I honestly dont know. I just texted him to see, hopefully he comes back with an answer shortly. I do remember him telling me the part was about 170 bucks i think. The way he explained it to me was like he referred to it being similar to the thermostat of the engine. He basically said picture this as a thermostat getting stuck and no ac is getting through like it would for the engine. English is a second language for him btw.
Jimmy the part number is 8K0820679B. Europa parts has one right now for 60 bucks. If what i described sounds right to you let me know asap because i wanna order it for that price.
I’m not sure if it’s technically an orifice tube or an expansion valve. I’ve seen those terms used interchangeably but technically they are 2 different things, they perform the same function if I understand correctly but some a/c systems use an expansion valve and some use an orifice tube.
when I was sourcing parts for my a/c I saw that Audi sold it at an absolutely insane price, something around $200 iirc, but a generic aftermarket one can be had for something like $5 at rockauto
oops, just realized I was mistaken about that part of my post. I wish this forum allowed posts to be edited. The receiver/dryer was the part I was thinking of that was insanely overpriced by audi at around $200, not the orifice tube.
also, my comment about the orifice tube vs expansion valve is apparently only true if you have a B6. At first glance I thought the expansion valve was only for B8 cars but after looking again now I see that it is also listed for the B7 S4
Well 2 yrs later and I have to replace the compressor again. This time I’m deciding to do it myself. I started to get the compressor out today. Broke the shaft loose with no problem, as well as the 2 upper bolts. For the life of me I can’t get to that bottom bolt. How do you get to it?
I got it, I had to unbolt that hard power steering line that was next to it. The bitch part was getting the compressor to rotate out. I did all of that to find out the shaft striped.
Yep and also bought a new compressor and condenser and it might not be needed… smh it is what it is. I ordered a new shaft and I hope thats all I need. Upside if I need to replace the gears I had already been planing to having my timing done in the next few months. I already have 90% of the parts.
The hole the shaft goes in was bone dry and it does have the boot. I got a magnet and got out all the metal flakes, then got a vacuum to get more out. Lubed up the new shaft it did not go in super easy, but I didn’t force it in. After some in and out everything was good. Compressor was not seized and spun as freely as the new one and I could also hear suction and pressure coming out of the ports. I pulled the orifice tube and found 6 small flakes and all screens were clean and clear. I’m 99% did not do a good flush so that did not surprise me. What are the chances that the compressor is still and the problem was the shaft?
Its know the AC pumps have been prone to go bad on the S4. Overall I don’t think its directly the pumps issue. As the 2006-2011 A6 S6 and RS4 have the same AC pump. I think there is just something off in the system as those other cars don’t have the same pump failures we do. So its hard to say but I don’t really think the shaft IMHO had an effect on it.
Take the 6 Allen bolts out of the back of the compressor, pull off the black plate on drive part of the compressor, and look if the center portion inside has split from the part that spins. I recently had an AC compressor failure shortly before an event that went bad on multiple levels. The compressor siezed and the part that spins inside broke off because the engine has to keep turning. The driveshaft for the AC compressor was stuck in the plate so badly that I rounded the 19mm part of the plate trying to loosen it. Ended up getting a new OEM AC compressor (not a Nissens one) and I also had to replace the little driveshaft too in addition to the drier and orifice tube.
It is worth a shot to look. If it is ok then try it and see if the compressor works. Worst case then you get to do it again and everything will be loosened already.
I opened everything up and did not find anything broken. I put the compressor back together and turned it by hand, you could still hear it had compression. I just reinstalled it back with a the new shaft. If it doesn’t work I had already bought a new compressor. If it works I’ll send it back. The bad part is I forgot I bought the last compressor from fcp and this one I just got from ecs because it was cheaper. I hope I don’t take a beating trying to return it and the condenser.
Well to update the compressor was still good. Vacuumed and charged the system up and all is good to go. I thought it might not have been good since it took me forever to get to pull the 1st can. I did overfill it by mistake. The system was supposed to take a can and a half 500g, but it pulled the 2nd can so quick I didn’t have a chance to stop it. Should I be worried about the slight overfill? Now I can have fun returning the parts a did not need.