First off: this post is about the semi-automatic, single-zone, CLIMATIC system, NOT the fully automatic, dual-zone CLIMATRONIC system.
I traded my ’07 Rabbit for a ’12 GTI about 7 months ago and quickly realized something was different about the HVAC. Thanks to lurking this forum, I confirmed my suspicion that VW had quietly replaced the Climatic system with a simpler (and of course cheaper) fully manual system. It wasn’t until a recent road trip in the GTI that I realized just how often I have to futz with the temperature knob in this car to maintain a consistent cabin temperature. First I’m too hot, then I’m too cold, then too hot again and so on. In the Rabbit, I was able to leave the temp knob at 72 pretty much year round.
I decided to do some research and find out exactly how the manual system differs from Climatic and if it would be possible/feasible to add the components required for Climatic functionality. I did the retrofit yesterday, and I’m happy to report it was a total success. It took about 4 hours and only cost about $100. The system now maintains the cabin temperature automatically, including switching back and forth between recirculation and fresh air mode as necessary (i.e. if you turn the temperature knob way down from where it had been set previously, the system will switch to recirc mode to cool the cabin down to that temperature more quickly, then switch back to fresh air mode once the temperature is reached).
I took photos during the process and I’ll try to create a DIY in the next week or two, but in the meantime here are some of the details:
-The manual and Climatic systems are largely the same in terms of their basic mechanical components, i.e. they have the same motors controlling the air distribution and temperature mixture.
-I had to add/replace three items:
1) The HVAC control panel. I picked one up on eBay for $50. In addition to having temperature numerals on the dial, the Climatic panel contains an interior temperature sensor and different software, both of which are essential for the system to work properly. Even if the manual panel still had the sensor – which it doesn’t, I checked – I still don’t think it would work properly because of the software differences.
2) Temperature sensor for the driver's side dashboard vent duct. The hole for this sensor is already there; it was just a matter of removing a rubber plug and replacing it with the sensor.
3) Temperature sensor for the driver's side footwell vent. This was the only tricky part of the retrofit. In cars with factory Climatic, this sensor is located on the driver’s side of the air distribution box. I expected to find another rubber plug like the dash vent duct, but despite practically folding myself in half (ouch) and almost crawling inside the dash, I couldn’t find any evidence of one. I concluded that cars with factory Climatic must either have a slightly different air distribution box, or the sensor (or in this case, plug) is located somewhere accessible only by removing large portions of the dash. I didn’t want to go through all of that (maybe because it was 90 degrees in the garage), so I just cut a small hole and mounted the sensor in the footwell duct itself. It works just fine and I confirmed with VAG-COM that the temperature values reported by both sensors are consistent with each other.
-Two plugs and a few yellow wires are required to connect the sensors to empty pin locations in the existing HVAC connector harness.
-I'm not 100% sure, but I don’t think VAG-COM is required for this retrofit. I didn’t have to make any CAN gateway changes, and although I did perform the flap adaptation in VAG-COM, I only did so because I had the tool available to do it. I don’t think flap adaptation is necessary so long as you have the controls on the old and new panels in the exact same positions during removal and installation. When I disconnected the battery at the start of the process, I had the old panel set at the first (lowest) fan speed, the temperature knob at full hot, and the airflow knob 100% to the floor. I made sure the controls on the new Climatic panel were set the exact same way before reconnecting the battery, and it seemed to work perfectly before I even did the flap adaptation.
I think this retrofit was very worthwhile, and it’s great not to be messing with the temperature dial every 5 minutes anymore!
I traded my ’07 Rabbit for a ’12 GTI about 7 months ago and quickly realized something was different about the HVAC. Thanks to lurking this forum, I confirmed my suspicion that VW had quietly replaced the Climatic system with a simpler (and of course cheaper) fully manual system. It wasn’t until a recent road trip in the GTI that I realized just how often I have to futz with the temperature knob in this car to maintain a consistent cabin temperature. First I’m too hot, then I’m too cold, then too hot again and so on. In the Rabbit, I was able to leave the temp knob at 72 pretty much year round.
I decided to do some research and find out exactly how the manual system differs from Climatic and if it would be possible/feasible to add the components required for Climatic functionality. I did the retrofit yesterday, and I’m happy to report it was a total success. It took about 4 hours and only cost about $100. The system now maintains the cabin temperature automatically, including switching back and forth between recirculation and fresh air mode as necessary (i.e. if you turn the temperature knob way down from where it had been set previously, the system will switch to recirc mode to cool the cabin down to that temperature more quickly, then switch back to fresh air mode once the temperature is reached).
I took photos during the process and I’ll try to create a DIY in the next week or two, but in the meantime here are some of the details:
-The manual and Climatic systems are largely the same in terms of their basic mechanical components, i.e. they have the same motors controlling the air distribution and temperature mixture.
-I had to add/replace three items:
1) The HVAC control panel. I picked one up on eBay for $50. In addition to having temperature numerals on the dial, the Climatic panel contains an interior temperature sensor and different software, both of which are essential for the system to work properly. Even if the manual panel still had the sensor – which it doesn’t, I checked – I still don’t think it would work properly because of the software differences.
2) Temperature sensor for the driver's side dashboard vent duct. The hole for this sensor is already there; it was just a matter of removing a rubber plug and replacing it with the sensor.
3) Temperature sensor for the driver's side footwell vent. This was the only tricky part of the retrofit. In cars with factory Climatic, this sensor is located on the driver’s side of the air distribution box. I expected to find another rubber plug like the dash vent duct, but despite practically folding myself in half (ouch) and almost crawling inside the dash, I couldn’t find any evidence of one. I concluded that cars with factory Climatic must either have a slightly different air distribution box, or the sensor (or in this case, plug) is located somewhere accessible only by removing large portions of the dash. I didn’t want to go through all of that (maybe because it was 90 degrees in the garage), so I just cut a small hole and mounted the sensor in the footwell duct itself. It works just fine and I confirmed with VAG-COM that the temperature values reported by both sensors are consistent with each other.
-Two plugs and a few yellow wires are required to connect the sensors to empty pin locations in the existing HVAC connector harness.
-I'm not 100% sure, but I don’t think VAG-COM is required for this retrofit. I didn’t have to make any CAN gateway changes, and although I did perform the flap adaptation in VAG-COM, I only did so because I had the tool available to do it. I don’t think flap adaptation is necessary so long as you have the controls on the old and new panels in the exact same positions during removal and installation. When I disconnected the battery at the start of the process, I had the old panel set at the first (lowest) fan speed, the temperature knob at full hot, and the airflow knob 100% to the floor. I made sure the controls on the new Climatic panel were set the exact same way before reconnecting the battery, and it seemed to work perfectly before I even did the flap adaptation.
I think this retrofit was very worthwhile, and it’s great not to be messing with the temperature dial every 5 minutes anymore!
