranty electrical repairs, any system really. And that this one didnt really take a lot of digging to find. Thanks!
@@Diagnosedan Absolutely agree. However, I think we can expect more than average from a Manufacturer licensed Dealer, who then asked the Customer to wait until they didnt have more profitable work on the go, to attend to an issue that didnt end up being overly complex, and would have been found in the first handful of troubletree steps, had they bothered. Dont get me wrong, I appreciate the dealer service making us look like superheroes out here, but its just not right, its a new car. Love your content, Dan :)
@@petermeic1430 VW dealers in the USA and Canada are notorious for terrible workshop repairs and diagnosis compared to what you would find in Europe, and some other places too.
Diagnose Dan did it again🙂 Those sort of faults can be infuriating to find, my wife's 2015 Subaru WRX had an intermittent AC fault and the dealer couldn't fix it after 3 separate visits, I did a Google search and found that there was a "known" fault with compressor clutches, too much air gap in the clutch fixed by undoing one 10mm bolt then removing the outer part of the clutch, remove a shim then refit, once the air gap was to spec the AC worked perfectly, it was a less than 10 min job requiring no parts yet the dealer couldn't fix it because they said that it always worked when they tested it.
@@moestrei Unfortunately she broke her ankle so she couldn't push a heavy clutch anymore so she had to sell it, she did look at an auto WRX but didn't like the CVT trans.
@@Diagnosedan Agree but if the customer complains about a fault at least 3 times its reasonable to assume that there is a problem so it warrants looking a bit closer such as taking the car for an extended drive to confirm the fault. The dealers "testing" of the fault was inadequate.
I noticed the same thing right before you said it! Twice in a row, you put the probe into the connector and suddenly it was working on both accounts! This was an interesting problem! Not what you would expect on a new vehicle!
Another car fixed! Thanks again for your knowledge sharing, Dan! On a VW Passat CC i had the auxiliary water pump connector swapped with the regulating valve connector of the AC compressor by the mechanic. Really hard to diagnose since both connectors were the same color. PWM measurements were very handy back then. Impressive job.
To be honest i've noticed especially on Volkswagen that some connectors are interchangeable. I've already diagnosed quite a few with swapped connectors. Sometimes shorting things out and resulting in damaged control units. If i was in charge i would make sure thats wouldn't be possible!
Great video as always thank you for all the knowledge being shared with us. I was working on the golf8 project sometime ago and I wasn’t expecting to see that car in your videos anytime soon ha ha.😂
thanks for bringing us along and not giving up and trashing the footage, I know all too well how hard it is to try and keep going while creating something decent to share so others can learn and benefit. Thanks for the efforts once again and nice find!
Common sense isn't very common......! Always enjoyable and entertaining. Thank you for your patient, step by step analysis. No need to ever bother going to the dealer. Having you explain these things is golden....! Professor Dan is the Man...
Fault code showed fault. A bright light in the plug face will show height of connectors. A lot of people miss the wiring and especially the plugs and connections. Vibration can cause mechanical wear on pins and plugs and give intermittent faults as well. I have heard “I replaced the Sensor then the ECU and it’s still broken what else could it be. It is the thing that causes most faults the wiring and connectors! Good diagnostics Dan once again. Brand new wiring can be incorrectly assembled and cause problems, I have found a few where the connectors where clamped on the insulation and not the wire, incorrect assembly of the loom and when assembled forcefully, push backs in connectors. Nice feeling when you find the culprit!
There is a shortage of skilled technicians. You can't just double your techs. Its hard even to find one at the moment. It will take some time to educate new techs
Cool you fixed the problem. Fair quality control at Volkswagen plant. I hope the dealership mechanics will see your video and learn to check something small like a loose wire connection.
In most cases Dealership techs have to stick to a pre defined test plan, if they think outside the box they can't claim waranty. If ODIS ( the VW dealer tool) tells them to replace a part they have to or waranty is denied!
@@Diagnosedan l see. I knew a neighbor son that was a young mechanic at a local Ford dealership in the 1980s. He wanted to do a great job fixing customers cars. The other mechanics told him to do a poor job and didn't get along with them. He ended up working in the parts supply department. This was in Connecticut, USA.
Thank you very much for another wonderful video thank you for the insight knowledge of diagnosing a compressor problem. I guess this problem would also fall on all different types makes and models of all other vehicles even as well as North American vehicles thank you very much for your time and effort 10 out of 10.😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊
Well done Dan. Nice diag. It goes to show you that the dealers these days are just interested in fast in & out jobs & could really care less. God Bless & stay safe, TMP from N.J.
A real nice fix. These problems are always hard to track down. I never work on cars, but have had similar issues and worse, broken wires in the control wiring from a sensor on a packaging machine.
