Volkswagen: Jetta AC Problem, electrical relay, electrical signals

Question
Hi Ron, I noticed that you know a lot about older VWs, but I have a newer one I was hoping you could help me with (or at least steer me to someone who can).

I have an '02 Jetta Turbo.  I bought it about a year ago from Carmax, and so far it's been a great car.  However, about a week ago the AC went out.  It still blows air, but it's not cold anymore.  It was a sudden change, everything was fine in the morning, but when I started the car after work it was no longer cold.

I took the vehicle to a repair shop.  They said I had plenty of coolant, my compressor was fine, all the hoses were in great shape.  They concluded that it was an electrical relay that had failed, and so the compressor was no longer being told to turn on.  They replaced the relay and discovered that the problem persisted.

Then they told me it was a controller device that told the compressor to kick on.  Apparently it had overloaded, because it was no longer passing out any electrical signals.  So they replaced the part, and STILL the compressor won't turn on.

I actually had the mechanic call me today and tell me that he's at a loss.  He said that as far as he can tell, the AC should be working fine, that there's no reason for it to not work.  He said the compressor still isn't getting a signal, and it's still not turning on to make the air cold.

I've spent quite a bit of money having these guys tool around with my car.  They're a Midas shop, so I figure they've got to be held to standards, right?  I mean, they're nost just some mechanic who's screwing around with my car... right?  I don't know much about cars, and even less about Volkswagens.  ANY advice or help you can offer would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks very much!

Answer
Hi Bobby,

It sounds like you spent enough money at this place to ask them one question:

1) If you manually override the signal to the compressor, and kick it on, will the compressor activate and blow out cold air?

If you get YES as an answer, most likely, the fault is in the switch, if they already replaced the controller.

I would

a) Get your 'faulty' parts back to make sure that they were indeed defective.

b) Bring it to a dealership.  Believe it or not, they can run trouble codes quickly, and are among the cheapest to fix A/C problems.  Yes, a VW dealership.

Who would have thought..but I have found they have the best prices fixing these things, quickly and not part by part.

Make sure you bring your old relay, and that big black controller box (with the whitish bottom).

Good Luck,

Ron