Hi all. I'm new here so please excuse my ignorance. I searched the forums but didn't find a topic that really helped me.

Here's the story. I have a 1999 A6 2.8 and my air conditioning died today while driving down the road. I felt a very slight, single knock which sounded like it came from the engine compartment about two minutes after the A/C died. I'm not sure if it was something coming loose. There seemed to be a "change" in engine performance after I heard/felt the knock.

Note: The A/C compressor replaced last summer after it failed at that time, so this one is less than a year old. The last compressor had some kind of shalf that was sheared off. I couldn't tell you more than that and I don't know how the other one broke. I'm not sure if I'm having the same problem now, but the story gets worse.

So after cursing and swearing that my A/C died again, I returned home to pop the hood and take a look to see if I might find anything wrong. I began to smell and odd smell during the drive home (about 15 miles), and the car just didn't "feel" right. I can't really explain it, but something just doesn't seem right.

Anyway, I get home and take a look under the car and see a dark green (olive?) colored fluid dripping out from under the car, it looks like its a bit behind the front left wheel. I'll have to take a picture and post it here. I believe this might be hydraulic fluid, but I'm not entirely sure.

I go to pop the hood, and it now appears that the hood release cable is broken, though I don't see anything phyicially broken. It just has no tension. Now I can't open the hood of the car.

My questions are:

1) is there any way to manually open the hood other than pulling the release below the steering wheel? and if so, how might I do this?
2) If the green fluid might is hydraulic fluid, would the car likely be safe to drive to a dealer for repair (about 10 miles)?
3) would a failure in the hydraulic system (if this is the problem) cause a failure of the A/C compressor?

I would greatly appreciate any help one could offer.

Thanks,

Brad

 

Okay, here are a few pictures I took. The first two are of the leak. The leak isn't very serious as you can see by looking at the ground. Only a few drops. I talked to a buddy of mine who said that it might not be hydraulic fluid, but the fluid from the air conditioning compressor since my power steering doesn't seem to be having any problems.

The last pic is the hood release and shows no breaks. It just dangles there freely.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Brad

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Okay, hard to see alot here, but the 'type' of fluid think might be easy.

Your car should be running R134 as the 'coolant' for the AC. This stuff is dyed, the stuff I had was bright green in color, and has sort of a 'sappy' type consistance. Given that your AC just blew, I say odds are this is it.

The other fluids that are green in color are the coolant/antifreeze. Basically a little thicker than water. Looks alot like your pictures, but if this is the case.. I'd expect the temperature guage to maybe go on once the car looses enough fluid to become a problem, the warning light for coolant level should come on if it leaks more too. Watch the temp guage to make sure its still okay. You could drive 10 miles on a cold car with a small coolant leak, providing that u can top it up before you left.

Hydralic fluid.. I guess that possible, but kinda unlikely. That fluid is usually red or somelikes clear/pale blue. It oil, so it looks like oil and feel like it too. The only thing that runs this fluid is power steering, and I guess a Hydralic clutch if you got a standard. Again.. 10 miles is not a big deal to drive on it.. The power steering pump will really whine if its low, and not a good thing to run them without oil.

At this point, I'd lay money that the fluid is AC coolant (R134).

Hmm.. a knock from the engine compartment... Not sure, could be.. could have maybe been a 'pop' indicating a line blew. The AC would run till the low pressure sensor in the system shut down the pump (time depends on leak size, but likely 30sec to minute). You would have residual cooling in the evaporator that would allow cold air to blow for a few mins. Would the enghine change.. yes you might notice the car has bit more power.. AC under full load can take 5-10 horse power.

Is there a link between a hydralic system and the AC. Nope. Only the belt is common, should be a single belt driving most every thing, but trust me.. if the fan belt blew.. You know.. every light on the cars dash generally comes on.

I assume the day was a hot , google says today was high 70's for Cincinnati (thats a cool day for AC though).. Really hot days put alot of pressure on an AC system.. pressure can hit 180-250 PSI. Can cause a weak line to blow, esp given you have a new pump put in last year you said.

Hood Release: I am guessing the issue is more with the cable inside the engine compartment. If this is the case. I know no way to release it. My Benz did this once.. was a pain. I ended up removing the skid plate/road cover.. reaching up and releasing the cable manually. Maybe the other Audi guys know how to do it.

 

Ever get it looked at? What was the issue?