betty swallocks continued....

[sage33e]

After reading through the long post re. air con problems and the Econ button on the Climate control unit staying on, suddenly mine gives up the ghost. Econ light goes on...and stays on...£100 diagnostics at Audi points to a ****** great hole in the condensor. To their credit, they did say that I'd need a new receiver dryer as well (preventive resplacement) but the cost including fitting came to a whopping £808 - and that includes an allegiance discount!

Phoned around, including Audi dealers in France (£550) and the best price on OE parts was in the region of £720.

Has any one on here any ideas where I could get a condensor and dryer for a little less than that, and what needs to be done to fit one? Coming up to summer and I can't afford not to have air con (wife and baby would go mad) but the flip side is that I certainly can't afford 800 smackers.

Any ideas - much obliged.....

 

[ScottyP45]

holy **** mate, thats ridiculous eh? What about ebay or a breakers?

Theres a few A4's breaking on ebay right now.

 

[J7USS]

Couple of companies on Ebay do new condensors for £100 odd.
Duane had his wifes sorted last week as he had a crack in his, cost him £300 all in all for new condensor supliied and regas from air con specialist.

Its a Front end off Job.

 

[J7USS]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/AUDI-A4-AIR-C...VQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1638Q2em118Q2el1247

drier : http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/AUDI-A4-2-0-1...VQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1638Q2em118Q2el1247


All depends on your model really. All in all though, pretty cheap.
Id grab the parts then get an Air con specialist to do the job.
3-4 hrs labour I reckon, If that!!

 

[sage33e]

Magic, thanks for that. It is as you say a question of getting the right part. Audi quoted about £300 just for the condensor, and at that point I really needed the air con, as I nearly fainted in the dealers. I've seen a couple of companies online, so I'll give them a ring when the Bank Hol is over.

Thanks for the couple of links...as you say, a front end off job - so it's certainly not something I'd want to tackle on my own with a spanner set from Halfords!

Just to think, I had £400 coming to me and I was going to ask all you lot on the forum to give me a list of top 10 mods for that money.... oh well

 

[ScottyP45]

If you can grab the bits for £100, the front end removal isnt difficult, so a mechanic in a small garage could do it in about 2 hours, which up here is £25 to £35 per hour in garage labour, so £70 ish? You might get change from £200 which is a lot better than £800 eh

Good luck mate i hope you get it sorted cheaply. Things like that happening really suck and ruin the feeling of having a new motor.

 

[sage33e]

Thanks a lot for the positive comments.....really appreciated. I wish I could splash out £800 like that and not feel the pain... If I could get it done for £200-£300 that'd be magic, I'll let you know how I get on. Thanks once again gents!

 

[J7USS]

Its a easy enough Job to tackle yourself. The Bumper is easy to get off and changing the condenser is even easier. 2 things though, you got to watch for the Dye that is most likely still in your system and most importantly, you'll need to take it for Regas once its all fitted.

If you have a mate who will help you then go for it, it'll save you another £150 odd

 

[sage33e]

Cheers J7USS, problem being with me that I love driving the car, love talking about the engine, love to think I can change stuff, but know that I can't! I'll have a look at the prices our local garage will charge and make a decision then. If I do go and do it on my own I'll probably end up doing more damage!

 

[rwest]

I can perfectly understand your frustration. I had a hole in the compressor but it had damadged the rest so my bill came to over £2000. Fortunatly the garage did the job at a reduced labour rate and Audi UK contributed £500 in good-will even thought he car was 5 and half years old.

I was gutted too - I'd saved up about £1000 towards the service and maybe something interesting to spend the money on!!

 

[AndyMac]

Audi don't make any of the aircon parts so buying them from a dealer is just madness. A good aircon specialist will be able to sort it for nearly half the price.

 

[duane]

problem being with me that I love driving the car, love talking about the engine, love to think I can change stuff, but know that I can't!. If I do go and do it on my own I'll probably end up doing more damage!

Same as me mate, J7USS was gonna help me, but it would of been more him than me . I got mine done for £299 all in with re-gas at a specialist.. I'm going to attempt to do more things myself though ....Like J7USS said it saves alot of money, that can be spent on other things....

 

[sage33e]

Try this out....phoned up an air con company with the Audi part numbers, condenser dryer, seals etc., comes to a grand total of £138.50 inc VAT!!! Checking out a4mods it seems that front bumper removal looks ok, as does removing the condenser, so I'm gonna give it a go.

Even spending a little on a new hex/torx set I'll have saved myself a small fortune. Only real expense after fitting is a re-gas, but it just goes to show how extortionate the dealers actually are!

I'll keep you posted on the replacement....watch this space.

 

[J7USS]

Good man Sage, See, just goes to show eh!
Front bumper is **** easy to take off, with a new tool set you cant go wrong!
So all in all, the repair will cost you under £200 with the Re-gas = Result
Take some step by step pics if you can, that'll be you Own How to!!!