A/C Fix You May NOt Need A New Compressor

josh8loop · May 16, 2011

cheapsk8 said:
Hey Josh,

Would you email me those photos too?
I think I am having this problem too.

Thanks

Probably be later this afternoon/night before I can send them. I really wish someone would post them in this Thread for me for all to see(I'm having issues posting them)

jaredaggie · May 19, 2011

See if this works,

http://pics.tdiclub.com/data/503/Document1.pdf

I am not sure I posted them in the right area, but I thought jetta pics was most appropriate.

I converted the images in order of assembly to pdf, with the two bearing types being the last image.

If it helps anyone, I found a free program called PrimoPDF that prints any document to PDF. So I put these images Josh sent me into word, and then printed them as a PDF document. Works like a charm.

Jared

josh8loop · May 20, 2011

jaredaggie said:
See if this works,

http://pics.tdiclub.com/data/503/Document1.pdf

I am not sure I posted them in the right area, but I thought jetta pics was most appropriate.

I converted the images in order of assembly to pdf, with the two bearing types being the last image.

If it helps anyone, I found a free program called PrimoPDF that prints any document to PDF. So I put these images Josh sent me into word, and then printed them as a PDF document. Works like a charm.

Jared

Jared,

Nice work-thanks for doing that!

jaredaggie · May 21, 2011

No prob. Thanks for emailing me those pics and the advice. Also thanks for the original post on how to replace the valve, it saved my Sanden compressor. Had my system machine flushed out really well yesterday and recharged, and even at idle she is blowing 35-36 degree air just like it used to.

I wanted to fix the leak where the air comes out of all vents, but its just not worth pulling the dash, etc for a car with over 200K miles.

josh8loop · May 21, 2011

jaredaggie said:
No prob. Thanks for emailing me those pics and the advice. Also thanks for the original post on how to replace the valve, it saved my Sanden compressor. Had my system machine flushed out really well yesterday and recharged, and even at idle she is blowing 35-36 degree air just like it used to.

I wanted to fix the leak where the air comes out of all vents, but its just not worth pulling the dash, etc for a car with over 200K miles.

Hey.... That's GREAT news! Nice work

Maybe others will find those photos in that link you created helpful too. I love it when a plan comes together.

josh8loop · May 22, 2011

A big thanks to TampaFlorida2000dsl for the original idea/ original post for the control valve replacement idea, info, and where to get the parts. I certainly don't want to take credit for it. I'm just a benefactor of his work too.

hevster1 · May 22, 2011

Are you guys replacing the receiver/drier after having the system open to repair/replace the compressor? If not you should be. Anything more than 15-20 minutes and the dessicant is toast. Also as a general rule of thumb, you should evacuate the system for AT LEAST 1 hour and preferably several hours to get rid of any moisture in the system.

josh8loop · May 22, 2011

hevster1 said:
Are you guys replacing the receiver/drier after having the system open to repair/replace the compressor? If not you should be. Anything more than 15-20 minutes and the dessicant is toast. Also as a general rule of thumb, you should evacuate the system for AT LEAST 1 hour and preferably several hours to get rid of any moisture in the system.

I did- wouldn't ever open the system without doing that, especially with cars that are older since the dryer is probably shot anyhow. I would hope that dryer replacement when doing this type of invasive work would be common knowledge-perhaps not. Thanks for the reminder Hevster

jaredaggie · May 23, 2011

Same here, I had it the condensor and evap flushed, replaced dryer, TXV, had them pull a vacuum for an hour, and then refill. Working great. Couldn't be happier. Hevster,thanks for the help on this as well. I read quite a few of your a/c posts.

tuscTDI · May 24, 2011

Before you guys did the fix, did it seem like the compressor put less load on the engine when the clutch engages compared to when it was functioning properly?

josh8loop · May 31, 2011

tuscTDI said:
Before you guys did the fix, did it seem like the compressor put less load on the engine when the clutch engages compared to when it was functioning properly?

