A4 Aircon Nightmare?

[steve5s]

Hi hope you guys can comment on this:

I’ve a 98 A4 (110 TDI Avant). The other week I noticed that the aircon had stopped working. Not only had the compressor belt broken, it had melted!

I took the car to my local Audi independent, who advised that the clutch on the compressor appeared to have seized and also advised I also had the cam belt replaced at the same time.

So he took the work on. The saga so far, the compressor clutch and the compressor have been replaced & still no working aircon. I’m told now that when the compressor failed, a voltage surge took out the relay and then the main aircon controller within the dashboard.

How does this sound to you? I’m currently at £1240 & I still have the original problem, no AC /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cry.gif

 

[imported_disley]

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked2.gif £1240 /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked2.gif
sounds like your pants have been pulled down to me!!

 

[ajmackie]

sounds doubtful really.
a relay is a switch which is controlled by another circuit. ie the controller prob operates on 5v or 12v and this voltage goes through the relay to earth. as it goes through the relay, it switches the other circuit on which draws a lot more current.
sounds doubtful personally. £1240 sounds a lot of money, basically £1000 to replace the compressor and a belt.

 

[steve5s]

Thanks mate that was my gut feeling.

He said he will look for a used aircon controller, but he cant get one at the moment. He said the car can be collected. I would need to pay with visa. Does anyone know how I legally stand with this, if after replacing the controller the AC still does not work?

 

[MattS5]

I would suggest that if you took the car in for a specific fault to be cured and parts were fitted that did not cure the fault, you should not have to pay for the parts as the diagnosis was incorrect.
That is not a legal opinion of course. Why not contact your local Citizen's Advice Bureau for their take on the situation?

 

[AndyMac]

Ouchhh! What's he been doing? buying the parts from Audi? (Audi don't make any of the A/C components).
I've every major a/c component on my A4 replaced by an aircon specialist and it didn't add up to that much. That was compressor, dryer, heat exchanger/condenser, all at different times and all requiring a regas each time. It cam to about £1k all told but each regas was £70.
Sounds expensive even if the specialist solved the problem. My VAG specialist doesn't do A/C work so recommended the aircon guy. this makes sense as my Audi dealer was hopeless when it came to the first problem I had with a leak.
It might be wise to get an A/C specialist to give you an estimate

 

[MattS5]

Be wary, all successful con men sound convincing!

The last letter denotes the finish (usually black) or whether it incorporates Sat Nav and/or radio.

For a used unit try http://www.4ringspares.co.uk/

 

[steve5s]

...Heck, thanks mate. I'm between a rock & a hard place /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

 

[MattS5]

I really would take yours to an A/C specialist for a second opinion and estimate. They're dealing with A/C all the time, your Audi chap may only come a problem once in a blue moon - best of luck!