Thats an interesting line of work! I can imagine all that can go wrong. Our shop is next to a factory. One of the machines kept shutting down. It turned out for safety reasons nobody was allowed near that machine and this was monitored by a laser. If the laser beam was crossed the machine would shut down. It turned out it was because of flies flying through that laser beam😂
@@Diagnosedan Yes had problems with Sick (the manufacturer) safety curtains stopping machines due to being too sensitive to such things. Never saw the laser variants though. Been 15 years since I last worked with them, happily retired now.
You deserve congratulations. I am an engineer from Corinth, Greece, for many years in the profession. I follow you and admire you. You have managed to manage the diagnosis part with a wonderful Way.also you definitely have deep knowledge of this difficult subject but also an extremely understandable way of presenting.I just admire you. be well, George engineer from Corinth Greece.
Well-done again Dan my dad bought a new car from Ford which had a faulty from new within a week the car wouldn't start he called the brake down company out and they gave him a bit of wire to start the car by turning the ignition on and touching the wire on the positive on the battery and onto the starter motor the car went back to Ford after they tried to fix 3 times they gave him another car in the end. Keep the videos coming.👍👍👍👍👍🇬🇧
Thanks Dan I love it when you point out every aspect of the diagnosis and the fix do you ever think that the dealers really look or are capable of tracing faults Dan you are the man !👍🇬🇧
Good Job Dan 👍, it's been a while, I was also hoping that at the end of fixing the connector issue, you would have pulled out the connector again and see if we have same fault code or a different one to give us the confidence that the intermittent fault was only from the connector alone. Weldone
Think this is the first video where you have described a fault as “challenging”! Brilliant stuff, although this time i had also concluded about 5 secs before you said it that it must be the connector. I thought it was because you were creating an Earth return with your probe and that the Earth wire was broken rather than a loose connection. Already looking forward to the next one 👌👌
Nice episode Dan!!!! You developed my passion for auto repair! I changed three closing modules on the driver's door on my car, which after two or three months no longer indicated that the door was open! I changed the responsible connectors (pins 7 and 8) in the plug and everything was solved, thanks to Mr. Stuzman, who presented everything that the door closing module contains. Keep growing and good health!!!
good find, I had the idea because of the code and because you back probed which means that you pushed the pins inwards with the pin. Good find for sure, didn't expect the wire to be loose however, more like spread pins making it loose connection with vibration.
People slate the mk8 platform having problems with assist and other electrical problems and haptic buttons. But I've had mine for 3 years now done 27k miles and I've had not one problem. I had an assist light come on once and that's whem it was -2 and covered in frost, soon as it thawed out it was fine . I love my mk8 and I've had every golf from mk3 to mk8
As usual, you are going to diagnose the issue. Others just look at it and are happy to find no issue, so no need to worry which part to exchange (and that is all they can do).
I had a very similar case in my Mercedes Vito which is quite new as well, after driving us crazy for a while, it turned out to be the "air mixer vent" stuck open towards the hot side, while the AC itself was working as it should have! we had to remove the dashboard to change the mixing vent, but then all worked well
You now have a truly hybrid system👍. I'm qualified to install and design ASHP but would never replace a natural gas boiler with one, there are some benefits in having the gas boiler and heat pump working together in a hybrid way, but there's a long payback period in the UK
They can be very hard to find and realize that could have been a loose pine anywhere in the system. Even behind the control panel underneath the dashboard
Took my one year old Skoda to the main dealer as A/C not working. Told me the condenser and pipe were damaged and quoted £1200 to fix. On dismantling I found the seal was split and renewed it (cost £4.30 plus recharge).
Great video as per usual! would love more a/c related fault videos. I had the exact same fault a couple of years ago on a vehicle and just last year a real awkward intermittent fault related to the electronic control valve which would stop working when hot and start working again when it cooled down. Replaced the valve to fix that fault.
Over engineered AC compressor is the actual cause but the connector was a result of of having that valve in the first place. Your customers are lucky to have you Dan.
@@Diagnosedan oh I have no doubt the EU’s mandate on what type of refrigerant they must use absolutely played a role in that design. Government sure knows how to make cars complicated.
Check out my website ; www.diagnosedan.com
For DDTSB visit ddtsb.com
For the Topdon tool used in the video:
US: www.topdon.us
UK: www.diagnosticconnections.co.uk/
EU: eu.topdon.com
13:42 - supplier issue with a pretty huge bill I bet cause the owner got a loaner too.
And now they will try to find the employee who had built the cable harness and who had checked it at the end of the assembly line of the supplier.
It is a pretty big issue if that happens again across europe from time to time or even does work in the beginning and might become loose 1,5 years later.
Then a lot of parts can be replaced before someone gets close to that error.
But why did the diagnosis throw out this weird error message (short via plus or so) cause you had not spoken about it and why it did not help at all or did I miss a part ?