Couldn't say for sure, but I can follow that logic.

chromeBuddha · Jul 21, 2011

Just wanted to thank OP for the insight and details and others for pics. I had this same problem and ordered parts from PolarBear Inc. I did mine with compressor in car (not recommended for cleanliness reasons and alignment of valve plates, etc.) and was back up and running in a couple hours. A/C is easily keeping up with our 100+ F heat here and on longer trips I have to turn it down to 2 or even 1 on the fan speed.

Anyway, I have driven about 5K miles with it and am loving the cold air.

Great to save $700 and get fantastic results.

If anyone in the DFW area is having trouble with their Sanden SD7V16, I would be happy to lend a hand.

chromeBuddha · Jul 21, 2011

tuscTDI said:
Before you guys did the fix, did it seem like the compressor put less load on the engine when the clutch engages compared to when it was functioning properly?

I would say that was definitely the case. When the A/C was/is functioning, you feel/hear a dip in RPM when the A/C switch is turned on. With the control valve not actuating the wobble plate properly (or not allowing flow to actuate it...not sure exactly) there didn't seem to be any load on the engine, but the clutch was engaging and the pulley therefore turning (so there should have been a load if it was actually compressing).

josh8loop · Jul 21, 2011

chromeBuddha said:
Just wanted to thank OP for the insight and details and others for pics. I had this same problem and ordered parts from PolarBear Inc. I did mine with compressor in car (not recommended for cleanliness reasons and alignment of valve plates, etc.) and was back up and running in a couple hours. A/C is easily keeping up with our 100+ F heat here and on longer trips I have to turn it down to 2 or even 1 on the fan speed.

Anyway, I have driven about 5K miles with it and am loving the cold air.

Great to save $700 and get fantastic results.

If anyone in the DFW area is having trouble with their Sanden SD7V16, I would be happy to lend a hand.

Curious to see if you did the compressor valve plate gaskets too? I ended up doing about everything I could in mine except for a new valve plate. I even cleaned the orifice tube, and replaced the shaft seal!

..

chromeBuddha · Jul 21, 2011

This is what I ordered from polarbearinc:

Items Ordered
-----------------
GA 4567KT (#GA 4567): 1
Item Total: $17.63

RD 10018 (#RD 10018): 1
Item Total: $23.12

EX 10067 (#EX 10067C): 1
Item Total: $19.58

RO 0900B (#RO 0900B): 1
Item Total: $6.75

====================

These are the only parts I installed.

josh8loop · Jul 21, 2011

chromeBuddha said:
This is what I ordered from polarbearinc:

Items Ordered
-----------------
GA 4567KT (#GA 4567): 1
Item Total: $17.63

RD 10018 (#RD 10018): 1
Item Total: $23.12

EX 10067 (#EX 10067C): 1
Item Total: $19.58

RO 0900B (#RO 0900B): 1
Item Total: $6.75

====================

These are the only parts I installed.

OK, thats basically what I replaced on my compressor except I did the shaft seal too(they recommended it). Like I mentioned I also removed and cleaned the orifice tube(which was perfectly clean already) Good job!

..

DanG144 · Jul 21, 2011

josh8loop said:
OK, thats basically what I replaced on my compressor except I did the shaft seal too(they recommended it). Like I mentioned I also removed and cleaned the orifice tube(which was perfectly clean already) Good job!

..

Where is the orifice tube? It seems as if you are talking about one in the compressor. I was not aware of one, and have had a Sanden compressor completely apart.
We use a TXV to meter the coolant to the evaporator, not an orifice tube.

josh8loop · Jul 21, 2011

DanG144 said:
Where is the orifice tube? It seems as if you are talking about one in the compressor. I was not aware of one, and have had a Sanden compressor completely apart.
We use a TXV to meter the coolant to the evaporator, not an orifice tube.

It's not all that easy to spot on the compressor. Let me see if I can refresh my memory......

