A/C started to blow warm and my local mechanic filled it with Freon + dye. It worked for 30 minutes then went warm. Brought it back and he told me the leak was in the evaporator coil, parts & labor totaling about $2,000. He said the labor shows as 8.5 hours for this job! In addition, he said its recommended to replace the A/C dryer/heater at the same time, bring the total to about $2,300.

I'm not keen on spending that sort of money on just the A/C for a 10-year-old car with 140K on it, so am looking for cost-saving ideas.

Parts: I tried to look for OEM parts, but www.audiusaparts.com and other parts sites don't seem to list evaporator coils for my year and model. Anyone know why that would be the case?

Labor: I know the dash needs to be removed. Does that require experience and have much risk of messing things up? If a newbie without much experience can do it, maybe I'll give it a try. Or maybe I can find someone at a low hourly rate to do it...

Thanks!

 

You may want to try this site. I did a cursory search filter on your model year and you can tweak your search criteria.

http://www.partsgeek.com/ymm/2000/audi/a6_quattro.html

I would tend to find an a/c specialist if you don't feel entirely comfortable doing it yourself.

 

Took a look at partsgeek and they too left evaporators off the list for my car. They only list these parts:


# A/C Clutch Relay
# A/C Compressor
# A/C Condenser
# A/C Expansion Valve
# A/C O-Ring
# A/C O-Ring Kit
# A/C Orifice Tube
# A/C Receiver Drier
# A/C Safety Switch
# A/C System O-Ring and Gasket Kit
# A/C System Valve Core and Cap Kit
# Blower Motor
# Blower Motor Resistor
# Heater Hose

Strange, no?

 

not too strange as evaporator failures on the C5 A6 are very uncommon. Unlike my Volvo 850 which was know for evap failures every 50k.

 

Might try shokan or force five. Maybe you can get a used one. Like jeffla said, its not a common failure item... something else is probably wrong here.

 

Here is another site to try. It appeared to have evaporators but if find something it's best to call and confirm with the vendor.

http://www.car-part.com/

 

You cheapest route is to roll down your windows. When you get tired of that, the next cheapest route is to trade your car in. If you are bound and determined to bang your head against a wall, I would try to find a U-Pull-It junkyard and pull the evaporator out yourself. That way, you get to see what is involved and can then re-evaluate my first two suggestions before you tear into the dash of your car.

Good luck,

Bob

 

Google search "auto air conditioning repair + your state or city"
A map with list of this service will show up. Zoom in and out to find a few of them you think are good garage.

Talk to these people and get opinions & then www.car-part.com to look for what you need. After you are narrowing down what you need to do have them talk directly and final the part needed. I thing that is the best & cheapest to fix it in right way.

 

I did a cursory look at the car-part.com site and the partsgeek.com site and it looks like around $400-$600 in parts. If you decide to keep the car, then I would first get a Bentley repair manual and familiarize yourself with what is involved to see if that is something you think you can tackle. Since winter is coming shortly, you have some time for your decision. If you drive a sustained amount of time without freon, this may damage the compressor, but check with an a/c guy to confirm.

Good luck,

Mike