8 out of 10 of those problems seem to somehow be down to human error.
Over thinking the job.
But sure, that's just it.😩👍
And I hope that you told the owner of this vehicle for this bill brought it to Volvo and had them pay the bill or at least pay them back you know that's not right
I notice that you stuggled a little with English. Spare a thought for those of us that don't have any alternative because it's the only language we know.
@@andyvitz Volvo??
The bloopers are always funny, BUT the big thing I get from it . . .
I really appreciate you taking the time to make the English videos!!!
I get so much from them.
Thanks Dan!
I never realized until now that Dan is in the Netherlands. I honestly thought he was in the UK, it does explain the Dutch language settings in most of the cars though.
@@Hybris51129 Dan speaks great english but could never be mistaken for a brit. Not even for a brit imitating a dutchman. I think thats a good thing.
Beautiful explanation and beautiful video👍
@@Hybris51129Not far from the UK😉
@@Hybris51129From the UK but with only left hand drive cars? 😅
Dan is now a VW field engineer. Next year he will be Senior VP of QA
Naaaah Dan knows what he's doing that's not what they are about.
Dan for president!
@@geroldvandegoor6481 I think Dan's country has a Monarch.
Wait...VW has a QA department?
@@rimmersbryggeri Indeed... King's day was celebrated a couple weeks ago. We get a day off from work, sooo.. long live the king!
When Dan uploads you know its going to be a good video. 👍
I wish he upload daily. 😁
@@petergrunendahl8799 Now that would be good as his videos are really informative.
I just wonder how fast he had to guess that the problem can be in some connector somewhere. I swear, there are lots of connectors. Maybe something was let out in the video, I mean the moment when he decided to check all relevant connectors, starting with the ones at the compressor.
Such a problem could be anywhere.
It's also important in such a case to understand what was tested at the factory. I don't think they can wait to see if the cabin cools down!
Everything can happen. I have myself assembled Volvo truck gearboxes long ago, and know that it's not possible to test every little detail when the gearbox is completed.
Thanks that is a great compliment.
@@leiflillandt1488you are right! Could have turned into a very long video. What if the loose pin was on the control panel side?
I started at the compressor because of the faultcode but it could have been anywhere really
The only problem with this channel is ? you don’t get enough blogs quite often but when it comes, you know it’s full of gold and diamonds.Thank you for sharing your skills and experience.
Its a pleasure, thanks for your great comment
Dan is now the Head of quality control in Volkswagen
🤣🤣 No thanks! I'm busy enough as it is!
Customer - " Hello, I was in before with an AC problem and you could not find the problem, it is still not working. When can I bring it back?"
Service writer to mechanic- " It's that guy with the AC problem, he wants to bring it back"
Mechanic-" Oh No- tell him we are booked up for months"
Almost all brand
Dealerships in the Netherlands are backup up for months. Its been like that for a while now
@@Vespastendert Same in Belgium. Three months to get a service appointment where I live. Crazy. I think it's because of the very low quality cars they pumped out in the covid period.
@@Vespastendert Same in Norway. 5 weeks if you want a service, up to 3 months if you need a technician for a diagnosis. But we try to prioritize AC and safety complaints.
Believe it or not same thing happened when I contacted Dan's garage. It had a problem no one could find, so I thought Dan will fox this for sure. But his colleague told me they can't help me and I had to wait like 2 or 3 months minimum.
@@RespectedDesperado Dan is probably backed up because dealers are too busy trying to figure out how to fix all those diesel cars with the tricked up software.
I'm smiling all the time when you tell us: Let "US" diagnose it "TOGETHER".
Yeah, I was working real had ... watching you. 😂
Thank you for another diagnose lesson.
Regards from Belgium
I knew what the problem was going to be just not where it was.
Ha ha Peter, i really appreciated your help😂
Ik zou je een factuur zenden…😂😂😂
Hi sir,I did work at a Volkswagen dealer in the 90's a new Volkswagen Passant arrived from the owner of the Ford dealer in that time,but the service advisor notice that the a/c don't work(the ambient temperature sensor was reading -47°F,so I did jump the sensor to make work till the new sensor arrive..You always have very good explanation..
Thanks for watching!
Dan you are genius, you can even find a hidden ghost in the car with your closed eyes,,,,well done
Thanks for watching!
U are the KING when u want to buy a new car at the dealership, but when U want service....even under waranty....U are a simple peasant...and goodluck to you.
Yes sometimes thats the case, it's sad
Thank you Dan. Im always learning something.
About 1 1/2 years ago, i ran into a similar situation with my sisters Sonata.
She was quoted $3,000.00 to fix the system.
Just like you did. I went step by step. I was stumped as to why the ac system was not working.
