Broken compressor drive plate.. repairable?

Hey guys...

I bought my first Audi a few weeks ago.. an A4 Avant 2.0 TDi, B7 shape on a 55 plate, BLB engine code. It's a lovely car, but the air con doesn't work! So, I took it into Kwik-fit, they regassed it, and it still didn't work, so I got a recharge for free.

I then decided to get the serpentine belt off and take a look at the compressor. It's a Denso compressor, with a rubber cover over the internals on the pulley. I pulled that off, and had a poke around inside. I then realised that levering the drive plate with a screwdriver caused the whole thing to fall apart!

So the compressor looks like this... with the centre of the drive plate in the middle...


Then the drive plate looks like this, with the middle missing...



Its clear from looking at it that the centre of the plate has sheared sway from the rest of it, meaning that the pulley will never turn the compressor. All the rubber bits inside were present though, just not in the photos.

Does anyone have any experience of repairing this? Are the drive plates replaceable, and does the fact that it's broken mean the compressor is knackered? The compressor seems to turn easily enough, and I'd rather just change the plate and avoid depressurising and the cost of a new compressor if possible!

Hey guys, sorry to resurrect this thread but I think I've been able to sort this out today.

I did loads of research on this, and found this page... That described how the whole thing works and which part I needed. I then called Audi, who would only supply the whole pulley assembly, at around £150 plus VAT! Ouch. Bit of a gamble if it turns out the compressor is knackered, so I decided to leave it.

After a bit more googling, I found a Russain supplier that could get me just the drive plate, but the website was impossible to understand, being in Russian. Then I found one in New Zealand, but they didn't reply to my emails. Eventually I found www.mavoyparts.com based in Ireland (a bit closer to home!) who did have the part, and I got it for about £25 delivered. Winner. For those interested, the part is here.

So today I got the car up in the air, and dropped the compressor down. The remains of the drive plate were really stubborn, so I had to remove the pulley, then use a nut breaker to grip what was left of the drive plate, and a 6mm socket on the drive shaft of the compressor. After a spray of penetrating oil and a break for a cup of tea, it came off. I then cleaned everything up and reassembled with the new drive plate.

At the moment, it's pretty cold outside so it's hard to tell if the compressor is working properly, but it seems to be. It span easily enough by hand with no horrible noises so I'm hoping it's ok. I'd guess that if I'd taken the car to a garage they'd have changed the compressor and all associated parts and charged me about a grand, so I'll be very happy if I've sorted it for £25!