Well, after al the work I've done on my car recently, I thought I'd spend a few hours and get her cleaned up, washed, Poorboys Blackhole applied then covered with Natty's Blue paste wax..............she looks gorgeous.

Unfortunately, I can't even post a pic or two as I'm so annoyed....lol ( Insert many & varied expletives for annoyed !! )


Got in my car and took my son to drop his car off today............It was such a warm day, around 22c I put the AC on COLD & FULL BLAST only to receive a slow steady stream of warm air.

Was hoping it may just need re gassed although I knew it probably wasn't likely.

Took it to an Air con specialist who did a free check and said that the gas was fine, no issues there.

Upon further inspection, he seems to think it looks like the following...

Compressor has gone ( shaft snapped I think he said ) £394+vat
High pressure sensor needs replaced £49.83+vat
Labour to remove bumper, remove and refit compressor etc £120+vat
Regas £40+vat

I get the total to £724.59

Wow - wasn't expecting this when I woke up this morning!!

To be fair I suspected that something wasn't quite right for some time, it just didn't seem quite as cold, but other than that nothing I could put my finger on

Going to head off to do a little research...............Any useful / helpful comments appreciated as always


Thanks Chris, much appreciated.

I looked into this a little deeper today, made a few calls etc, then decided to visit Halfords for a Re gas / check to see the current state of play there.

Initially, I was offered a little hope after the found out that there was only 200 ( unsure what the UOM is?? ) in the system but it should between 510 - 530 so was low!!

I briefly had a thought that they would simply re gas it and everything would be fine

No Joy....lol

They also stated that it could be the compressor, or electrical issues, but that they just weren't sure to be honest and recomended a local VWAudi specialist nearby.
I checked them out and they did a VCDS diagnostic ( charging £40 ) and found faults as follows

It was mentioned at some point that the compressor isn't linked to Vagcom and so wouldn't show as a fault..........Its mechanical and diagnosed visually and in other ways?

Anyhow, he cleared the codes and then recomended the guy he uses, Mark who is a specialist and does a lot of this type of work. He did say that he thought it may be the compressor and that these were a fairly common failure on VWAudi.

I called Mark to discuss, he expalined at some length what he thought the problem may be, basically as it had run low on gas the lubricant may not have been lubricating the seals thoroughly etc etc and the compressor just gave out.

He's coming to have a look on Friday morning and has esitmated at around £400 to replace as new and get it all working good as gold again.

I did ask for a "cash" figure and got him down to £350 if it is what he thinks it is.

If thats the case and he guarantees his work for at least 12 months, I'll be going down that route I think......we'll see

I'll let you all know how it goes of course.

"Why is there so much month lweft at the end of the money?"


As for me?
My thoughts turned to the pollen filter ( the air flow seems to be a lot less than I remember it ) & time to check.

I'm positive ( need to check ) that I had it done at Audi around 18 months ago, could probably dig out a receipt for it somewhere I'm sure, but never hurts to check.

I actually collected a replacement ( genuine ) and decided to do the change anyway ( I'm a pollen filter change virgin ) so this was my first time.....I used this excellent "how to" post where A6Chris posted the info to do the job....Thanks Chris

Cabin Air/pollen filter. Where is it on UK-spec car?

To be honest, its ok if you're 5 foot and 10 stone slightly built ( I'm not )
What a major P I T A

Anyhow, managed to get the old ones out, yes, even after around 19 months they were pretty black on the incoming side, so due for a change I'd say.
At least thats done now and something less to think about for a while.
Might be worth thinking about to anyone else that reads this!!

Airlfow has increased and the A/C does seem a little colder too, but still not where it should be.

I'll know more tomorrow I guess

Well tomorrow is here TODAY as it turns out.......

I called Mark earlier today to confirm tomorrow's appt for air con diagnosis and repair and all was good.

I did tell him though that depending on how his day went I would be available all day at any time if he found an opening and to call me.....

Well, he did call around 5.30 pm and said he could be here in 30 mins and get it checked / done if required, so I told him to come on over.

He was a really "cool" guy no pun intended and a bit of a character......anyway told him the background and he inisisted on a number of checks before just replacing the compressor.

He completed his checks and confirmed the compressor was faulty, evacuated the gas and removed the compressor. He then fitted the new one ( just removed the under tray to gain access near the passenger side front wheel ) and did a leak test using nitrogen, which is a legal requirement it seems.

Everything pressure tested all A ok, so he proceeded to re gas it
It turns out that the 530g as advised by Halfords is at the lower limit.....In actual fact the level is 550g + or - 20g

Anyhow, all filled up and run for 10 mins at idle speed and I checked inside.....Its like a frrrrridge, all nice n cold.

He relieved me of £350 for the pleasure, which is new compressor supplied n fitted, pressure tested, re gassed c/w with a dye through the lubricating oil for future reference if required.

Albeit I'm £350 lighter, but considering what I could have paid its not too bad.

He also guarantees his work for a year and stays fairly local so all good on that front too.

 

Hi Jim

You have a pm.

Cheers

Alan