Noisy AC Compressor?????

yy54cnk · Aug 27, 2008

Hi, after some advice, have had new MOT today, flew threw - happy days!!!

When it had cambelt Audi advised 'sqeaky' AC compressor, this was March 08.

Noise has not got any worse since, the mechanic had a good look at it for me today as I'm off to France in Sept and Oct, he says that the noise is probably coming from aux. belt tensioner.

Got home tonight and decided to have a look, checked the tensioner by releasing pressure of belt and seems fine - no play and nice and smooth.

Car was idling and I tried to pin point noise, couldn't and then remembered AC issue raised previously.

Switched climate on and set to 19, noise stopped.

Climate off, noise back and vice versa.

I'm leaning more towards the AC compressor being on its way out

or

Could it be the extra load of the compressor is taking up any play in the tensioner.

Car is A4 Avant 54 plate tdi 130 Sport.

Any ideas????

Cheers

jameshughes1974 · Aug 28, 2008

Well if it stops squeaking when the compressor is on I would kind of look at that as good news.
It could be the compressor magnetic clutch (which is is part of the pulley that the belt drives).
The clutch is replaceable without removing the compressor from the car(with a proper aircon clutch puller).

Is the aircon as cold as you would expect - if yes I seriously doubt your compressor is on the way out.

I am not sure if there is access behind the compressor pulley to squirt some oil to make the squeak go- not too sure that this is a good idea anyhow as it is a friction clutch which is moved on and off by turning the aircon on/off.

When it is off there is no load on the pulley as it is effectively disengaged from the compressor.

caeclyd · Oct 12, 2008

Today I was in the car and in the afternoon I decided to switch the air con on. It's an 04 A3 1.9 tdi Sport. It was running for about 5 minutes when I realised that the air was not getting colder. I checked the fuses and they were all OK. I did notice a strange noise coming from the pulley area in the engine bay. It sounds like a "loose brake pad" you know the noise !

I then tried various setting etc to no avail.

Now this is the odd thing. I cannot get any heat out of the vents either !!

My initial diagnosis is Air con compressor has died.

Is there anything else that I should look for ? (i.e Sticking relay preventing the pump to kick in)

I hope that someone here can help.

Cheers.

Rory

Staz · Oct 13, 2008

caeclyd said:
Today I was in the car and in the afternoon I decided to switch the air con on. It's an 04 A3 1.9 tdi Sport. It was running for about 5 minutes when I realised that the air was not getting colder. I checked the fuses and they were all OK. I did notice a strange noise coming from the pulley area in the engine bay. It sounds like a "loose brake pad" you know the noise !

I then tried various setting etc to no avail.

Now this is the odd thing. I cannot get any heat out of the vents either !!

My initial diagnosis is Air con compressor has died.

Is there anything else that I should look for ? (i.e Sticking relay preventing the pump to kick in)

I hope that someone here can help.

Cheers.

Rory

Well if you can't get any heat then I wouldn't assume it's anything to do with the air con system tbh. It has nothing to do with heating.

Not sure what it could be though! Sorry

caeclyd · Oct 14, 2008

staz1000 said:
Well if you can't get any heat then I wouldn't assume it's anything to do with the air con system tbh. It has nothing to do with heating.

Not sure what it could be though! Sorry

Update.

Pollen filter removed and cleaned....it was relatively fresh as it was replaced on the last service.

The heat issue might have been a red herring as there is heat coming out of the vents on demand.

I still cannot get the air con to cool the air.

I still get that squeek from the pulley area anf when I select air con to cool the engine revs do not drop.

Any thoughts?

Cheers.

Staz · Oct 14, 2008

caeclyd said:
I still cannot get the air con to cool the air.

I still get that squeek from the pulley area anf when I select air con to cool the engine revs do not drop.

Ok first thing you need to do is check that the compressor clutch is engaging.

With the engine running but from cold get someone to press the ECON button off and on. You should see the clutch going in and out in time with the pressing.

If the clutch is engaging then the pressure in the system is within limits and the electrical side is working ok.

If not then one of those things may be a problem. Your squeak should be able to help you also. Check if it goes on and off also. And check the belt tension. It depends on the belt/engine but you should only get about 1-2cm movement. It's a very rough science without the manual but still worth trying out.

jesters3 · May 8, 2009

Hi, I seem to have this issue. Do you have any part number or DIY diagrams for these parts?

ian52 · May 8, 2009

mine does not cool the air but when you put a/con the pump is noisy so i reckon my pump is fecked.it sounds like a bag of spanners.

Staz · May 9, 2009

If the compressor is making a noise then yeah it's probably fatty's leg (f***ed).

I don't have any diagrams Jester sorry.

jesters3 · May 11, 2009

No worries, thanks though. I'll have a gander on vagcat.com to see if anything comes awry.

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Noisy AC Compressor?????

yy54cnk

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caeclyd

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Staz

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caeclyd

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ian52

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