Just like the VW ac Kornpressor. The ac clutch was working. Until i found the regulating valve issues. I ordered a new One. Pumped the system down. Replaced the valve. Cost $25.00 plus shipping.
Plus the new refrigerant. System worked as it should. She drove it home and not anymore problems.
And another as ac system problems with my daughter Toyota sienna. Ac didnt have any issues. On the way to work, they had an accident. Car got fixed. Then ac system issues developed.
Since it was accident related, she took the car to a shop for diagnose and repairs.
Shop said, bad ac compressor. They replaced it. Ran good for a while then intermittent ac system. Got cool for a bit and then no ac. Off and on. The shop wouldn't warranty the work. They wanted to replace the ac compressor again.
So i took over the diagnosis. No codes at all.
I downloaded wiring diagrams and read the system description.
After i read the description, i asked my daughter, what does the temperature display for outside temp ??
She said its reading below freezing?
I got curious.
I found during the repairs. The shop had twisted the wires and just added black tape. And left it hanging. The sensor is located in front of the radiator.
I admit i did buy a radiator cooling fan module. This was out of haste because, this issue was in the middle of summer and my daughter was on a trip.
I ordered a new pigtail and repaired the connection using solder.
Note: If the ambient air temp starts to drop and goes below freezing. This will shut down the ac compressor.
Because of the bad previous repairs, the ambient air temp would work intermittently.
Then the compressor would work.
It's great you were able to fix those problems yourself! Most technicians get very limited time to diagnose problems, almost no time to study the system and do all the necessary checks.
are those valves more eco garbage like alternators that make no juice at times? Ice sensor turns off AC when evap freezes. What more do you need on an AC?
Dan is an inspiration to anyone who has an interest in fault diagnosis. I spent my career working on commercial heating systems and trouble shooting systems installed by others, its the most rewarding thing to do.
Thats also interesting! I recently installed a Automated Pellet stove at my home. Nobody wanted to do it here because most people use gas heater and nobody is really experienced.
I can now heat my house with my heatpump, gas central heating or with a pellet stove😂
I saw that bad connector the first time you back probed and the system started working. I’ve seen those intermittent connector issues often, but rarely in a new vehicle. But it happens.
Good job Dan. As always, you fixed it again!
I also thought it might be that connector but don't forget that Murphy controls all intermittent faults.
I took me some time to realize that🤣
Back probing !!!, the best way to damage a waterproof connector.
@@jasoneldridge4738 Get yourself some needle probes (or make some with 30awg insulin syringes) and if you still can't sleep at night, smear a bit of silicone on the area.
Intermittent faults should always trigger you to check wires, plugs, grounds, fuses etc...
I once diagnosed an older cars ignition issue, when cold it worked fine, when hot it refused to start... Turned out to be a grounding issue, I traced it all back and ended up in the ignition ECU which had a burned copper trace on the PCB. When cold, this copper trace had low enough resistance to properly ground the circuit, when hot the resistance went up and not providing a ground...
The owner said there was some welding done to the car and likely the welder didn't disconnect the battery 😮
Dan explains things a lot better than most do. Fault identification is logical and made to look nuch simpler and easy to understand. understand.
Dan, you are the best mechanic here on UA-cam. In my opinion, you are constantly solving any problem. I enjoy all your videos
Thank you very much but there are alot of very talented technicians here on UA-cam!
Brilliant fault finding! Thanks for all your patience doing this job & great video!!!
Thank you!
Always remember to check the basic . Don't jump ahead. Thanks Dan this video help me to remind myself to always check the basic stuff first.
Thats right!
About half a year ago I got a two year old Peugeot 5008 to fix an intermittant AC problem.
It was cooling the cabin just fine when driving but it wasnt working while the car is moving slowly in a congested city traffic.
The problem was, of course, that the radiator fan was not working.
But there were no faults on the fan, and no faults at all in ECU, BSI and AC modules. It was running the Fan test just fine, also the fan was working perfectly, when the engine coolant got too hot.
But when you turn on the AC, the compressor clutch engages, pressure valve gets controlled, pressure rises up and as the fan doesnt engage, it overheats, reaches overpressure and the clutch disengages until after a few minutes it cools down a bit, the pressure falls down to acceptable and the cycle continues.
The problem was found after a long and torturous diagnose to be in a software of a BSI module, which is a central control unit of a whole car (Peugeot/Citroen branded). It is not in any way responsible for the control of the fan, but it is responsible for gathering some of the information for AC module and it also kinda connects the AC module with the engine ECU, that controls the fan speed. Somewhere in between that request for the fan was being lost.
