Visit to audi - much woe

So earlier on my b6 v6 3.0q was taken into audi by us just to have the allignment/tracking checked and the aircon regassed. We spent a short 2ish hours wandering around the dealers lot.

The guy came back and told us:

he couldn't do the tracking (it pulls slightly to the right) for the following reasons:

one broken rear spring (think he said left side)
the front upper arms apparently need changing as the bushes look cracked/old (no strange noises to confirm this)
the (in his words) excentric bolts are solid and they cannot undo them, I don't recall seeing these when I have fitted coilovers to my friend rowans b6 and i've not seen them on either b5 audi's or b5/5.5 passats

I think they just didn't want the hassle of doing the tracking.

Then it was on to the aircon. They said they topped up the gas with something beginning with F (I can't remember the name now) and said it was holding pressure but not getting any cooler inside so they reckon the pump is knackered and needs changing.

I have been offered a new pump part number 4a0 260 805c but need to find out if that will fit my 2003 3.0 v6 engine.

On driving back it was the first time i'd seen the econ light on the headunit switch off, we parked up at a store and when we came out I found what looked like water leaking out the drivers side, I popped the bonnet and found the green aircon gas all over the back of the headlight and the airbox at the front, I don't know where this has come from.

Any suggestions guys, has this dealer just basically messed my car up and decided it was too much hassle to sort?

b16 will said:

Freon ? It's the R134a gas that's used.
I'd guess he recovered all of the gas, hence the light staying on. They could've disturbed the valve in the end of the pipe, either way it'll need looking at.

I'd have the arms checked too, they quite quickly show signs of cracking but may still be serviceable. Typical main dealer though. Cba to do the odds you want & just find more to boot.

Click to expand...

yeah think that was the gas they used. He never mentioned if they recovered it all. The light does turn off (or did yesterday) but I didn't want to do any damage so switched it back to econ for the time being.

I'm tempted to get some uprated bushes if there are any that I can use in spare arms and swap them when I swap the suspension. I've seen a video recently showing what powerflex are like after a while so will be not bothering with them. I can get access to 034 as well but they are not much better as i've seen a lot of their products in person before

I'm trying to keep the faith with the audi, i've owned around 30-40 in the past and have for the most part enjoyed them but at some point soon I feel i'll be heading to a different brand and just keeping the b6 as a daily. Its a shame as I really liked it when I first got it but finding people I trust to work on it is hard work and I don't have the time I used to be able to spare to work on it myself. I am going to try and set aside friday to get the airbox etc out and find out where the leak is thats covered the back of the headlight and go from there, I need the aircon done asap, then swap the springs out for a set off ebay (I want a small amount of lowering and not sure if coilovers are the best option atm) then onto the front arms.

update for this:

car went back to audi, now has a new compressor fitted so working aircon (which is nice) though when the aircon is switched on you can hear what I presume is extra load on the engine?

Allignment/tracking was helped massivly by getting new tyres, we think the dealer/seller removed the decent tyres and fitted some rubbish (but matching) tyres and also removed the spare. The seller owned a tyre place.

Next job is there is a small oil leak on the passenger side back valve/rocker cover that needs a new gasget so that will be next. After that will be coilovers and wheels hopefully.