So my AC system blew up today.

[03Z]

Alright, so I live in Houston, if you know anything about houston you know that it gets hot and humid here because for some unknown reason people built a city in the middle of a swamp. Well my ac hasn't been working for about a month now because starting a business means I don't really have money to burn on a mechanic to sort through the whole thing at an ungodly hourly rate. I finally got time to really look at it (read: it got hot enough that I got annoyed enough to work on the car instead of working on work) I found that the fuses were ok, compressor ran when I gave it electricity, and figured that it must have just had low pressure so the pressure switch was shutting it off. call it wishful thinking that a recharge would restore glorious cold air to my sauna of a car today. well something blew up as I recharged it . it was working and then, quite suddenly and with a very large cloud of my hope for a comfortable ride evaporating into nothingness, worked no more.

anyone with experience working on ac systems think I can fix it myself? I mean it's essentially an empty system at this point right? I'd rather fix everything myself and then take it to a shop just to have it recharged and have any holes fixed than have it be in the shop a few days and cost me 1k+

note that while I can fix just about anything else on the car, I have never touched an ac system.

[Punisher3.0si]

I would say replace what ever is leaking but a shop is going to have to pull a vacuum on the system to get all the air and water out that's in it now. If it's not vacuumed down then it's not going to work right and you could potentially damage the compressor.

[kaybat]

If you can get a hold of a copy of this, he covers ac rebuilds in plain english(no affil):
http://www.bentleypublishers.com/bmw...ob-siegel.html

[Huz-Z]

Originally Posted by 03Z

Alright, so I live in Houston, if you know anything about houston you know that it gets hot and humid here because for some unknown reason people built a city in the middle of a swamp. Well my ac hasn't been working for about a month now because starting a business means I don't really have money to burn on a mechanic to sort through the whole thing at an ungodly hourly rate. I finally got time to really look at it (read: it got hot enough that I got annoyed enough to work on the car instead of working on work) I found that the fuses were ok, compressor ran when I gave it electricity, and figured that it must have just had low pressure so the pressure switch was shutting it off. call it wishful thinking that a recharge would restore glorious cold air to my sauna of a car today. well something blew up as I recharged it . it was working and then, quite suddenly and with a very large cloud of my hope for a comfortable ride evaporating into nothingness, worked no more.

anyone with experience working on ac systems think I can fix it myself? I mean it's essentially an empty system at this point right? I'd rather fix everything myself and then take it to a shop just to have it recharged and have any holes fixed than have it be in the shop a few days and cost me 1k+

note that while I can fix just about anything else on the car, I have never touched an ac system.

You could always ask your dealer for a quote. You never know - this may not be as costly a repair as you fear. And if the quote is expensive, you can try other options as discussed above.

[gas-can]

My 2 cents from having done this type of work before: take it to a (good) shop.

To do this work properly you need 1) the right equipment 2) experience. If you don't do the work properly, you are setting yourself up for more problems down the road - like a dead compressor ($$$).

I've always hated those AC recharge cans. The AC's a sealed system - it doesn't need top ups of refrigerant. If the refrigerant is gone, there's a leak somewhere. You can use those cans all you want but it's just going to keep coming out and in the process there's a good chance you'll kill your compressor b/c you got a changing level of refrigerant that's messing with the system's calculated points.

If you do want to do this yourself, you'll need amongst other things:
1) vacuum pump
2) manifold gauge
3) fittings (for pump)
4) refrig oil
5) refrigerant
6) brazing tools
7) nitrogen

Rough steps:
0) recapture refrigerant (if there's anything left) with pump
1) figure out the leak point- easiest would be a fluorescent dye + light - (if not available, you can pump with nitrogen and use dishsoap to look for hissing/bubbles)
2) fix leak point (may need brazing - not sure of line materials in these cars)
3) replace filter/dryer
4) purge the system (nitrogen was popular back in the day) (may be skippable if abs necessary)
5) vaccuum lines to remove all moisture/air
6) recharge to spec - remember to add the proper amounts of oil

As you may guess, not easy to do properly...
sorry!
-gc

p.s.: if you still want to do it, some of these parts may be found at harbor freight for pretty cheap. If brazing is needed, I really recommend taking to a shop for at least that part.

[pungo]

Trying to just add freon without having gauges hooked up is just asking for trouble. Too much freon can damage the compressor. In the long run, you'd have been better off taking to a reputable shop for diagnoses and repair. The exact amount of freon charge is critical for the system to work correctly and the shop will have the equipment to get it right. I have serviced several systems and like gas-can mentions, you need the all proper equipment, to do it right.

[AriuSen]

make it a track car and remove Ac

[RobMCoupe]

I had my AC repaired a few months ago. A rock damaged the condenser. I ordered a new condenser, dryer, and new O-rings for all the fittings you can see. Replace everything but save the dryer to install last. You don't want to have too much air which can damage the dryer. I take to a shop to evac the system and recharge. Total cost for dryer and condenser is around $500. The shop charge me $100 to recharge the system.

[whatcubed]

Without knowing what part of town you're in, consider calling ABR Houston. They're up north near Louetta & Kuykendahl. Very fair pricing, and excellent service.

[03Z]

Originally Posted by gas-can

My 2 cents from having done this type of work before: take it to a (good) shop.

To do this work properly you need 1) the right equipment 2) experience. If you don't do the work properly, you are setting yourself up for more problems down the road - like a dead compressor ($$$).

I've always hated those AC recharge cans. The AC's a sealed system - it doesn't need top ups of refrigerant. If the refrigerant is gone, there's a leak somewhere. You can use those cans all you want but it's just going to keep coming out and in the process there's a good chance you'll kill your compressor b/c you got a changing level of refrigerant that's messing with the system's calculated points.

If you do want to do this yourself, you'll need amongst other things:
1) vacuum pump
2) manifold gauge
3) fittings (for pump)
4) refrig oil
5) refrigerant
6) brazing tools
7) nitrogen

Rough steps:
0) recapture refrigerant (if there's anything left) with pump
1) figure out the leak point- easiest would be a fluorescent dye + light - (if not available, you can pump with nitrogen and use dishsoap to look for hissing/bubbles)
2) fix leak point (may need brazing - not sure of line materials in these cars)
3) replace filter/dryer
4) purge the system (nitrogen was popular back in the day) (may be skippable if abs necessary)
5) vaccuum lines to remove all moisture/air
6) recharge to spec - remember to add the proper amounts of oil

As you may guess, not easy to do properly...
sorry!
-gc

p.s.: if you still want to do it, some of these parts may be found at harbor freight for pretty cheap. If brazing is needed, I really recommend taking to a shop for at least that part.

yeah I think all I'm going to do is find the line that blew and replace that and have a shop handle everything else.

[03Z]

Originally Posted by whatcubed

Without knowing what part of town you're in, consider calling ABR Houston. They're up north near Louetta & Kuykendahl. Very fair pricing, and excellent service.

you know what they showed up in a google search I did today for another problem so I might. it's a little bit of a drive but if I have to use a shop I'd rather drive a bit to a good shop with a good rep than just trust whoever is around my area.

do you know if they can balance driveshafts too?