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Thread: HELP! AC Unit

  1. #1
    Join Date
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    HELP! AC Unit

    Hey Everybody,

    I am wondering if anyone has an idea of what may be going on. I will try to be concise. I have a 2009 BMW 328XI with 90k miles. Basically, in hot weather my AC, specifically the entire driver side blows hot air. If I run the AC for about 10-15 minutes then it will start to blow semi cold air but nothing freezing or crisp. The passenger side takes maybe a minute and blows decently cold air consistently. I would say anything about 77 degrees this would occur. If anything below, the entire car blows nice bone chilling air, which is unnecessary since it’s great weather. My mechanic will not take a look since he said it will be a waste of money for me since he suspects it has something to do with a condenser (I forgot exactly what he said). So he said if it is that, he can’t help me out and to go to BMW to get it fixed. So he said to get it checked there anyway. He said it could cost somewhere around $1800 just because it’s to do with the AC unit and extensive labor. Any ideas? I know people will say go get it checked but I was wondering if anyone had ideas or similar experiences (if so, what was the fix).

    Side silly question: Does it have anything to do with the coolant?

    Thanks all!!

  2. #2
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    Step 1 is to take the car to a good BMW shop or A/C shop, and have them evacuate the refrigerant (R134a) which is in the car, and then refill it with exactly the correct amount, as well as an ounce of dye. It would be best if you take it to a good BMW shop, either an independent or a dealer, so that they can hook the car to a BMW diagnostic computer / scan tool, and see what codes might be in the A/C computer.

    Is there some reason you asked about the coolant?

    Chris Powell
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    Master Auto Tech, owner of German Motors of Aberdeen
    BMWCCA 274412
    German Motors is hiring ! https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...1#post30831471

  3. #3
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    Chris, does the compressor oil need to be replaced?

    OP, your system is low on R134a. Did the improper operation happen suddenly it over time?

  4. #4
    dworthy's Avatar
    dworthy is offline Wagon meister :) BMW Tech Expert
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    Quote Originally Posted by MarcoZandrini View Post
    Chris, does the compressor oil need to be replaced?

    OP, your system is low on R134a. Did the improper operation happen suddenly it over time?
    +2

    Marc, normally no, as it floats around with the R-134a. When the system get evacuated, it pulls out most of the oil, and when refilling the machine will add in the amount you tell it to.

    Now if you are retrofitting an older car that has R-12, well we are talking about a whole new ball game.
    Darin
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  5. #5
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    Is the suction line (firewall to compressor) cold with the ac on? It should be very cool and covered in condensation on a humid day. If not it's low on refrigerant. Due to the way air and refrigerant flow through the system it is fairly common for cars with dual zone hvac to only cool on one side when the charge is low. You probably have a small leak somewhere. Make sure that you have dye added to the system when you get it evacuated and recharged.

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk

  6. #6
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    If problem is not fixed by charging it could be a heater valve, blend door or temp sensor issue. Get fault codes from the system.

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk

  7. #7
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    Be advised that there's a temperature sensor in the evaporator. The climate control uses this sensor's data to determine if the evaporator is starting to freeze up. When it does sense that the evaporator is starting to freeze up the climate control let's hot coolant flow into the heater core. The air flows through the heater core and then through the evaporator.

  8. #8
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    Have it serviced first, then recheck. If The pressures are off because the charge is low the system will not function correctly

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