Faulty air con

[magic sponge]

Hi everyone,

I wonder if anyone can give any remedies to fix my non working air con.

The car is an E36 evo, unfortunately I didnt fix the heater unit immediately (i left it working intermittently for 6 mths).

The heater is now fixed though air con doesnt kick in.

Checked fuses they are fine.

With engine running and turning the heater on & off there is no change in engine revs and you cant hear the air con engage.

Many thanks in advance & for previous advice which has helped me fix the car.

Regards

Chris

[mmm-five]

Could be a wiring problem or a seized AC clutch - it could be worse, I ended up replacing everything (evaporator, condensor, pump, microfilter) within about 2 months of each other.

[squeezebm]

Get the gas level checked,might not be cutting in because the Lp switch is out.(total loss of refrigerant)

[magic sponge]

Thanks for your replies, do you know the cost implications if I have to replace the whole shabang?

cheers

Chris

[M5Dave]

On the E36 the condenser is prone to failure, which allows the gas to leak out. When I had mine it had to be replaced twice in four years (fortunately under warranty) and I was told that wasn't uncommon. I think you can pick them up for reasonable money on Ebay.

[Mr_Sukebe]

My E46 has an AC issue.
Diagnosed as a condensor. Euro car parts sell replacements for £110 inc VAT, so not horribly expensive.

I'd suggest you find a decent AC specialist, as they will be the best group to diagnose if you have a leak, and will be required to re-gas the unit if that's what's needed.

[M3John]

Mr_Sukebe said:

My E46 has an AC issue.
Diagnosed as a condensor. Euro car parts sell replacements for £110 inc VAT, so not horribly expensive.

I'd suggest you find a decent AC specialist, as they will be the best group to diagnose if you have a leak, and will be required to re-gas the unit if that's what's needed.

Yes they do but so i've been told (awaits barrage of abuse ), their warentee isn't half as long as BMW's and they will only warent the part supplied not the work of fitting the thing.

Have just had the air con sorted in my e36 M3 and replaced the condensor at just north of £300 BUT with a 2 year warentee and BMW cover the work of fitting the thing ! ..............or so i've been told

[M5GT]

we do ac ourself in my workshop the most common cause of non functioning ac is simply refrigerent loss, thats definatly the first step and yes e36 does have a condenser fault but thats simple enough also. whoever does the ac ask them to put in a flouro dye to save hassle in the future and aloww any further leaks to be spotted without the need to regass every time!

[squeezebm]

M5GT said:

we do ac ourself in my workshop the most common cause of non functioning ac is simply refrigerent loss, thats definatly the first step and yes e36 does have a condenser fault but thats simple enough also. whoever does the ac ask them to put in a flouro dye to save hassle in the future and aloww any further leaks to be spotted without the need to regass every time!

Hope your boys have got their C&G 2078 Safe Handling Certificate.