A/C Recirculation Won't Stay On

oakleyfire144 · Jun 24, 2017

I'm having issues keeping the recirculation on and in Texas that means my a/c won't work... I have an 05' Jetta. I have tried to read about this but most of the people whose fixes I have read about are the older body style. They talk about cleaning or replacing a solenoid. Does this car have that same set-up or is this going to be an issue with the motor that opens and closes the vent flap behind the dash? I am not hearing any noises if there is a motor to indicate that it might be binding or not working correctly. Thanks in advance!

firehawk618 · Jun 24, 2017

What do you mean it won't stay on?

Do you mean the LED indicator keeps shutting off or do you mean the recirc indicator is on but the re circulation flap is allowing fresh air in?

oakleyfire144 · Jun 25, 2017

Yes the indicator keeps turning off. When this happens the a/c doesn't blow as hard and does not get cold. From what I can hear, when it does stay on I get recirculated cabin air. Sometimes I drive 40 miles or so and it may go off once. Other times I can't keep it on.

firehawk618 · Jun 25, 2017

Are you by chance changing modes on your heater? What I mean is going from foot to defrost or anything like that?

oakleyfire144 · Jun 26, 2017

firehawk618 said:
Are you by chance changing modes on your heater? What I mean is going from foot to defrost or anything like that?

Nope. I'll jest be driving along,it's blowing air out of the vents super hard and cold then the light on the dash goes off. I assume at the same time the vent flap opens and I begin to get air from out side that is not cold.

dieselover2 · Jun 26, 2017

Does everyone in the general San Antonio, Texas area need to keep outside air intake turned off in order to stay cool? Generally the recirculate feature should only be necessary to cool the car down, unless while driving in a very high humidity region. I wonder if something else occurs simultaneous with the recirculate LED light going off. For example, maybe a valve problem in the compressor? Take it to a reputable A/C mechanic.

firehawk618 · Jun 26, 2017

IMO you shouldn't take it to an a/c shop. Sure they can diagnose the compressor and cooling issues but I seriously doubt they'll have a single clue on the issue you're having.

I will dig into some schematics and documents and see if I can find a reason why this may be happening and report back.

firehawk618 · Jun 26, 2017

Interesting and wouldn't surprise me a bit that VW puts logic in the controller to force you to get fresh air.

I know this isn't a Jetta but.......VW

http://volkswagenownersclub.com/vw/...switch-recirculation-on-and-off-automatically

dieselover2 · Jun 26, 2017

I think a scanner will make the diagnosis. If it points to the compressor flow valve, it can be confirmed to see if the ohms is within specs. If it is the flow valve, a Japanese brand is preferable as it will outlast the VW dealer's flow valve which might fail again. A good A/C shop should be able to locate a reliable Japanese (not Chinese) brand which should not cost more than about $120 + labor.
My thinking on this is that a flow valve stuck in the open position would lead to the evaporator icing up on the fins and obstructing the air flow, leading to the lack of cool air flow. This is particularly so in a humid climate with the higher humidity inside the car when the cabin air switch is on recirculate. To Oakley144, please let us know how this turns out for you.

firehawk618 · Jun 30, 2017

dieselover2 said:
I think a scanner will make the diagnosis. If it points to the compressor flow valve, it can be confirmed to see if the ohms is within specs. If it is the flow valve, a Japanese brand is preferable as it will outlast the VW dealer's flow valve which might fail again. A good A/C shop should be able to locate a reliable Japanese (not Chinese) brand which should not cost more than about $120 + labor.
My thinking on this is that a flow valve stuck in the open position would lead to the evaporator icing up on the fins and obstructing the air flow, leading to the lack of cool air flow. This is particularly so in a humid climate with the higher humidity inside the car when the cabin air switch is on recirculate. To Oakley144, please let us know how this turns out for you.

That could be the case but I have a hunch that if any sensors were out of range the vehicle would just not run the a/c at all.

Yes OP, please do report back your solution when you find it.

Rx7145 · Jul 4, 2017

My car does the same thing.

oakleyfire144 · Jul 18, 2017

Sorry I haven't responded back to this post. Between work and vacation I've been pretty busy. I ended up taking the glove box out where I could access the fresh air flap. Once there, I was able to get the recirculation button to activate. Once the vent closed, I unplugged the motor so that the vent will always be in cabin air recirculation position no matter if the button was pressed or not. After doing this, the A/C is so cold I can't leave it on for long periods of time or I'll freeze myself out. I don't know if the motor was having an issue or what. I seemed to run smoothly with no noise or binding when I operated it with the dash removed. With it being so hot here, I'm not too worried about having fresh air so I put the dash back together.

eddi887 · Apr 26, 2022

I have a 2003 Jetta with a similar issue. The recirculation button stays on, but there is no increase in air flow. How does the recirculation button control the door, is it a solenoid, or something else on this year of Jetta?
I'm in Texas as well, so it would nice to figure this out.
And I would say yes, that most people use the recirculation button here, as the humidity can get pretty high, along with the temperature here.

Thank you

DivineChaos · Apr 26, 2022

eddi887 said:
I have a 2003 Jetta with a similar issue. The recirculation button stays on, but there is no increase in air flow. How does the recirculation button control the door, is it a solenoid, or something else on this year of Jetta?
I'm in Texas as well, so it would nice to figure this out.
And I would say yes, that most people use the recirculation button here, as the humidity can get pretty high, along with the temperature here.

Thank you

It's an electric motor. Is there any codes?

eddi887 · May 26, 2022

Ok, good to know. No codes that I saw, but I'll check again just to make sure. I take it that I would have to pull the glove box to get to the motor?

Thank you for the reply.

A/C Recirculation Won't Stay On

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