Hi there
1st post so please be nice . I have a couple of questions to ask about the air con system on TDi octavias. Firstly, I have been informed that the air con pump on my car is failing by my dad (cars at home, Im at uni) who has just got the car back from a service (major service, chrimbo rocks). Basically, the garage is telling him that I need a new pump as the bearings are going or that AND the power steering pump may both fail at the same time and he wants to charge me £800 for replacing the air con pump and belt (probably more if I let it do what he claims its gonna do). Now firstly, I know that if the air con pump fails it wont damage the power steering pump but that yeah, it probably will render the power steering useless if the belt goes at the same time. However, I have spent a few hours doing some looking around for info and worked out that, from an Im a poor student and want to do this as cheep as possible point of view, my best course of action is to bypass the air con pump altogether and fit the belt from a car that didnt come with air con.
However, looking on a russian site posted on here that has service manuals on it, I cant see how these belts would run due to the position of the power steering pump and the idlers (and I cant see the engine because its in dumfries and Im in preston). So, my questions are, is it possible to just bypass the air con pump by replacing the belt, or is it more involved than this, i.e by moving the power steering pump? Are any other parts needed to do this if its possible apart from a new belt? Did they even sell a non air con model over here?
I will be doing the work myself either way, even if I have to swap the air con pump for a second hand one but I want to save as much cash as possible when I get around to the job and have never seen the point of an air con system that I never use anyway.
Any help greatfully received .
Cheers
Mike