Ah yes....take a look here:

http://pics.tdiclub.com/data/503/Document1.pdf

On the first photo just to the right of my fat fingers and the control valve is a little yellowish colored thing recesed a little bit in the casing. I ended up taking it out-it has a small "O" ring on it, an orifice, and a screen mesh around it. Looks like it is constructed out of Nylon. I removed mine, cleaned it and replaced the "O" ring. The end piece came off mine while extracting it, and I just used a soldering iron on moderate heat to "heatstake"/fuse it back on once it was cleaned out.

DanG144 · Jul 21, 2011

Thanks for taking the time to educate me. I was not sure what you were talking about.

josh8loop · Jul 21, 2011

DanG144 said:
Thanks for taking the time to educate me. I was not sure what you were talking about.

I could be calling the wrong thing however. Honestly if I hadnt done some exploratory surgery in there, I wouldn't have known it was there either! Sure wish I had gotten a photo of it! Let me know if it's called something else, and if you know what it does maybe you could enlighten me there too

DanG144 · Jul 21, 2011

Nah, I am just a tinkerer. I did not know what it was called. "Orifice" in most system applications implies metered or closely controlled flow rate through an opening that is sized by calculation for a reason.

I think that is just the high pressure fluid sent to the RCV to operate the wobble plate piston. Is that what you think it is?

josh8loop · Jul 22, 2011

DanG144 said:
Nah, I am just a tinkerer. I did not know what it was called. "Orifice" in most system applications implies metered or closely controlled flow rate through an opening that is sized by calculation for a reason.

I think that is just the high pressure fluid sent to the RCV to operate the wobble plate piston. Is that what you think it is?

I'm just a "Tinkerer" also. Perhaps professional tinkerer!

I just had a look at Polar Bears website to compare it to the actual orifice tubes on the site, and they are similar but not the same. I don't think what I saw in my compressor is called and orifice tube. I couldn't help getting in there to see what it was and cleaning mine though! I also like your explanation on what it does-seems plausible.

DanG144 · Sep 19, 2011

03PlatinumTDI and I replaced his clutch coil (used part) and his RCV yesterday. This seemed to work fine. It was maintaining 42 F, even on cabin fan speed 4, with good pressures after we worked on it.

We re-used gaskets as well. Let's hope it will maintain its charge.

ninedee_golf_tdi · Sep 19, 2011

That piece is called the pressure control valve. It modulates refrigerant flow through the compressor as required. It is the reason the sd7v16 series (and others) do not cycle the clutch on and off.

DanG144 · Sep 19, 2011

RCV = refrigerant control valve is indeed a pressure control valve; it varies the compressor displacement to control the suction pressure.

josh8loop · Dec 31, 2011

Just wanted to update you all on my AC compressor rebuild that I performed a couple years ago. It entailed cleaning and replacing all gaskets inside the compressor, the RCV(refridgerant control valve), and replacing the shaft seal. It had been working perfectly for the past couple years or so after the rebuild in hot Florida weather. Recently while on a trip down south I had some funky vibration and I noticed it stopped when the AC was turned off. My first though was to remove the TB inspection cover and verify all looked good in there since I recently did a TB job. I also inspected the serp belt to make sure no damage had been done to it from a pulley dragging. After I verified no TB issues, I figured It would hold until the next oil change when I could get the car on stands. Today I was with the family and I had lots of vibration and decided to discontinue use of the AC system until further diagnosis could be performed. I noticed AC compressor oil coming from the bottom of the compressor, and it looked like it was just starting to be slung a bit on coolant lines.

I would guess that the compressor bearings went bad and caused the shaft seal to fail. I would say that it was not due to the previous service that had been done on the compressor so that's good. Looks like I'm in for a compressor replacement/dryer replacement, and a full system inspection to make sure no foreign material traveled through the system. FYI

..

lucasaltic · Jun 23, 2012

This is a great thread. Thanks Tmpa and other contributors for the info. It would be great if this were in tutorial form which I may put together when I attempt it. I have very little experience with doing A/C work, but I do intend to try this repair (hey, you have to start somewhere, right?). Before I begin, I want to get some advice from the A/C veterans out there. My A/C started blowing warm and when I started researching/troubleshooting I found that both of my radiator fans were totally dead. Neither one was functioning. I knew the small fan was bad and out of laziness I had allowed it to languish for YEARS at the advice of a VW Dealer mechanic who said as long as the large fan didn't fail, there would be no problem. Had I known then what I know now, I would have RUN home and bought the fan when I heard that advice. In any case, I may have paid the price.