It was either:
1. Made this way and left the dealer completely new with a software or a module configuration bug.
2. I found in the module identification data, that the current software release date was newer than the manufacture date of the car. So the soft was probably updated at the dealer, when the owner went for oil/service/inspection. The date of the last diagnose in the diagnose history was a winter month, so it probably went unnoticed for a pretty long time, as the AC was not actually needed in winter and on spring it only helps to demist the windshield faster. So it may be unnoticed too.
It was fixed by updating the software of a ECU module and BSI module. Factually, I wasnt really sure it would help, I just tried it as it was kinda last resort as everything else was already tried.
Luckilly, PSA (Stellantis) still gives the ability for independent garages to access the software updates.
Problems that can be solved by a software update are nearly impossible to find! Great job 👍👍
A brilliant video, clear concise steps explained. This is one of the best channels on UA-cam. You are one clever guy. 👍
Yes! A new video. Man I would love to work for someone like you, Dan, you're a credit to tour field.
You could do all the work and i could watch for a change! 😂😂😂
@Diagnosedan honestly, I'd be more than happy to do that. That's a right deal to gain your knowledge!
The moment it started working with the backprobe i was suspecting that connector. But i get how you needed to prove it great fix man keep it up. And indeed it did get warm 2 months later. Glad my ac did work😂. I was feeezing my nuts off yesterday
“Now it’s new new.” Nice! Nice! Dan! Dan! (Love your work! Best wishes from Florida.
I love Florida! Just a little to hot in summer for me🤣 I couldn't get any work done🫣
Nice video and great catch on the loose pin in the connector. I’m glad the A/C drain missed the scope and didn’t fill it up with water. That would have put a crimp in the diagnosis. 🤣🤣
Yea that nearly missed🤣
When you know and understand how an electrical and mechanical circuit works, it makes it easier to troubleshoot.
Most intermitten problems, my last test is to shake, twist and gently pull on wires.
Good job Dan 👌we fixed it together again. 😁
You are right, dont forget temperature changes!
@@Diagnosedan Yes, expansion and contraction, I will remember that one. Thanks Dan. 👍
Would hate to think how much parts the dealer would have changed before they sent to an indy garage.😂😂.keep up the good work, Ted.👍
Dealer fix: replace ac compressor (3×times)hvac ecu, all ac lines and finally fixed by replacing entire engine wiring harness...😂😂😂
@@mrblonde2013 That sounds about right, and the vehicle would have numerous rattles and badly routed wires afterwards.
I know that Dealership technicians need to follow the testplan. If ODIS ( the VW factory tool) tells them they need to replace a component they have to do so it in order to claim waranty
@@Diagnosedan ODIS for that code would ask you to inspect the wires and connector if it has loose wires, corrosion or broken plug, and would never lead to compressor replacement. 😄
Great job as always Dan!!
Bad service that the dealership cannot do anything for 2 months for a vehicle that almost brand new and under warranty!
Typical V.W. low quality vehicles needs a non-typical car mechanic. Another outstanding diagnosis. You are the gem of the auto industry ! 👍
Right, because no other car brand has ever suffered an intermittent fault from the factory. 🙄
A high quality vehicle requires a highly overpaid Technician/ Certified to work on them. 😅😅😅
I know right. Ford at least ships their new trucks with oil pan leaks so rather easy to see their incompetent manufacturing.
I heard Teslas are fault free and their self driving mode never killed or even attempted kill anyone.
I heard Teslas are never broken nor panel gaps and perfect paint jobs. And in their self driving mode never even tried kill a person or attempted murder biker. Amazing.
Looking good Dan - and congrats on a difficult fix. You fooled me badly with this one - was betting the compressor was bad, which shows how little I really know about A/C stuff.
Thanks for watching!
1. Two months till an appt? I don’t need AC the dealer has already frosted me!
2. Intermittent is real world thanks for seeing it through!
3. Seeing no pressure change I would have mistakenly swapped the compressor. Great advice mechanical problems don’t fix themselves!
Mechanical parts usually dont fix themselves 🤣
I think i would probably have recommended a compressor too...
I was sitting on the edge of my seat when you said the first step was to drain and refill the system😬😬😬😬With intermittent problems I usually try to do as little as possible so the problem doesn’t disappear before I see it. Good one Dan! The only thing I would have done more would be to test the pin drag on each of those pins in the connector to make sure they weren’t loose from a bad assembly procedure at the factory
I wish i was half as good as you with auto electrics Dan! Keep the videos coming. I love them all.And learning at the same time.👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Exactly
Thats great to hear!
Another great video, I hope the client can show this to the Stealership so VW may reimburse him/her for your refrigerant and labor.
Unfortunately they wont
Great vid, Dan :) I am a little disappointed that the dealer couldnt find a fairly common factory fault, that they didnt even have to dig for. Ive probably seen this more on VW/Audi than anything else, here in Canada. Thanks, again!
