Help/advice please - climate control unit part nos.

[BTB 500]

Hi all

I have a 1996 A4 Avant that has the dreaded climate control issue (display panel & buttons only working when they feel like it).

I've hoiked the unit out to get the part number, and the label says:

5HB 006 500-11
8DO 820 043 H

There are are fair number of visually identical units on eBay, but none match the above exactly. Closest I've seen is:

8D0 820 043 F

from a 1995 car.

There are a number of slightly later ones e.g.

5HB 007 608-04
8L0 820 043 D

and

5HB 007 608-00
8L0 820 043 B

both from 1997 cars.

So the question is ... how 'universal' are these units?

Many thanks in advance for any advice!

Cheers,
Bill

[kite]

8L ones are from A3's

[BTB 500]

Thanks. Would they work in an A4?

[BTB 500]

Most of the ones on eBay seem to be advertised as "A3/A4".

This is an 8L one that's supposedly from a 1999 A4

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...=STRK:MEWAX:IT

[olds_kool]

you need to match the part number to be sure!
8d0/8l0 refers to the chassis of the car they where designed for but there are many parts that are shared between the audi range e.g radio starts 4b0 which means its an a6 part but its fitted to all models, so the 8l one could of come from an a4, if the 3rd digit isnt a 0 its more likely model specific, 8d5 would mean a4 saloon part only 8d9 a4 avant only

just because it looks the same doesnt mean it will work, ive tried swapping a later one into an earlier one and the illumination worked back to front and it wouldnt switch the a/c on

[BTB 500]

That's very helpful, thanks. Must be a fairly slim chance that exactly the right one will come up?

I found this excellent thread with pics on a US forum:

http://www.audiforum.ca/general-d-i-...4-climate.html

I'm ok with a multi-meter and electronic soldering so might take it apart and try re-soldering the joints. I'm assuming a new unit from a dealership is going to be about the same as the car is worth?!

[stevie-g-2.6]

i got one from fleabay..part numbers didnt match..but it tried it anyway..and it all works fine....
was advertised as fitting a3, a4 ,and a6

[BTB 500]

Well I decided to have a go at repairing the unit.

Taking it apart was straightforward, and under close examination I found 3 or 4 cracked solder joints as per picture below.

I resoldered all of them and had it back together in not more than 30 mins.

Back in the car ... the display was now perfect, and all the buttons worked.

BUT the blower (fan) doesn't run at all, in auto or manual mode

So will try a few searches to see if I can dig anything up on that.

[BTB 500]

OK sounds like it could be the blower motor/brushes. Some of the 'how to' threads don't seem to exist any more, but sounds reasonably straightforward through the glovebox.

[neil w]

Definitely sounds like the blower bushes are u/s, someone sells them on E bay for about £12 and its only an hour or so to strip out the motor and sort them .