I have had my A6 2.8 2001 almost a year now. I had a problem with the AC yesterday while sitting in traffic. The air was getting warm then just blowing hot air but once I was on the freeway it got cold again. I was only sitting in traffic for a few minutes so it was nothing long but it was while the car was still hot on the inside from sitting in the sun.

Is this normal with Audi's? If not than I have set an appointment this week. It gets hot fast here in Vegas.

 

I had the same problem with my old 2.8....it was the auxiliary cooling fan. Turn your AC on full blast and see if the radiator fan on the passenger side is running, with the AC on, it should be running at all times.

 

I have the same problem with my 2005 A6 3.2. I've mentioned this every time I've brought it in for its regular service checkups. It will blow cool air just fine for a while, then after maybe 20 minutes of driving it will cycle to a mode of cold air from the center, hot air from the sides. I usually have the A/C on all the time, climate control set to 70.

I found a way to get it to return to cool though - if I turn everything to HI, let it blow hot for a minute, then turn it all the way to LO, it will blow cold. This will cool the car down again just fine. But when I return it to a regular temperature like 70, after a while it will revert to the uneven temps again - center cool, sides hot.

Audi Service once said it needed to be recharged, did that, and it worked okay for a short while, but soon the problem returned. They also said that the A/C will concentrate its cooling on the center. But this is different. It's COLD air and very HOT air, happening simultaneously.

I've mentioned this at each regular servicing.

At the most recent servicing I mentioned it as a continuing problem. Theychecked some other electrical issue that they said may have affected both the A/C and the fuel gauge, which was reading erratically when it got below 1/4 tank. The fuel gauge problem seemed to go away, but not the A/C problem.

Another strange characteristic: If I'm using the cruise control for a while, the air blows cool, but as soon as I take it off cruise control the A/C switches to the center cool/sides hot air again. Or if I'm not using the cruise control but maintaining a constant speed on the freeway for a while, then when I let off the gas, the A/C goes freaky again.

This problem has occurred since the car was new, and I'm getting the feeling that it must be a 'design feature' of the Audi. It's got to be some thermostat control problem of some kind.

 

I have the same problem as Vanguardmellophone with my 2005 A6. The sides will start blowing hot air while the center is blowing cold. The problem usually starts on the passenger side first. I also discovered the same remedy - you can reset back to normal AC on all vents when I turn the temp **** up to HI, then to LO, then back to a normal 70 degrees. I also discovered that if I accelarate agressively, sometimes the AC seems to reset too - but this is tough on the engine and not good for gas mileage. I took the car to my dealer and to a local German car specialist. Both had the car on the computer while the problem was occurring and said there were no error codes. Both claim they never saw the problem becuase it's a newer model and it would require removing the dashboard to "explore" the situation. Since this involves a lot of work at their hourly $ rate, I have decided to live with the problem. I joined this Audi Forum to find others with the same problem - not sure what to do next and hope others can offer their consultation. Tom Mc 610-291-0533