_"a fairly common factory fault"_
Is this a known issue on VW AC compressors wiring harnesses?
@@ferrumignis to be clear, im referring to backed out pins in connectors being a common fault in new warranty electrical repairs, any system really. And that this one didnt really take a lot of digging to find. Thanks!
In their defence.........it's hard to find a fault when its not acting up.
@@Diagnosedan Absolutely agree. However, I think we can expect more than average from a Manufacturer licensed Dealer, who then asked the Customer to wait until they didnt have more profitable work on the go, to attend to an issue that didnt end up being overly complex, and would have been found in the first handful of troubletree steps, had they bothered. Dont get me wrong, I appreciate the dealer service making us look like superheroes out here, but its just not right, its a new car.
Love your content, Dan :)
@@petermeic1430 VW dealers in the USA and Canada are notorious for terrible workshop repairs and diagnosis compared to what you would find in Europe, and some other places too.
My VW Eos does the same. Awesome to see you figuring this out. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Diagnose Dan did it again🙂 Those sort of faults can be infuriating to find, my wife's 2015 Subaru WRX had an intermittent AC fault and the dealer couldn't fix it after 3 separate visits, I did a Google search and found that there was a "known" fault with compressor clutches, too much air gap in the clutch fixed by undoing one 10mm bolt then removing the outer part of the clutch, remove a shim then refit, once the air gap was to spec the AC worked perfectly, it was a less than 10 min job requiring no parts yet the dealer couldn't fix it because they said that it always worked when they tested it.
I went thru this issue with a 90s Ford 4 cyl. Dealer wouldn't accept that was the issue with it🤷♂️
Your wife has a good taste when it comes to cars.
@@moestrei Unfortunately she broke her ankle so she couldn't push a heavy clutch anymore so she had to sell it, she did look at an auto WRX but didn't like the CVT trans.
If a fault is not present its quite hard to find, thats why i always start out be confirming the customer complaint.
@@Diagnosedan Agree but if the customer complains about a fault at least 3 times its reasonable to assume that there is a problem so it warrants looking a bit closer such as taking the car for an extended drive to confirm the fault. The dealers "testing" of the fault was inadequate.
I noticed the same thing right before you said it! Twice in a row, you put the probe into the connector and suddenly it was working on both accounts!
This was an interesting problem! Not what you would expect on a new vehicle!
Interesting diagnosis and resolution of the fault. Thanks Dan as always.
And thank you again for watching!!!;
I bet the customer was super happy - nice one !!!
Warranty job I expect, so it should have cost them nothing. Not happy the fault happened in such a young car.
Another car fixed! Thanks again for your knowledge sharing, Dan! On a VW Passat CC i had the auxiliary water pump connector swapped with the regulating valve connector of the AC compressor by the mechanic. Really hard to diagnose since both connectors were the same color. PWM measurements were very handy back then. Impressive job.
To be honest i've noticed especially on Volkswagen that some connectors are interchangeable. I've already diagnosed quite a few with swapped connectors. Sometimes shorting things out and resulting in damaged control units.
If i was in charge i would make sure thats wouldn't be possible!
❤ regards from Athens Greece..😊
ela re patrida
Thanks!
Great video as always thank you for all the knowledge being shared with us. I was working on the golf8 project sometime ago and I wasn’t expecting to see that car in your videos anytime soon ha ha.😂
🤣🤣🤣
Great video; like watching your thought process and approach to fault finding.
Thank you!
A simple little connection and no A/C. Good one Dan.
Yes it mostly is simple once you found it🤣🤣🤣🤣
Patience.....its so valuable.
I wasn't as patience when i was younger🤣🤣
thanks for bringing us along and not giving up and trashing the footage, I know all too well how hard it is to try and keep going while creating something decent to share so others can learn and benefit. Thanks for the efforts once again and nice find!
Thank you very much!
Common sense isn't very common......! Always enjoyable and entertaining. Thank you for your patient, step by step analysis.
No need to ever bother going to the dealer. Having you explain these things is golden....! Professor Dan is the Man...
Thank you!
Do not worry my man... I also cough-sneeze when I get into my car 🙃
🤣🤣
Fault code showed fault. A bright light in the plug face will show height of connectors. A lot of people miss the wiring and especially the plugs and connections. Vibration can cause mechanical wear on pins and plugs and give intermittent faults as well. I have heard “I replaced the Sensor then the ECU and it’s still broken what else could it be. It is the thing that causes most faults the wiring and connectors! Good diagnostics Dan once again. Brand new wiring can be incorrectly assembled and cause problems, I have found a few where the connectors where clamped on the insulation and not the wire, incorrect assembly of the loom and when assembled forcefully, push backs in connectors. Nice feeling when you find the culprit!
