A/C not working

[TheHire]

I have an E34 (92 525iA) and the A/C is not working ever since I bought the car (that was few months ago)n . The A/C button on the dash board doesnt work. What could be wrong?

Any tips for quick trouble shooting?
Is it the evaporator core? Any way to figure out if it has gone bad?
How can I find out if the a/c system has any pressure or not?
Do I need to change the dryer?

BTW it does throw some cold air if I put the temp controller all the way to coldest setting and turn the fan on. (is it normal for non-working a/c?). I drove it in 84°F and it wasnt that bad. Does this mean that the sys still has some pressure?

Thanks so much for reading. Any help is appreciated.
P.S. Dealer is asking $ 140 for trouble shooting.

[dagoo98]

Well in the summer you should a;ways have the A/c turned to the coldest setting unless it gets too cold and also should have the fan turned up to get the best performance from your A/C. Since you are still getting cold air more than likely the A/C system components are ok but you just need to get your A/C system recharged with freon. Any reputable shop can do this for you for about $150 depending on where you go. This should have your A/C ice cold again.

[TheHire]

Thanks a bunch dagoo !

Before I go and get the A/C sys recharged, I would still like to figure out why the A/C button on dash board is not working?? Any suggestions?

[Torque]

what do you mean by not work... does the green light on it not come on, or is it just stuck as to where it wont make the click sound.

if you came to a conclusion that it doesnt work by the light not coming on, it might just be the light. if it is this, try turning it on and off while the car is working and the blower is turned on to whatever setting. the car should definitely change its sound if it comes on/ goes off.

[TheHire]

Originally posted by torque0@May 6 2004, 07:59 PM
what do you mean by not work... does the green light on it not come on, or is it just stuck as to where it wont make the click sound.

if you came to a conclusion that it doesnt work by the light not coming on, it might just be the light. if it is this, try turning it on and off while the car is working and the blower is turned on to whatever setting. the car should definitely change its sound if it comes on/ goes off.

well the light is not coming on. It does the clicking sound. I didnt have time to drive around much and the temp went up just today. I will try that later tonight or maybe tomorrow.

Thanks for pointing it out. Good thinking .

P.S.: How to check if the LED is gone bad or not? Any tips on opening the the console to look at the LED?

[Torque]

to remove the buttons, you need to remove your radio first. if you have stock bmw radio, make sure you know the code in order not to mess something up. then when the radio is out, you put your hand in there and push the buttons out towards the back of the car. now you can disconnect them and play around with it. you can check if the led works by just checking if there is power on the connector that plugs into the button.

good luck

info on how to remove buttons obtained from: http://www.bmwe34.net/e34main/maintenance/...anel_lights.htm

[Torque]

or you can just disconnect the thing, and hook the part of the connector going to the led to a 9v battery and see if it lights up.

ps. for the one above, the key needs to be turned to acc+

[TheHire]

Originally posted by torque0@May 6 2004, 10:16 PM
to remove the buttons, you need to remove your radio first. if you have stock bmw radio, make sure you know the code in order not to mess something up. then when the radio is out, you put your hand in there and push the buttons out towards the back of the car. now you can disconnect them and play around with it. you can check if the led works by just checking if there is power on the connector that plugs into the button.

good luck

info on how to remove buttons obtained from: http://www.bmwe34.net/e34main/maintenance/...anel_lights.htm

Thanks a lot Torque.

I was reading thru the procedure on E34.net and found this..

6. Now you can remove the 3 or 4 screws at the back of the panel and gently remove the back cover. You will find one bulb only to light the whole thing.

Now if it is only one bulb which lights up all three buttons (rear window heater, A/C and recirculation), why would it not work for last two?

(It's working for read window heater button). Am I missing something here? Any suggestions?

Again thanks a lot for reading this and putting ur time to help me out !!!

[Torque]

that one bulb lights up everything else down there, but the LEDs on those buttons are still separate things from the rest and there is 3 of them..