Both fans have been replaced and are working (two fans running at low speed when A/C button pressed in at max cool setting). I observed the compressor and pulley. Clutch engages when A/C is on and compressor turns. When A/C is off, the pulley rotates but compressor is not engaged. I get about 20 psi pressure differential between the high and low pressure ports on the A/C loop when A/C is on. Static pressure is about 110 psi at 95 F ambient.

After all of that, my question is: given that possible failure mode (compressor running hot and cycling because of multiple fan failures), is it likely that this solution (replacing the control valve) will work for me or is it more likely that the compressor itself is toast?

I appreciate any advice that you guys might have. If I can learn enough about this to attempt this repair myself, I will write it up in tutorial form and post for others to benefit.

Luc

josh8loop · Jun 24, 2012

lucasaltic said:
This is a great thread. Thanks Tmpa and other contributors for the info. It would be great if this were in tutorial form which I may put together when I attempt it. I have very little experience with doing A/C work, but I do intend to try this repair (hey, you have to start somewhere, right?). Before I begin, I want to get some advice from the A/C veterans out there. My A/C started blowing warm and when I started researching/troubleshooting I found that both of my radiator fans were totally dead. Neither one was functioning. I knew the small fan was bad and out of laziness I had allowed it to languish for YEARS at the advice of a VW Dealer mechanic who said as long as the large fan didn't fail, there would be no problem. Had I known then what I know now, I would have RUN home and bought the fan when I heard that advice. In any case, I may have paid the price.

Both fans have been replaced and are working (two fans running at low speed when A/C button pressed in at max cool setting). I observed the compressor and pulley. Clutch engages when A/C is on and compressor turns. When A/C is off, the pulley rotates but compressor is not engaged. I get about 20 psi pressure differential between the high and low pressure ports on the A/C loop when A/C is on. Static pressure is about 110 psi at 95 F ambient.

After all of that, my question is: given that possible failure mode (compressor running hot and cycling because of multiple fan failures), is it likely that this solution (replacing the control valve) will work for me or is it more likely that the compressor itself is toast?

I appreciate any advice that you guys might have. If I can learn enough about this to attempt this repair myself, I will write it up in tutorial form and post for others to benefit.

Luc

Have the system evacuated properly, and then remove the compressor lines. As long as you don't see any metal debris or sludge than I would venture to say the control valve fix may just work for you. You will need a compressor gasket kit, control valve, European AC "O" ring kit, and perhaps a accumulator/dryer and expansion valve. Check the compressor shaft seal area for leakage- if you see any, you may want to get a replacement shaft seal. There were two different iterations of the shaft seal on the SD7V16 compressor, so be sure you get the right one.

lucasaltic · Jun 25, 2012

Thanks josh8loop. That's a big help. I'll probably have the system evacuated this weekend. That should be free, right, because I'm "giving" them the refrigerant?

Anyone know of any good A/C forums or other resources I should be looking at before attempting this? I've never done anything with A/C systems so anything to give me a launching point would be most helpful. I think I've pretty much exhausted the rather sparse literature on the tdiclub forums...

josh8loop · Jun 26, 2012

lucasaltic said:
Thanks josh8loop. That's a big help. I'll probably have the system evacuated this weekend. That should be free, right, because I'm "giving" them the refrigerant?

Anyone know of any good A/C forums or other resources I should be looking at before attempting this? I've never done anything with A/C systems so anything to give me a launching point would be most helpful. I think I've pretty much exhausted the rather sparse literature on the tdiclub forums...

So it sounds like you will be investigating whether or not there is debris in the system before you order the parts? That's a good plan if so. The folks at Polar Bear are great to work with, and their parts quality was good on what I ordered. I can email you some photos of the inside of the compressor and that should help you quite a bit if you would like.

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