An old widow friend of mine has an almost mint 2004 passat (Diesel)
sedan. She has been having intermittent problems with the AC cutting
out for several months andit finally quit completely. Gas was good,
fans ran - just no power to the compressor clutch. I finally traced it
down to a #384 relay hiding under the dash. The relay contact block
(fixed termials) is only heald to the circuit board by the printed
circuit connection - and being robotically wave soldered there is
virtually no "fillet" on the joint so it had cracked the foil all the
way around the connection. Darn things are non-stocked item at the
dealership and $89 plus tax. I managed to find a used one at the
wreckers to prove it was ONLY the relay - it woeked but was also
partly cracked so I just laid a real good heavy layer of Ersin SN63
over and around the joint - should be enough strength there NOW to
last a few more years!!!

Talk about a MISERABLE critter to work on!!!!!!! I'll take Japanese
and Korean cars over those KrautWagons ANY day!

On Mon, 17 Sep 2018 17:24:21 -0400, Clare Snyder
wrote:

An old widow friend of mine has an almost mint 2004 passat (Diesel)
sedan. She has been having intermittent problems with the AC cutting
out for several months andit finally quit completely. Gas was good,
fans ran - just no power to the compressor clutch. I finally traced it
down to a #384 relay hiding under the dash. The relay contact block
(fixed termials) is only heald to the circuit board by the printed
circuit connection - and being robotically wave soldered there is
virtually no "fillet" on the joint so it had cracked the foil all the
way around the connection. Darn things are non-stocked item at the
dealership and $89 plus tax. I managed to find a used one at the
wreckers to prove it was ONLY the relay - it woeked but was also
partly cracked so I just laid a real good heavy layer of Ersin SN63
over and around the joint - should be enough strength there NOW to
last a few more years!!!

Talk about a MISERABLE critter to work on!!!!!!! I'll take Japanese
and Korean cars over those KrautWagons ANY day!


Dennis, in the KW Record had a good one about auto A/C -
- where people have the A/C temp. set to max. cool
on very hot humid days - but fan set to low/medium -
and wonder why it poops out !
... then works fine after a " thaw out " period.
Gotta use a little common sense.
I always try to turn off the A/C and let the fan run - a minute or
two before shutting the car off - my theory is that it reduces some
of the potential condensation issues ..
John T.

On Mon, 17 Sep 2018 17:50:53 -0400, wrote:

On Mon, 17 Sep 2018 17:24:21 -0400, Clare Snyder
wrote:

An old widow friend of mine has an almost mint 2004 passat (Diesel)
sedan. She has been having intermittent problems with the AC cutting
out for several months andit finally quit completely. Gas was good,
fans ran - just no power to the compressor clutch. I finally traced it
down to a #384 relay hiding under the dash. The relay contact block
(fixed termials) is only heald to the circuit board by the printed
circuit connection - and being robotically wave soldered there is
virtually no "fillet" on the joint so it had cracked the foil all the
way around the connection. Darn things are non-stocked item at the
dealership and $89 plus tax. I managed to find a used one at the
wreckers to prove it was ONLY the relay - it woeked but was also
partly cracked so I just laid a real good heavy layer of Ersin SN63
over and around the joint - should be enough strength there NOW to
last a few more years!!!

Talk about a MISERABLE critter to work on!!!!!!! I'll take Japanese
and Korean cars over those KrautWagons ANY day!


Dennis, in the KW Record had a good one about auto A/C -
- where people have the A/C temp. set to max. cool
on very hot humid days - but fan set to low/medium -
and wonder why it poops out !
.. then works fine after a " thaw out " period.
Gotta use a little common sense.
I always try to turn off the A/C and let the fan run - a minute or
two before shutting the car off - my theory is that it reduces some
of the potential condensation issues ..
John T.
Then there are the dufuses that run with the system on "recirc" all
the time - even without the AC on and wonder why they can't keep the
windows clear - and those who always run with heat to the flooe and
wonder why the "A" pillars rust out - all the condensation from the
water/slush/snow on the floor condenses on the insideof the roof and
runs down the "A" pillars.

You from Kitchener or Waterloo?

And 90% or more of "current" Auto AC systems will never ice up and
quit because they have more smarts than the average driver - - - -