Re: Direct Freon replacement?

[Brendan <bman@swva.net>]

At 11:22 AM 5/14/97 -0700, you wrote:
>On May 14, 12:43pm, Brendan wrote:
>> Subject: Re: Direct Freon replacement?
>
>	I'm in exactly the same situation: the compressor on my
>	'85 5KT is toast, and I'm wondering what to do. Who
>	sells this retrofit kit?  More details would be appreciated!

So far I've only talked to my local Audi dealer (I live in VA, btw) about
my A/C.  He quoted me a price of $85 for the retrofit kit, plus labor @
$50/hr *cough* plus $17/lb for the new refrigerant.  So, for a best-case
senario, I'd be looking at roughly $140 total parts plus labor.

It was pointed out to me that, if my A/C was still cooling some, even if
not very well, it was probably pretty clean (free of air and contaminants),
and if it wasn't cooling at all, it probably needed to be flushed anywhere
from 1-3 times to clean it out properly.  Of course, (from my limited
understanding, anyway) flushing it requires more labor and refrigerant, and
at $50/lb for the old type, that can add up -fast-.

I'll see if I can find out what company makes the kits from my dealer, but
I'm not sure how forthcoming they'll want to be with that info.

Also, said dealer has quoted me $350 for a new compressor (aftermarket,
with clutch bearing).  If any of you know a good source for a reliable, yet
reasonably priced compressor and bearing, I'd be overjoyed!  I bought the
car for $2000 in February of this year, and hate the thought of spending
upwards of $700 just to stay cool driving it. ;)

B