Condenser replacement

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MooLard

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Hi there

Just thought I would get some prices together for several bits from TPS, for several of the other bits I tried it turns out to be exactly the same as the main dealer prices, strange as I read they are often cheaper.

Anyhows, last year I snapped the threaded bit that connects the high pressure sensor to the condenser and am ready to replace the two parts. The genuine sensor is nearly £70! Ordered that, but am looking to get a pattern part for the condenser as the genuine one is over £400. I see you can get them for about £60, are there any ones to steer clear of, or recommendations?

Oh, the other bits I ordered was a pair of B5 perches, cupra splitter, green boost pipe o-rings as mine are weeping oil a bit and air-con o-rings ready for doing the above task.

Cheers
 
I bought a replacement condensor from GSF, I think it was Hella, cost £90 ish vs £400 from TPS. It looked exactly the same as the one that came off, down to all the mould marks etc, the only difference I could find was the lack of stamped Audi logo. It worked fine for the 3+ years it ran in the car.
 
Delayed update but I went to fit my ECP condenser the eve only to find the pipe sockets were too small! Most annoying and a waste of an evening. I need to think about to how get a refund and swap it for the right one, which I suspect will be more! Has anyone else had this issue?
I am hoping I haven't damaged one of the yellow bits on the pipes either...
 
Finally got it fitted! Any ideas where to get a regas for a reasonable price? I more KwikFit to a no fill no fee deal, which is good as I need to leak test it first. Any other suggestions?
 
Good afternoon, I finally got some gas put in to my air-con and had a leak test done at the same time. The good news is that it is holding pressure and the ECON light now goes out and stays out, but I can’t hear a clutch or the air-con kick in! Most annoying, I’ll have a quick look at it this evening to look for a plate on the end of the pulley and a bolt in the end also as I have heard that these can disappear off over time, and then when I get a bit more time I will plug VCDS in, and also check power to the various connections on the compressor. Any other pointers for this now extra tedious repair?
 
I re-charged mine and the econ light went out but no cold air. After a few days the light was back on... I just can't justify spending huge amounts fixing it.
 
I know there might be differences, but I had several problems with the AC on my mk4 Golf, with the same 1.9 PD 130 TDi engine so I imagine the ancillaries are the same to an extent.

Initially the decompression valve was gurgling, moisture in the system from the original dryer canister (no longer working) was freezing at the point it chilled and blocking it up in a hot/cold cycle. Had that replaced and the dryer, sorted.

Symptoms were that the clutch would engage, compress/heat the refrigerant, system would start cooling, freeze up, trip the high pressure sensor and disengage the clutch again. And repeat......Same symptoms if you get a blockage in the system as the compressors do break down and wear out, leaving bits of debris to float about in the pipework..

Then I had seperate problems with the fan relay module/resistor inbuilt to one of the radiator fans. Very very common fault with the Golf with various good fixes. Worth a research as there might be commonalities. Very good (but long) thread on the ukmkiv.net forum FAN PROBLEM - POLL SYNOPSIS - MkIV (Mk4) Golf & Bora - uk-mkivs have a read as something in there might help, mainly to do with the fan system, but the way it interfaces indirectly with the AC might help as the "AC on but no cooling at all" is consistent.

You might find that VCDS shows low pressure in the system if the sensor for 'low' has failed possibly, even if it is full. Therefore the compressor would never be allowed to engage. Same goes for the high pressure one too I imagine, either possible error states, but I assume it would trigger the ECON light.

I re-gassed my A4's AC last week using a halfords purchased trigger valve and R134a cylinder. Very easy to use for a topup (my AC was working fine, just not very cold, and not sure of when it was last gassed). In total cost me £55, minus £10 that is the surcharge on the bottle which you get back on return. Valve came in useful diagnosing an AC over-pressure fault on a friends A2.

Good Luck!
 
Hello! Many thanks for the various feedbacks, there's quite a few components to this, I tried to look at the pulley this morning but there's only about 10mm gap between that and the fan cowl so I couldn't see. Might crawl and have a feel at some point to see if a middle bolt is present. I've got a multi-meter and can check for voltage on various things, got VCDs Lite too so I can perhaps test the AC as well as fans, does the general scan check those modules or do I need to go in to specific sections to test this?
 
