Re: Air Con- Evaporators

[firkins@eis.net.au]

>Is your evaporator repairable?
>are you certain it's not a hose,connector, or
>o-ring that is bad?  I'd do a leak detector test to nail it down first.
>Seems to me, any welder with a tig machine and
>operator should be able to repair an evap.
>Just some things for you to thing about.

I really wish it were repairable. The problem is that the leak is not a
gaping hole that one can easily find & repair. It is more the kind that the
leak detector registers freon around the evap core but its still holding
its charge. More a perforation than a hole.

I've been told by no less than four a/c guys "Oh its an Audi, you need a
new evaporator. That air con is the worst on the market" The general
opinion is that the layout is fundamentally bad (ie the suck through evap)
& is combined with poor quality but ludicously expensive parts.

Harrison  (div of GM- thanks Frank) apparently sells the cores to Audi for
aprox $100. By the time it gets to Germany then out to Oz this somehow
becomes $3600.  (The compressor is a relative bargain @ $3300!)I've been
told that there is noway of getting them direct from Harrison & used ones
arent worth bothering with coz once exposed to air they are quite likely
well down the road to self destruct.

I cant believe that they really expect me to pay over $7k to get the air
con working again. Even after 7k its still gunna be a crappy system. The
cars I give my reps to drive cost about a 1/4 of this car, but their air
cons easily outperform any Audi I've ever driven including the A8.

 I wonder what they'd give me for the V8 as a trade on a new Corolla? Not
much of a car, but you get free air at the moment. In case you cant tell
its hot down here, & will stay hot for the next 4 months.

Thanks to all who've offered to help.

Cheers

John Firkins