It sure was a nice casestudy! Thanks for leaving a comment
I told my Local dealer they need to get rid of half there salesmen and double their techs! They are pushing new cars with nobody to repair them!
There is a shortage of skilled technicians. You can't just double your techs. Its hard even to find one at the moment. It will take some time to educate new techs
Once again, an amazing video! I know nothing about cars but still find these videos really interesting!
Intermittent faults are a nightmare.
They certainly can be
love those bloopers 😋...the video itself really has been an eye opener...."recognize the pattern" I would call it 👍
🤣🤣👍
German products are getting cheaper and cheaper. Capital wants more returns in Germany too
Thanks for watching
At this point I've probably watched every video of yours so it is the ever more exciting to see a new upload.
Thats great!
Cool you fixed the problem. Fair quality control at Volkswagen plant. I hope the dealership mechanics will see your video and learn to check something small like a loose wire connection.
In most cases Dealership techs have to stick to a pre defined test plan, if they think outside the box they can't claim waranty. If ODIS ( the VW dealer tool) tells them to replace a part they have to or waranty is denied!
@@Diagnosedan l see. I knew a neighbor son that was a young mechanic at a local Ford dealership in the 1980s. He wanted to do a great job fixing customers cars. The other mechanics told him to do a poor job and didn't get along with them. He ended up working in the parts supply department. This was in Connecticut, USA.
soft pin set one of the toughest repairs . Dan fixed it again great job Dan
Thanks!
Thank you very much for another wonderful video thank you for the insight knowledge of diagnosing a compressor problem. I guess this problem would also fall on all different types makes and models of all other vehicles even as well as North American vehicles thank you very much for your time and effort 10 out of 10.😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊
Yes it could have happened on any brand👍
Certanly the best diagnostician that I have ever seen on UA-cam. It is a pleasure watching you chase these pesky problems. Cheers form Slovenia :)
There are alot of talented technicians on UA-cam!
Well done Dan. Nice diag. It goes to show you that the dealers these days are just interested in fast in & out jobs & could really care less. God Bless & stay safe, TMP from N.J.
Its all about the money 😉
A real nice fix. These problems are always hard to track down. I never work on cars, but have had similar issues and worse, broken wires in the control wiring from a sensor on a packaging machine.
Thats an interesting line of work! I can imagine all that can go wrong. Our shop is next to a factory. One of the machines kept shutting down. It turned out for safety reasons nobody was allowed near that machine and this was monitored by a laser. If the laser beam was crossed the machine would shut down. It turned out it was because of flies flying through that laser beam😂
@@Diagnosedan Yes had problems with Sick (the manufacturer) safety curtains stopping machines due to being too sensitive to such things. Never saw the laser variants though. Been 15 years since I last worked with them, happily retired now.
Love the bloopers Dan ! ... but I always come 'a running when I see your videos post ! ... thanks for the great DIAG jon o in idaho
Thanks for your great comment its really appreciated 👍👍
Great detective like always, it took Dan to sniff out the problem.
Thanks for watching
You deserve congratulations. I am an engineer from Corinth, Greece, for many years in the profession. I follow you and admire you. You have managed to manage the diagnosis part with a wonderful Way.also you definitely have deep knowledge of this difficult subject but also an extremely understandable way of presenting.I just admire you. be well, George engineer from Corinth Greece.
Thanks George!
Well-done again Dan my dad bought a new car from Ford which had a faulty from new within a week the car wouldn't start he called the brake down company out and they gave him a bit of wire to start the car by turning the ignition on and touching the wire on the positive on the battery and onto the starter motor the car went back to Ford after they tried to fix 3 times they gave him another car in the end. Keep the videos coming.👍👍👍👍👍🇬🇧
Yes it certainly happens sometimes, no matter the brand
Thanks Dan I love it when you point out every aspect of the diagnosis and the fix do you ever think that the dealers really look or are capable of tracing faults Dan you are the man !👍🇬🇧
Thanks for your comment!
Excellent as usual. No problem can't be fixed, if you know what you are doing and have the correct thinking process.
Keep it up. 👍👍👍👍
Thanks for your comment!
Woow, with that clutch kicked in, I really thought the AC pump had an inner mechanical failure. Again a good lesson Dan, thanks!
That crossed my mind 😉
Dan is an very secure person, for the bloopers are priceless.
Love it.
🤣👍
Toujours d'excellentes vidéos et de la persévérance dans ta recherche de panne. Merci Dan pour la qualité de ton travail.
Merci beaucoup
Great Job Dan. You did it again. Have a good one. Cheers, Nico.
Thanks Nico
I've missed you Dan. Good job again !
I'm back 😁
Good to see you again Dan. Keep the videos coming, many people enjoy them.
As often as i can😁👍
Great Video the Bloopers finishes it all off.
