Removing and installing air conditioner compressor, vehicles with 6-cyl. engine — AUDI
Removing and installing air conditioner compressor, vehicles with 6-cyl. engine on Audi: 10 steps. What to remove, in what order, and what to check after.
Removing and refitting the air conditioner compressor on the A4 B9 (8W) with the six-cylinder engine, in an R134a system. The refrigerant lines are detached at the compressor and the compressor taken off its holder; it will hold an unknown amount of refrigerant oil, so the notes on renewing a compressor apply. On refitting, the lines are reattached with O-rings lightly oiled, and the two dowel sleeves must be the correct length and sitting properly, with clean contact faces, or the compressor ends up misaligned with the belt drive. Before the poly V-belt goes on, the compressor is cranked ten times by its pulley in the direction of rotation. The circuit is then evacuated and charged, started up, and the E87 fault memory read and cleared.
🧭 Before you start
Detach the refrigerant lines and remove the compressor. On refitting, attach lines with lightly oiled O-rings, check dowel sleeve version and position and clean the contact faces, then bolt up and turn the compressor ten times by hand before fitting the belt. Evacuate and charge the circuit, refit the remaining parts, start up the air conditioner and clear faults in E87.
Fits: Audi A4 B9 (8W, 2015–)
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- Dowel sleeves come in different lengths; fit the correct version and seat them properly.
- Clean contact faces on holder and compressor; dirt causes misalignment and belt or compressor damage.
- Crank the compressor 10 times by the pulley before fitting the belt.
- Lightly oil O-rings with refrigerant oil and check the lines sit in their brackets with clearance.
- After charging, start up the system correctly and erase faults in E87.
Written for this job from the workshop steps below · TorqFix editorial.
📋 Procedure
- Detach the refrigerant lines at the air conditioner compressor .
- Detach the air conditioner compressor. [Note: When it is removed, the air conditioner compressor contains an indeterminate amount of refrigerant oil. For this reason it is important to observe the notes on renewing the compressor Air conditioner with refrigerant R134a87General information on air conditioner.]
- Attach refrigerant lines to air conditioner compressor Detaching and attaching refrigerant lines on air conditioner compressor - vehicles with 6-cyl. engine. [Note: Lubricate O-rings lightly with refrigerant oil before fitting Refrigerant circuit seals.]
- Before securing the air conditioner compressor, check the position of both dowel sleeves (A) in the holder or air conditioner compressor (B). [Note: There are different versions of the dowel sleeves (A) (different length). Attention is therefore to be paid to the correct version Electronic parts catalogue.Pay attention to correct positioning of the bushings (A) as well as to clean contact surfaces. Incorrectly fitted bushings or dirty/damaged contact surfaces (C) at the holder or air conditioner compressor could lead to misalignment between the air conditioner compressor and engine. In the course of operation, misalignment may result in poly V-belt or air conditioner compressor damage.]
- Crank the air conditioner compressor 10 times by way of the pulley in the direction of rotation before fitting the poly V-belt (to prevent compressor damage on initial activation). [Note: Cranking prevents damage to the air conditioner compressor, which could be caused by refrigerant oil in the compression chamber on initial start-up of the engine.After attaching the air conditioner compressor and the refrigerant line, check the routing of the refrigerant lines. They must be inserted in the brackets provided (if fitted, depends on engine).Check that refrigerant lines and corresponding brackets have adequate clearance to other components, ensuring sufficient distance between belt, bracket and pulley.]
- Evacuating and charging refrigerant circuit Air conditioner with refrigerant R134a87Refrigerant circuit.
- Re-install remaining components (removed earlier).
- Switch on ignition.
- Start up the air conditioner after charging the refrigerant circuit Starting up air conditioner after charging refrigerant circuit. [Note: Also heed the information on start-up of the air conditioner after charging Air conditioner with refrigerant R134a87General information on air conditioner.]
- Interrogate the event memory of the front air conditioner operating and display unit E87 and erase any faults displayed .
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The story behind TorqFix →Workshop data on this page last updated 20 Sep 2026.