Name this part!

[LukeyC]

Hey guys, I turned my car on yesterday and after about 3 mins of running on the driveway I noticed smoke coming from under the bonnet. I shut the engine off, opened the bonnet and there was a loud hissing sound coming from somewhere. I managed to pinpoint it to the location circled.

I'm unsure what I need- is this the intercooler, engine rad or something to do with the AC?

Car is the 3.0TDI with tiptronic gearbox.

Bonus points for part number!

 

[NHN]

Looks like your condenser, maybe got a leak, is the coolant level the same or going down, its right on the corner so maybe stone damage, ideally need to turn car on, open bonnet, aircon on, see wheres its leaking form, be careful if its refrigerant leaking, watch your eyes.

 

[LukeyC]

Thanks NHN. It's literally leaking from where I've circled it.

My thought was Air con because it was mainly air coming out, along with a sort of residue - i know the air con gas contains lubricant. I was a bit scared to turn my car back on after all the smoke coming out from the bonnet, but I'll fire it up without the air con on and see what happens.

Is this a relatively easy job to swap out? Obviously I'll need to go and system re-gassed after. If it's a "bumper off" job I may whack on an upgraded intercooler at the same time

 

[NHN]

You'll need to drain the system of refrigerant with a proper machine as its illegal to do without afaik & bad for you & environment, then swap then regas.

 

[rum4mo]

I'd reckon that that car has already dumped its Air Con charge out already, a new condenser usually comes with a new drier and connection seals, only thing I don't know yet is just how much system oil needs to be added into that new condenser!

Edit:- a fully charged fridge system suffering a hole will dump out its charge along with some system oil as a mist and look very much like smoke - until you have worked out what it is. I've seen safety plugs blowing out of large chiller systems and they make quite a bit of noise along with "smoke" until the pressure drops off due to the charge having escaped.

 

[OliNix]

This is the A/C condenser. If you drive it, make sure to turn A/C off as otherwise you will ruin the compressor as well.

Yes it’s a bumper off as well as front crash beam off to replace it.


OliNix
B8.5 S4 Avant - Glacier White

 

[LukeyC]

Thanks for everyone's responses (I didn't get a notification the last two so sorry for delay).

Might anyone have a part number for this please? Car is booked in for a full service on Wednesday so hoping my garage can also get this done if they order the part beforehand.