Air con

[boomer]

Which of the two nozzles on the pipes in the engine bay should I use to re charge the system?

[Templ8e30]

Apparently you should recharge on the low pressure side, this is the one with the blue connector cap.

Question is has your car got the later R134a gas or the earlier R12 (Illegal) gas ?

If you have the red/blue cap it's R134a if you have brass caps it's the old R12 that you can't use anymore.

My Touring has the old R12, I've had to shell out £90 at the dealer for the conversion kit, once all the parts are fitted it'll need to be evacuated have new type PAG oil dropped in then re-charged with the new R134a gas. All in it'll cost me about £150 to do this

The long term problem is that my system being an R12 system has plain rubber hoses inside the car, the new R134a gas has a smaller molecule that can leak through the rubber over time so I'll have to keep topping it up regularly. The newer R134a systems have plastic lined hoses to prevent this

Cheers,

Iain T

[boomer]

Mine is the R12 type - I bought a 1kg R12 replacement charge off a fella on Ebay a few months back. and now that it is warming up it is time for a bit of DIY recharge.

My caps are black (bloody imports)

Is that the pipe that goes direct to the compressor or the one that connects to the receiver/drier?

[Templ8e30]

I think it's the one to the compressor (suction line) but i could be wrong

Does anybody have any pics of an R134a system on an E30 ?

I'll have a look through my pics to see if I have any, Danstable's old touring definately had the later gas.

Cheers,

Iain T

[Templ8e30]

It's the blue valve you fill it from, not the red one at the bottom of the pic

Cheers,

Iain T

[boomer]

Cheers Ian, Top Man

[michealewk]

what do you call the old gas and the new one

[Templ8e30]

The old gas is R12 and has been outlawed because of its CFC content.

The new gas is R134a and still has CFC freon in it but is legal

Also the new gas isn't as effective as the old R12. Progress

Cheers,

Iain T

[michealewk]

thanks lad just got in contact with someone which are suppling me with the conversion kit and filling it up for 60 quid

[Templ8e30]

thanks lad just got in contact with someone which are suppling me with the conversion kit and filling it up for 60 quid

That's a bit cheap ! the conversion kit from BMW is over £90 on its own

Cheers,

Iain T

[michealewk]

its a crowd over here in n. ireland hes coming to me at 6 o clock so we will see how it goes

[boomer]

Another question?

Regas while engine is running or not????

[beardymat]

whats in the conversion kit iain?

should be putting mine back together soon with a new drier, condensor and new seals.

cant think of anything else that should need changing offhand certainly not £90 worth

[old_skool]

^ Conversion kit consists of new drier, pressure switch, filling points, a zip tie and some sticky warning labels.

[Templ8e30]

Another question?

Regas while engine is running or not????

Re-gas with engine off !

Mat, I'll find out tomorrow mate. A new drier is £80 odd quid alone from the dealer.

Cheers

Iain T

[boomer]

Well, I finally got round to doing the regas.

Car is a 1989 SA import and although the aircon has not been cold for a long time the system was still slightly presurised.

I purchased one of these: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/R12-DROP-IN-CAR-A ... dZViewItem a while back

This Morning I connected it all up - thanks Ian for identifying the correct filling point - and gave it half a cans worth.

Now I have Ice cold aircon

We'll see how long it lasts