Is my A/C compressor going or does the system need to be recharged/refilled

[pfeifstudd]

So over the last couple of weeks I have noticed that my passenger side A/C blows a little warmer than the drivers side for about 5minutes after start-up and then they finally seem to blow the same temp.

Then I started to notice that the whole system(driver and passenger side) both seem to get cold then will periodically blow warm and then go back to cold.

Are these signs of a compressor about to go or is there something else I can try to refill or trouble shoot to avoid that costly repair.

Thanks in advance for any input.

[rlee6462]

A/C compressor for sure. I had mine replace at around 65k. Same problem.

[pfeifstudd]

So nothing I can do maintenance wise to prevent it. Just have to wait til it fails?

[LJH]

63K here and I just had mine replaced, while I am mechanically inclined I know nothing about AC work so brought it to a professional. Freaking expensive repair......It was actually on par with what I spent in 4 years on our B5 S4 not including performance work.

Good Luck with it.

Cheers,
Jim

[joeycuccaro]

I have one for sale off my parts car. Let me know, sure beats paying $700 + for a new one

[road race s4]

My ac compressor went bad without a warning. One day was fine and the next it wasn't. It was covered by the Fidelity warranty I have. And it happened when the car has about 52k miles.

[rlee6462]

Mine did the same thing as road race. It was a $1700 replacement. Thank god for the warranty!

[UnstableOS]

I don't use A/C so I don't even worry about it..

[pfeifstudd]

So while my car was in the shop I had the indy dealer test the A/C system. They said it was full and didnt need to be filled and everything else looked good on it and there were no codes.

So here are the intermittent symptons. Anyone have any ideas.

1)A/C with randomly turn off and then automatically turn right back.
2)It will occasionally put out warm/moist air and then immediately go right back to cold dry air.
3) I notice that the passengar side A/C is warmer than the driver side even though the temperature settings are the same on the dash.

Any ideas or help would be much appreciated. I am actually taking it in to the audi dealership tomorrow for an alignment and I can ask them these questions as well but I would rather have some better opinions from you guys first.

Thanks!