DRC Quick connect fittings - Home made tooling

[ATinOf]

OK so its time to change a DRC shock on my RS6, so given prices and locality of DRC facilities to me I'm considering knocking up a home made kit for this; does anyone know what type of quick connect fittings the combined bleed/fill points are at the shocks?

I've seen the DRC home made tool post (viewtopic.php?t=107042) but it doesn't detail this.

Also My version of ELSAWin only gives me the standard shock procedure for some reason, not the DLC equivalent, so if anyone has this and feels like sharing that'd be great.

I know that the system has to be vacuum bled to something like -0.9 bar, refilled to 22 bar and then set at 16bar (if the figures I've seen elsewhere are accurate); and besides releasing the pressure initially to do the job it looks straight forward in itself. Its these details and the obvious question of how much fluid does the system take I need beforehand.

Thanks in advance

[Doug_RS6]

Looked into this. I can't remember the details but I'm sure someone told me that the fittings are prohibitively expensive if you can get them. They are a proprietary design belonging to Audi.

[Jim Haseltine]

According to a post in the RS4 forum, the connectors are made in Germany by Leitenberger and back in 2014 or so they were around 150 euros a time.

[ATinOf]

Self sealing quick disconnects wont be cheap, but they are low pressure (at 50/60 bar or so i'm guessing). Of course the cost is relative, given I already have a vac pump and manifold set from the A/C kit, all I need is a hydraulic pump and a couple of long leads with these quick connects on them and a couple of 5 quid fittings. A single acting pump can be picked up with a 2 litre tank at 80 quid or so. Stealers labour versus pump and hose connects...

Thanks for the lead Jim I will follow it up, interestingly a search against VAS 6209 comes back with a link to a DNP catalog, who also manufacture self sealing quick disconnects, but that could just be a google red herring, after all it doesnt identify fitting type in said catalog

[ATinOf]

I've also found you can get the spares for the DRC fill kit, so one option is to buy the 2 hoses with connects on and butcher the other end to suit (pardon the polish, couldnt find an English version), but I can already feel the pound signs singing for that option ....

Page 14 of the attached;
http://www.qstools.pl/pliki_strona/kata ... 018_04.pdf

[Jim Haseltine]

There are also suggestions on other forums that the DRC fittings can be replaced with more universal versions but I suspect there wouldn't be a lost of difference to the total costs.

[ATinOf]

Changing the fittings you would need to do all 4 obviously, on checking you can get low pressure self sealing couplings for less than 20 quid each, so with 2 mating couplers for 2 hoses you'd be up to 120 quid-ish. Its an option, but that makes it non standard for the chap that has the car after me in the future, if i'm the kind of person that worries about that....

The other issue to contend with is identifying the thread for the fitting, which means committing to breaching the system and immobilising the car entirely on the hope its a standard thread type, unless someone knows? Or I could obtain a sacrificial fitting off the stealer for ID purposes ...... - anyone got a part number?

Hmmm, Ive asked Unit20 for a quote.....

[ATinOf]

OK the fitting comes as part of the hose assembly, 4F0616716B in the case of right rear. Anyone got any old DRC hoses they dont want?

[snocrash]

Hi @ATinOf, did you make any progress with sourcing connectors?

OK the fitting comes as part of the hose assembly, 4F0616716B in the case of right rear. Anyone got any old DRC hoses they dont want?

[French]

Hi @ATinOf, did you make any progress with sourcing connectors?

OK the fitting comes as part of the hose assembly, 4F0616716B in the case of right rear. Anyone got any old DRC hoses they dont want?

bump

[ATinOf]

Sorry guys but no I had no joy sourcing connectors and didnt take the plunge of fitting non standard one, so no diy attempt on this system in my case

[zex]

I've also found you can get the spares for the DRC fill kit, so one option is to buy the 2 hoses with connects on and butcher the other end to suit (pardon the polish, couldnt find an English version), but I can already feel the pound signs singing for that option ....

Page 14 of the attached;
http://www.qstools.pl/pliki_strona/kata ... 018_04.pdf

This guy is still selling spare parts for DRC charger VAS6544 (asked for a quote few days ago).
Hose set ET530 is 495EUR
Nipple set ET531 is 35 EUR

The rest is easy to source locally.

Anyone has official refilling service procedure? The guy in https://youtu.be/NXcuWuTyVxk?si=Nx09tWFbut8jx38j video for RS4 is recharging one side at the time. Shouldn't this be done diagonally as that's the way shocks are interconnected?

[Jim Haseltine]

Don't know about the RS4 but it's certainly wrong for the RS6.

[zex]

Here is the procedure that I found.
It's interesting that at the end it says that the (final) pressure needs to be 20bar and to ignore 16bar mark on the gauge (if it exists).
DRC setting needs to be in Comfort.

In my case it turned out that the mechanic who was doing the shock replacement last time, replaced also the special Audi fittings for AC type (refrigerant) fittings which can be sourced easily anywhere.