Recharging the Air Conditioning

[Ranger_Vet68]

I have a 2003 Z4 that I believe needs to be recharged. When I turn it on, and get driving, it takes up to 10 mins just to get cool. And even though I leave it at max, it just pushes out Cool air. I need to get this thing pushing out cold air and able to adjust it of the Max setting so it doesn't need to sit at that setting all the time.......Anyone??

Thank You.

[Dalecan]

Just take it to any shop to get it recharged.

[Mirko]

You can buy recharge kits from parts stores. Depending on the cost and number of vehicles you want to do it on I'd suggest getting a shop to do it. Might end up cheaper than buying the kit.

[Ranger_Vet68]

Good Idea. I was going to buy the kit...Just one Car.

Thank You.

[garto87]

Yeah I just did this with the AC Pro can from Autozone and it worked perfectly. It only used about a 1/3 of a can so you don't need to buy the double pack. I've done this on my Jetta too last year and I haven't had any AC problems since.

[Ranger_Vet68]

Good Deal. I'm buying same kit today...Stay cool over the 4th!!

[ZStig]

anyone have pictures of where to connect the recharge thing?

[Ranger_Vet68]

It's located (Looking at it) Mid to left side next to firewall.

[TAL2GK]

Interesting ... mine just needed the same and my local independent shop performed the recharge for me. I've had mine since it was new and my understanding is that any AC unit would only need recharge if it, in fact, was leaking.

Am I wrong, or is the leak is so slow that we'd spend too much time & money chasing the small leak that took maybe 12 years to show itself?

[Westersund]

I wouldn't recharge the system with a kit you can buy in a store. When a professional recharge your system they preform a vaccum test to see if there's any leaks and if there are no leaks they recharge the system with gas AND oil as the compressor needs oil. Do these kits contain any oil? Besides of this, how do you know that you fill the right amount of gas and oil? Every system need different amounts of gas and oil and there's no way of knowing how much to fill unless you know how much is left in the system. Leave this job to professionals, it doesn't cost much.

[Westersund]

Originally Posted by TAL2GK

Interesting ... mine just needed the same and my local independent shop performed the recharge for me. I've had mine since it was new and my understanding is that any AC unit would only need recharge if it, in fact, was leaking.

Am I wrong, or is the leak is so slow that we'd spend too much time & money chasing the small leak that took maybe 12 years to show itself?

It leaks out with time even if there's no "real" leaks. I had my E36 -97 Compact recharged a couple of days ago. The system contained 180 grams of gas and 30~ grams of oil, it should be 800 grams of gas and 120 grams of oil. Now the AC is blasting really cold air. Vaccum test found no leaks, the system had never been recharged since new.