Gti / Rabbit Dual Climate Control Defect Question

[CFB_GTA]

Looking to get some feedback before deciding on taking the car in to the dealer.

1) Is it normal for air to come out of the left and right vents near the side mirrors when airflow is only selected for the feet portion? My centre vents close the air flow and I would have thought the side ones should too (I know I can manually shut the vents).

2) is it worrisome if on the rare occasion the fan is running, there's a temperature selected, but both the AUTO buttons nor the light for the fan speed are on? Once I turn the fan speed, the fan speed light shows. Just want to be safe that this isnt the start of a bigger problem.

3) I read somewhere the temperature setting on the climate control is for the cabin, and not the temp of the air coming from the vent. During winter in outside temps of 32 deg Fahrenheit or freezing temps, I've noticed when the climate control is set to a lowly 64 degrees (18 degrees celcius), the air is super hot at any fan speed. This seems anti intuitive to me and might have thought this is normal with AUTO mode, but not manual fan mode - do you all have the same experience?

 

[KevinC]

Not sure about 1 & 2, for but 3) That is 100% normal operation. If it's 32 outside and you've told the car you want it to be 32 degrees WARMER inside than out, of course it's gonna blast the heat.

 

[Strange Mud]

????

isn't the point you can give it a set point and it will maintain that temp regardless of what outside is. If OP sets it for 64 and it's 70 out that is sauna hot....I'm thinking a problem

 

[Corprin]

1. Yes. When outside temps are very low, extra flow across the side windows to keep them from fogging. Does the same in defrost mode.

2. If you are in a setting with defrost, your fan will be on to push the air across the windows no matter what. Just like how the a/c light isn’t always on, but your a/c compressor will be running.

3. Built for comfort or speed? Auto is built for speed! It’s trying to maintain a specific temperature based on your input. Ambient cabin air is 32F, you set 72F, and the system is going to do what ever it can to get the cabin to 72F. This means letting the full heat of ~200F coolant in the heater core, with minimal blending with cold air, blast you in the face/feet. Once you hit 72F in the cabin it’ll back off and blend to maintain temp. If this is uncomfortable, you’ll need to act like poors and manually blend the air for comfort.

 

[CFB_GTA]

1. Yes. When outside temps are very low, extra flow across the side windows to keep them from fogging. Does the same in defrost mode.

To be clear, see attached picture. I would have thought this statement is true for vent (1), and not vent (2). Were you referring to vent (2)?

3. If this is uncomfortable, you’ll need to act like poors and manually blend the air for comfort.

This is what I mean, in manual mode and not auto mode, the vent temperature is not at all calibrated to the temperature setting.

 

[Corprin]

Yes

 

[CFB_GTA]

Got some data this time around. Didnt quite wait until steady state, but here are the reference points:

- Car seat temp initial, 32 Fahrenheit

- Vent temp continuously warming up during driving from 104 to 149 fahrenheit, setpoint at 71.5. Yup, crazy hot. (I also did a comparison at a setpoint of 64.5 and the vent temp dropped significantly but still ludicrously warm. When setpoint was set to 'lo', the temperature fell quite significantly to what I believe is a correct calibrated temperature. )

- Car seat temp final after 15min drive, 68 fahrenheit

- Vent temp still at 149 fahrenheit...



I cant believe that even if there was a control system circuit in place to quickly bring up the temp, that there wouldn't be a gradual decrease in rate of temp increase until it approached the setpoint. If it is the case, this is poor engineering.


Anyone know where in the car the temperature sensor for the cabin is that the climate control system works off of?