What is this?

54and56

Long story short the windscreen on my 2013 Touareg got smashed pretty badly and when the replacement guy removed it off came the cover (in several broken parts) of what looks like a sensor of some sort right in the middle of the dashboard up against the windscreen.

Can anyone tell me what it is and what part I need to order to replace the broken cover?

XsApollo

Sensor for auto wipers?
Or auto dimming lights or?

XsApollo

XsApollo wrote: »

Sensor for auto wipers?
Or auto dimming lights or?

I presume if it was a rain sensor the guy changing the windscreen would know.

newmember2

Neither of the above...sun sensor afaik



EDIT: Thanks...had my own windscreen and dash out before and wondered what that thing in the middle of my dash was that had a cable going down into the loom. I have learned today that it is a Sunlight Penetration Photosensor

kirving

It's a Sun Load Sensor.

Used by the AC unit to control for the radiant heat from the sun having more of an effect on the front of the car than the back.

The air could be cold outside, but the car is actually getting warm quickly due to the greenhouse effect of the sun in the window.

AC controller monitors this via the sun load sensor and will send more cold air to the main vents, instead of necessarily waiting for the whole car to heat up before reacting.

54and56

Kevin Irving wrote: »

It's a Sun Load Sensor.

Used by the AC unit to control for the radiant heat from the sun having more of an effect on the front of the car than the back.

The air could be cold outside, but the car is actually getting warm quickly due to the greenhouse effect of the sun in the window.

AC controller monitors this via the sun load sensor and will send more cold air to the main vents, instead of necessarily waiting for the whole car to heat up before reacting.

A predicted Leaving Cert score of A+ for you kind sir.

At least now I know it's safe to drive whilst the cover is off this sensor (I was concerned it may cause something important to malfunction whilst driving e.g. wipers failing to work due to erroneous readings or state etc but if all it's going to do is (potentially) incorrectly balance the AC flow I won't sweat (:o) about it until I bring the car in for it's next service which is due in a few weeks anyway.

It's not like I'll be taking the ferry to France and driving down to Bordeaux for the family campsite holiday as planned and would actually need AC on a daily basis

Lewis_Benson

54and56 wrote: »

A predicted Leaving Cert score of A+ for you kind sir.

At least now I know it's safe to drive whilst the cover is off this sensor (I was concerned it may cause something important to malfunction whilst driving e.g. wipers failing to work due to erroneous readings or state etc but if all it's going to do is (potentially) incorrectly balance the AC flow I won't sweat (:o) about it until I bring the car in for it's next service which is due in a few weeks anyway.

It's not like I'll be taking the ferry to France and driving down to Bordeaux for the family campsite holiday as planned and would actually need AC on a daily basis

AC isnt just for cold air, I leave mine on all the time.
Never have foggy windows.