Air conditioning

[sasha320]

Last week my air con packed up.

Went to Kwik Fit to get a re-gas with no improvement.

Kwik Fit left the air con gas brimmed.

With the temp turned to Lo, when I press the AC button, there is no change in the revs and the air doesn’t change temperature.

Booked the car in with Audi (as I have an extendee Audi warranty) and they’ve just rang to tell me the front bumper needs to come off etc. for diagnosis. Should the investigation show that say, a stone flipped up from under the car and damaged an air con component then the warranty wouldn’t cover it.

Obviously I understand the logic of this ‘caveat’ and should it transpire that indeed some form of ‘user error’ caused the problem then it is what it is. Nor would I support any spurious logic e.g., the design of the car is to blame for even allowing e.g., a stone to flip up and damage a component.

My question is

How vulnerably positioned are the air conditioning components? The engine bay looks pretty packed to me and sits behind a bumper and over a plastic under tray.

I guess I’m looking to understand how likely (on the balance of logic and common sense) is it for a component failure to have potentially happen in this way.

Obviously the evidence should prove it one way or another but there is a part of me that would hope Audi would honour even a stone flying into the engine bay - unless the component was particularly exposed or vulnerable which they couldn’t or didn’t design around.

If the unthinkable was to happen should I even be entertaining a stone entering the engine bay as my fault? I figure some might argue there’s a design consideration there.

Putting the bumper back on and realigning the electrics is £1050.

[sasha320]

Panic over; faulty high pressure sensor all ready to be fixed under warranty.

Assuming that the cost of replacing the sensor without a warranty was c£50 and the cost of fitting is £1050, then that’s about 80% of what I have paid extending the warranty to date.

I don't expect to ‘win’ against a warranty anymore than I expect to beat the house at Blackjack; but it does make you feel a little better if you claw back a material proportion of the premium.

Oh, the other ‘urgent’ item was corroded discs that passed a recent MOT and 80% worn pads. Funnily enough I didn’t take up the offer of urgent replacement…

[chunky79]

You say kwick fit left the air con gas brimmed? There's a set weight of gas that has to go in, no more, no less!!
Ask Audi to drain it and refill it to the correct amount.
Kwick fit shouldn't be left alone to replace tyres, let alone air con.

[sasha320]

You make a fair point; what I meant to say was they left 460x out of the capacity of 550x (as per the under bonnet Sticker).

I wonder whether Audi have to re-gas the whole system having replaced this part?

[morski]

The sensor is easily accessible by simply removing the top closing panel between the bumper and front panel. The sensor can be removed and replaced without the need to degass and refill so maybe Audi have not checked if the gas quantity is correct. Check your invoice if they mentioned it on there or go back to kwikfit for a check. The hardest thing the kwikfit monkeys need to do is attach the high & low pressure lines in the engine bay

[Golfather]

The sensor is easily accessible by simply removing the top closing panel between the bumper and front panel. The sensor can be removed and replaced without the need to degass and refill so maybe Audi have not checked if the gas quantity is correct. Check your invoice if they mentioned it on there or go back to kwikfit for a check. The hardest thing the kwikfit monkeys need to do is attach the high & low pressure lines in the engine bay

High pressure sensor on the RS6/RS7 models is not as easily accessible like the normal A6/A7 models.
Requires bumper off.
And with radar cruise, will require realignment everytime bumper is off (unless battery is disconnected before removal in which case you can get away with reinstalling as it is)

[sasha320]

Thanks - will find out the status of the gas.

If replacing the sensor doesn’t require a re-gas then I’m pretty sure Audi won’t re-gas the system. I might be pleasantly surprised.

Bumper off sounds like a pain in the proverbial.