AirCondition SightGlass

[DannyBoyW]

When I purchased my 93 BMW 325i, the air conditioning didnt work. Last year I filled it with refrigent 134a just to see if it would do anything. It worked and continued to work about few weeks. Earlier this year I tried the same thing and it didnt work. I thought maybe I needed more refrigent added but the pressure kept me from reattaching the connection. Today I tried it again and it worked! It was low again.

I found a sight glass today that i never noticed before (dirt/grease covered that fact it was a sightglass). Can it be used to fill AC to the right level? The sight glass is located on the front passenger side of the engine compartment on a line coming out of a canister. When I added the refregent, I noticed a bit of liquid moving through it.

Also anyone priced the cost of fixing a leak?



Thank
Danny

[BMWJNKY]

There is no way to look at an A/C system and see how much refirdgerant is in the system. If your '93 has a sight glass you probably have an R12 system and have contanimnated the system by adding R134a. You should of taken your car to a shop that knows BMW's and had it fixed right the first time. By mixing R12 and R134a you need to find a shop that can deal with contanimated systems and get yours back to square one.

[DannyBoyW]

Decals in the engine compartment called for 134a. I was careful to match the right type of refrigant.

Anyone else interested in the sight glass, this may help

Air Conditioning, Page 3 of 3

It is more a indicator but cant really be used to fill to correct level from what I have read.