Aircon woes

[Bradford]

My 2005 530d's (e60) aircon has stopped working.
I have just recently refilled with gas and there are no leaks yet the compressor does not "kick in". It did at first, but alas no more.
The idrive is set to it's coldest setting and all aircon knobs are at their coldest setting as well.
There are no error messages relating to the aircon
It seems to be a sensor or electrical issue and I don't know where the fuses/relays are to check, any suggestions?

 

[Sankekur]

It might be a problem with the clutch on the aircon compressor, or the electronics that controls it.

 

[Bradford]

It might be a problem with the clutch on the aircon compressor, or the electronics that controls it.

Yea, that's what I was thinking, but do you know where to look for fuses/relays for the aircon?

 

[Sankekur]

I not to clued up on the stuff for an e60, but the fuse box should probably be somewhere in the back of the cubby hole, with a card that shows you what all the fuses are for.
Also there is a connector on the actual compressor, you might want to see id it is properly connected, or to clean it out if it is properly connected.

If this is not the cause of the problem then it might actually be the clutch itself, and I think that would mean replacing of the compressor, not sure if there are place that will do just the clutch.

 

[frikkieh]

Get a diagnostic code reader and see if there is a code related to the aircon and have that fixed.

 

[Bradford]

Get a diagnostic code reader and see if there is a code related to the aircon and have that fixed.

I'm taking it to a mechanic in Pta tomorrow, will report back on the issues found...

 

[Bradford]

Took it for the diagnostics and no errors relating to the aircon or electrical system were found.
The aircon did initially blow cold air, but after switching off the car and restarting - no cold air.
This happened initially after refilling and again after the diagnostics.
It seems the compressor might be the problem, and I'm told the compressor does not have a clutch but rather valves that become screwy.
Anyone know of a reputable aircon place that might recon the compressor without ripping me off in PTA?

 

[P1000]

Took it for the diagnostics and no errors relating to the aircon or electrical system were found.
The aircon did initially blow cold air, but after switching off the car and restarting - no cold air.
This happened initially after refilling and again after the diagnostics.
It seems the compressor might be the problem, and I'm told the compressor does not have a clutch but rather valves that become screwy.
Anyone know of a reputable aircon place that might recon the compressor without ripping me off in PTA?

The valves are in the piping, not the compressor.

Modern aircons work a bit differently than those of earlier years. The compressor is always pumping, whether the ac is on or off, but the pressure release valve is open when there is no request for AC. This means that the compressor will pump with no resistance, but will still be well lubricated at all times. This actually increases compressor life expectancy when compared to a clutching system.

One side effect of this is that if the compressor does fail, it will slip on the belt, where previously it slipped on the clutch. This could cause the belt to fail and a lot more problems than before. So now they modified the coupling in the compressor so that it can break when the compressor is pumping harder than the maximum design specs.

So you have three possibilities:

1. The guy who filled your gas last time used the wrong amount of gas or wrong amount or lubricant or did not purge the lubricant from the system, causing the compressor's weak coupling to fail.

2. Same as above, but the system detects an incorrect pressure and does not engage aircon.

3. The release valve failed.

Hopefully somebody else on here can help you out with a good AC specialist.

 

[Bradford]

Took it for the diagnostics and no errors relating to the aircon or electrical system were found.
The aircon did initially blow cold air, but after switching off the car and restarting - no cold air.
This happened initially after refilling and again after the diagnostics.
It seems the compressor might be the problem, and I'm told the compressor does not have a clutch but rather valves that become screwy.
Anyone know of a reputable aircon place that might recon the compressor without ripping me off in PTA?

The valves are in the piping, not the compressor.

Modern aircons work a bit differently than those of earlier years. The compressor is always pumping, whether the ac is on or off, but the pressure release valve is open when there is no request for AC. This means that the compressor will pump with no resistance, but will still be well lubricated at all times. This actually increases compressor life expectancy when compared to a clutching system.

One side effect of this is that if the compressor does fail, it will slip on the belt, where previously it slipped on the clutch. This could cause the belt to fail and a lot more problems than before. So now they modified the coupling in the compressor so that it can break when the compressor is pumping harder than the maximum design specs.

So you have three possibilities:

1. The guy who filled your gas last time used the wrong amount of gas or wrong amount or lubricant or did not purge the lubricant from the system, causing the compressor's weak coupling to fail.

2. Same as above, but the system detects an incorrect pressure and does not engage aircon.

3. The release valve failed.

Hopefully somebody else on here can help you out with a good AC specialist.

Thanks for all the info, the place that did the diagnostics did say that the gas pressure was correct, what I find strange is that it did come on the first time after refill and again after the fault resetting but would not come on again after the car was switched off.
Is there any way of knowing if the compressor "seized" because one aircon place said that if that was the case it would cost +- R12000 because they had to rebuild the compressor and replace the evaporator etc.
Don't know enough to decide if they are trying to shaft me?

 

[P1000]

Thanks for all the info, the place that did the diagnostics did say that the gas pressure was correct, what I find strange is that it did come on the first time after refill and again after the fault resetting but would not come on again after the car was switched off.
Is there any way of knowing if the compressor "seized" because one aircon place said that if that was the case it would cost +- R12000 because they had to rebuild the compressor and replace the evaporator etc.
Don't know enough to decide if they are trying to shaft me?

If the compressor did fail and break up into pieces, they will have to replace a lot of components because the compressor pieces gets distributed through the system and if they are not all out, they will destroy the new compressor. However, if there was a manufacturing defect on the compressor and it did not send shards through the system, you only need to replace the compressor.

Having the correct pressure, does not mean it has the correct lube charge. To check if the compressor failed, they can take out the filter and check it for metal pieces.

 

[netercol]

just as a small added piece of info, i seem to recall on the e60 aircon (and prolly others from the same era) there is a pressure valve before/after the compressor that has a reputation for failing, seems to be a common fault on them.. might be worth investigating :dunno:

 

[Bradford]

Ok now I'm stumped, I took the car back to the guy that originally filled it with gas and he plugged his gas equipment in, filled with a teeny bit of gas and the aircon started working again. (he's adament that the pressure and lubricant is correct)
BUT on the way home it started getting warmer again and is still warm.
The gas guy says it's electric but I had it at a workshop with diagnostic equipment and they say there are no electrical/electronic issues showing and that it must be the compressor.
After the diagnostic equipment was plugged in the aircon also worked for a while but stopped on the way home.
If it was the compressor surely it wouldn't cool at all?
I don't know what to do now, anybody?

 

[arrie50]

Take your car to harrack, there was a guy working there named Cornelius, he is an expert on auto aircons, seems like the places you are taking it to are screwing you over, make sure when they charge your system they use a recovery machine cos that types of cars have a compressor that runs the all the time with adjusting crank plate that are adjusted via a solenoid in the compressor, the system cant be recharged on the old method of starting the system to suck the refridgerant into the system as the compressor aint pumping untill the system is fully charged because of the crank plate running in a flat position because of too low pressure on the solenoid regulatng the crankplate

 

[stefanfourie9mm]

Gotto love these electronics

My aircon throws no errors on diagnostics but..........

For some reason it decides at free will to just stop cooling and just "fan"
Gas is filled

Only way that I "fix" this is when I go to i-drive - climate and auto both sides and then remove the ticks from auto again

Just my 2 cents