johnlp

Hi All,

Shortly after starting my car, I hear a loud pop and my air conditioning stopped blowing cool a moment after that. The econ light is on and will not blow cool.

I took it in (not to the dealer) to find the leak and they said that the hose connecting the refrigerant and the compressor needs to be replaced - at a cast of $2k.

This seems crazy to me. They are quoting 6 hours of labor, claiming the compressor needs to come out to do the job, and that the hose is around $700.

Can anyone advise if this is accurate, and what the part is that I would need? Thanks!

08 S4 6sp, 65k miles

billspud

If its just a hose then the compressor does not need to come out but the front of the car will need to be moved into the service position to access the connection on the compressor. Usually the compressor fails on these cars so I would be suspicious of this. If the compressor is bad then the front of the car has to come off and the left side engine mount and bracket have to be removed to get to the compressor bolts and drive coupling.
No idea how much the hose is you can look it up on ecstuning.com. There are 2 hoses connecting to the compressor, one from the drier and one to the condenser. You will also have to replace the drier and orifice tube + misc o-rings and flush and recharge the system. I replaced my compressor on an 04 this spring and it is quite a bit of work.