After 5000 miles, our 2009 Clubman has developed some annoying quirks. After driving for 5 minutes or so, the thermometer in the tach starts reading lower and lower, dropping to about 14 degrees Farenheit, even though it's about 60 outside. This causes the climate system to work overtime, turning the cockpit into a sauna.

The other issue is the car sometimes won't respond when the unlock button on the fob is pressed. We have to remove the key from the fob and insert in the door lock to wake it up.

Our dealer is two hours away, I'd rather not make the trip, as these intermittent problems probably will decide not to show up once we get there. Any suggestions on possible solutions?

 

First of all the temp guage int he tach is for outside temperature and "should not" be affecting the inside temperature. The inside temperature is measured by a completely different temperature sensor located inside the car. So if this is truely happening then there are some major problems with the electronics in the car. It needs to be looked at and soon.

This may be caused by a weak battery. Different things stop working sooner than others as the battery voltage gets low. This is by design.

1. Charge the battery overnight. See if this seems to take car of the problem.
2. Make at least one long (hour or more) trip in the car a week. Short trips will not charge the battery well enough.

 

The outside temp sensor DOES affect the inside temperature (that is documented in the WDS). I notice it runs the interior much cooler once the outside temperature gets above 20°F (or so). When the temp is below 20 the interior is MUCH warmer. Sounds like the temp sensor could be bad.

There is a slight chance both of your problems are related.

 

You could be right. Drove it a couple hundred miles Friday and it behaved.

 

I would like to know where you found this in the WDS as I have just re-read all the information in the WDS about the heating/cooling systems and the outside temperature sensor. And it does NOT say anything about the outside temperature sensor having anything to do with the inside temperature or affecting the heating/air conditioning system.

And depending on which system the OP's car has in it as to what sensors it will have.

Automatic Heating/Air Conditioning
There are two temperature sensors and one solar sensor. These will adjust the system as needed to maintain the temperature inside the car. One temperature sensor is in the control unit and the second is located with the solar sensor in the center of the dash.

The first sensor (internal temperature sensor) in the control unit senses the ambient air temp at the control unit and is does not have forced air passing over it. This is the main cabin temperature sensor.

The second sensor (ventilation temperature sensor) measures the delivery temperatrue of the air directly at the upper ventilation air vent (top center of the dash)

The solar sensor is in the center of the dash, and sends out a signal based on the amount of light it is picking up and is only used when the system is in full automatic mode. It assists the system in in maintaining the temperature based on the solar radiation thru the windows of the car.

Then there is the AUC sensor and that sensor detects Hydrocarbons, Carbon Monoxide, and Nitrogen Oxides (mono and di). This sensor will put the car in recirculate mode if it detects high levels of the above items.

And if you look at the wiring diagrams there is no connection between the exterior temperature sensor and the heating system.

This system also has an evaporator temperature senosr that is used solely to keep the evaporator from freezing over.

Non Auto heating /air conditioning system
There is NO air temperature sensor for the heating and air conditioning temperature. The only temperature sensor on this system is for the evaporator and is used to keep the evaporator from freezing over.

 

Charging the battery didn't help. Only took a couple hours at 2 amps to get full charge, so it was in pretty good shape to begin with.

Took it to the dealer today. A battery reset seems to have fixed the remote unlocking problem. They also replaced the outside temp sensor, and have ordered a new Kombi 2, which apparently is a black box that can cause all manner of chaos when it goes bad. Everything is actually working well now, but I'm not one to turn down free gizmos so I'll bring it in when the new Kombi 2 arrives.