A/C Issues - United Bimmer Community

**komodo** · 07-21-2005, 09:07 AM

Recently my air conditioning has been turning on and off on it's own will. I could be driving along, air condition working fine, and all of a sudden it cuts off, the led screen backlight turns off, and no buttons do anything.... basically the unit completely dies. Sometimes the green lights stay on for things like a/c on or fan placement (the vertical buttons on the left and right side)... however none of them do anything. And also when it cuts out, it usually has a gentle blowing of hot air, I'm guessing from the engine. Then I could be driving on and it might cut on for a second, off again, then on and stay on, blowing cold air and all controls working normally.

Sorry my description isn't the best, but do you guys understand what I'm faced with? Any ideas? Thanks.

**billycuth** · 07-21-2005, 09:15 AM

sounds like a short to me. probably due to one of your many elecrical wires running throughout your car now with all the gadgets...

I would take the dash apart and see if there is any exposed wire..

**komodo** · 07-21-2005, 10:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by billycuth

sounds like a short to me. probably due to one of your many elecrical wires running throughout your car now with all the gadgets...

I would take the dash apart and see if there is any exposed wire..

I've already checked that, all the wiring is fine.

**billycuth** · 07-21-2005, 10:15 AM

then your in-dash unit is probably on its way out.

**Dudesky** · 07-21-2005, 11:58 AM

No, it's probably just the usual dead capacitor thing . . get you soldering iron out:

http://www.macadamizer.com/bmwfix.html

**bmw4life** · 07-21-2005, 12:07 PM

Yeah I did that DIY and it has worked for over a year now. woohoo.

drz · 07-21-2005, 03:00 PM

Yep. Sounds like the final stage cap to me. That should fix it.

**komodo** · 07-21-2005, 03:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bmw4life

Yeah I did that DIY and it has worked for over a year now. woohoo.

How long did it take you to do it? Anything very difficult? Any advice before I try it?

Looks straight forward enough...

**bmw4life** · 07-21-2005, 05:32 PM

It shouldn't take to long, probably less than an hour. I got a new capacitor but they aren't easy to find so just soder the one on their back on. It's easy to do, was just a little hard to get eveything back together.

**Spieluhr** · 07-21-2005, 09:09 PM

same thing happened to me right after I bought my car. It is an extremely easy DIY. Go to radio shack, buy the capacitor, and soder it in. It is super super easy and will last you a long time.

**Dudesky** · 07-21-2005, 09:46 PM

I don't know you Harry, so in case you're not handy with soldering, don't heat up the board too much or you could end up frying or loosening other adjacent components/circuits. Most of all just take your time with it

**mullethunter3** · 07-22-2005, 12:31 AM

i don't know what you all are talkin about with the soldering, but mine was doing the exact same thing as Harry's car and there is a "secondary" blower switch thing that needs to be replaced. it's like $50 from the dealer. I just called down there, told them my problem, and it fixed it. works perfect!

**komodo** · 07-22-2005, 10:52 PM

So today I decided to break open my a/c unit and dive in. I disassembled everything, broke free the old cap, soldered on the new cap and put it all back together. In short, it worked.

That DIY was very helpful and informative, very easy to follow with great pics.

The dealership quoted me about $400 in parts and labor to fix it. My cost was $0.49 and about half an hour of my time. The DIY says it takes 90 minutes, but it took me about 20. If you have never soldered before it might take you a bit longer.

It was a very easy fix, and basically the United Bimmer forums saved me $400. I love this place.

**Dudesky** · 07-23-2005, 05:01 AM

Yea baby, way to stick it to the stealer

Shared knowledge is power

**defkon99** · 07-24-2005, 08:37 PM

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