😁😁🤣
Good Job Dan 👍, it's been a while, I was also hoping that at the end of fixing the connector issue, you would have pulled out the connector again and see if we have same fault code or a different one to give us the confidence that the intermittent fault was only from the connector alone. Weldone
It was😉
Think this is the first video where you have described a fault as “challenging”! Brilliant stuff, although this time i had also concluded about 5 secs before you said it that it must be the connector. I thought it was because you were creating an Earth return with your probe and that the Earth wire was broken rather than a loose connection. Already looking forward to the next one 👌👌
Smart thinking! It took me some time to realize that🤣
@@Diagnosedan don’t think it’ll happen again - your job is definitely safe 😂
Nice episode Dan!!!! You developed my passion for auto repair! I changed three closing modules on the driver's door on my car, which after two or three months no longer indicated that the door was open! I changed the responsible connectors (pins 7 and 8) in the plug and everything was solved, thanks to Mr. Stuzman, who presented everything that the door closing module contains. Keep growing and good health!!!
Thats great to hear!
Dan is the man with the plan.
🤣🤣👍
Great one as usual! Thanks for simplifying complicated things. And I'm super jealous of all your tools!! 😂
Thank you!
You are the best mechanic I've ever seen, I wish you lived in my city
Thank you very much! What city is that?
@@Diagnosedan Sydney, Australia 🦘
@@wickedwabbit7365 i was in Sydney last month, loved it!
good find, I had the idea because of the code and because you back probed which means that you pushed the pins inwards with the pin. Good find for sure, didn't expect the wire to be loose however, more like spread pins making it loose connection with vibration.
Could have been for sure!
Simply BRILLIANT as ever Dan!!! That was one wierd fault on a brand new car. And the official dealer aka stealer could not find the fault. Amazing.
Maybe they would have but we'll never know🤷
Small things allways make the diffrence..good work Dan,you are an possitive example for us. Cheers
Thank you carlos
Common sense Dan fixed it again! You the man!
😁😉
People slate the mk8 platform having problems with assist and other electrical problems and haptic buttons. But I've had mine for 3 years now done 27k miles and I've had not one problem. I had an assist light come on once and that's whem it was -2 and covered in frost, soon as it thawed out it was fine . I love my mk8 and I've had every golf from mk3 to mk8
Of course most of them are fine but those don't end up in my videos 😉
As usual, you are going to diagnose the issue. Others just look at it and are happy to find no issue, so no need to worry which part to exchange (and that is all they can do).
There are different types of technicians some like myself only get more motivated to find the issue when encountered with strange faults.
Another great video specially useful this time of the year! This is the first time I’ve figured out the cause before it was disclosed
Thats great!
I had a very similar case in my Mercedes Vito which is quite new as well, after driving us crazy for a while, it turned out to be the "air mixer vent" stuck open towards the hot side, while the AC itself was working as it should have! we had to remove the dashboard to change the mixing vent, but then all worked well
You now have a truly hybrid system👍. I'm qualified to install and design ASHP but would never replace a natural gas boiler with one, there are some benefits in having the gas boiler and heat pump working together in a hybrid way, but there's a long payback period in the UK
😁👍
These kind of problems are hard to find sometimes, nice find because you stuck with it!
They can be very hard to find and realize that could have been a loose pine anywhere in the system. Even behind the control panel underneath the dashboard
Funny, when you said it's started working when you probed it I did think it might be connection 😁👍
Sharp! 👍💪
Took my one year old Skoda to the main dealer as A/C not working. Told me the condenser and pipe were damaged and quoted £1200 to fix. On dismantling I found the seal was split and renewed it (cost £4.30 plus recharge).
Dan's the man. What a guy.
Thanks!!!!!!
Great video as per usual! would love more a/c related fault videos.
I had the exact same fault a couple of years ago on a vehicle and just last year a real awkward intermittent fault related to the electronic control valve which would stop working when hot and start working again when it cooled down. Replaced the valve to fix that fault.
Great job 👍👍👍
I love your t-shirt! Thank for your support!
I also love it💪💪💪
Thank you for another video! Great video pin fitment and security is very important and overlooked a lot.
Thanks!
Over engineered AC compressor is the actual cause but the connector was a result of of having that valve in the first place. Your customers are lucky to have you Dan.
Thank you. Have you ever wondered why they engineered it like this? What if they had to.....😉
@@Diagnosedan oh I have no doubt the EU’s mandate on what type of refrigerant they must use absolutely played a role in that design. Government sure knows how to make cars complicated.
Great piece of tutorial,standard ,accurate and precise tutorial,thanks Dan for another great lesson
Thank you!!!!
As usual, you are the man who can do no other man, do . My Quz, if you do not mind . Who paid the bill ?
yet another excellent bit of investigative diagnosis! Dan fixed it again!
Thanks for watching!