Sims this dreaded Econ button is a common fault that not a lot of people have been able to fix, hope you get it sorted MooLard, keep us updated !!
 
Mines booked into aircon specialist on 4th July £25 to diagnose what's wrong so hoping it's a cheep fix or summit silly
 
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Cool Bradh I am tempted to go the specialist or at least VAG specialist route to get the problem fixed more efficiently, I've actually got a bit of spare time on Friday night so I'll get under the car with the multi-meter and do some checks then, the fan controller (relays) and fuses are quite easy to get to as well so I can check all of those at the same time.
 
Ware is the fan controller then and fuses as I'll check them too lol I had my checked with full vcds Wednesday night and all motors moved and it recorded no errors witch was annoying :(
 
No vcds faults, wasn't able to test the fans as I have the lite version and I tested a few air con fuses and they were all ok.
I've got a feeling my fans do work as they kicked in when I remapped the car some time ago.
Next job at some point is to crawl under the car and rest for 12v going to the compressor.
 
moolard ware are the fuses for the aircon ill check them tomora on mine is there any way of checking if the fan works ??
 
Evening, there was two fuses to check just inside the drivers door but I think there is a relay bad a few bigger fuses somewhere too perhaps behind the drivers footwell plastics.
I managed to get the connector off of the compressor this eve and it read 0.8v when I turned the econ button off, really should gave tried it with the car running too though, wally!
Bit short of time to check further this weekend but I should do that and locate the compressor relay, tedious times, frustrating that it's pointing to needing a new compressor.
 
I also got the sensor off and checked mine zero when aircon off and about 10 when aircon on
 
Evening, tonight I did some electrical testing of several bits. Firstly took the compressor connector off and measured 12v when I had the engine running and the econ button off, sompootentially a broken compressor.
However I also noticed the smaller rad fan didn't click on so I unbolted it and checked for volts going to the fan and there was nothing. Finally I put 12v straight to the fan but it didn't fire up, hooray.
So, multiple faults here, I'm not massively inspired to spend too much but because of the multiple issues I'm thinking of taking it to a garage to tend to. Thoughts?
 
I would buddy had mine fixed today was nats nacker low on pressure so would not work
 
Just had my car diagnosed as needing a new compressor,its £500 for a recon part and nearly £600 for a Denso unit, plus labour!
So I'm going to go without, bit sad as I had bought a new compressor, thrust sensor and regas, so if anyone wants a nearly new condenser and pressure sensor inbox me please. I'll remove them very soon anyway so as to keep them in good condition and ready to sell.
Does anyone know if I can just remove my compressor and the belt, or if I need to source a shorter belt, I'll need to double check but I think there is just one small pulley linked to it and nothing else?
 
Still not worth it mate, second-hand with warranty will only have warranty for 30-90 days, it'll still cost a packet due to the comparative prices for a recon or new one. I'm kinda looking forward to the weight reduction by binning so many bits from the front end...!
 
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Iv'e just bought a re_manufactured compressor for £210 inc delivery. Yes you can remove the compressor on it's own, as mine is off at the moment. The Econ light will stay on though!
 
Good find mate it's about £20 less than what I paid, as I didn't read that closely to see if they have one or two years warranty though
 
Fitted my drier today, then on to the compressor only to find one of the two pipe fittings was too small!
The other observation i made was that my compressor was missing the pulley plate and bolt, would this stop it from working?
Where can I buy it separately?
 
Saga over, that company mentioned above sold me the compressor pulley cover for under £30 delivered and after a regassing I now have cold air, the aux fan even kicks in!
 
Morning all, so I'm nearly through my honeymoon in Austria only to find my air con is no longer blowing out cold air any more! That didn't last long, Anyhows it's the compressor pulley cover that has come off an vanished again, I used thread lock on it but possibly not enough, has anyone else had this sis and can anyone recommend how to better secure this on? Can I use some sort of sealant in the rest of the cover perhaps?
I think the additional vibrations from the harder snub mount and single mass flywheel might have sped it's vanishing again.
 
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