Increasing AC blower air flow and solving outside air smell
- Thread starter julianpang
- Start date
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If your air con is not cold when standing still, either your fan clutch, or your auxiliary fan, or both, are damaged, or the condensor is somehow obstructed. The heat generated by the condensor is not being removed by moving air, which is why the ac gas does not cool down much. If your fan clutch is working properly, this should not be a problem. If the fan clutch is not working, but the auxiliary fan is working properly, you will still get some cooling athough not as much as with the fan clutch in my experience.
When the car is moving, the condensor's heat is removed quickly by the onrushing air. You get cold air in the cabin while on the move.
You need to check this situation out with mechanics.
Oh yeah....if your ac gas pressure is decreasing (might be due to a leak), not having cold aircon while standing still could also happen along the way to having no ac totally. So have your gas pressure checked as well.
While we should wait for a good reliable sifu to do dashboard evaporator work, a normal ac shop that's been in business for many years should be fine for other things such as the compressor, gas, gas pipe leaks, and the condensor (this is the mini radiator like thing at the front of the car behind the auxiliary electric fan - cannot be seen without removing the bumper in front or the radiator behind).
This work is simple enough for an experienced joe to do without fucking something up. You dont' need someone specifically experienced with the E34's dashboard in particular for the rest of the ac system.
Go to such a shop or your regular mechanic's workshop for a diagnosis of your current situation.
These ac shops have a device that looks like a handheld multimeter with a probe, which is inserted into the dashboard's ac vents, that can detect the present of ac gas. Get them to check on that. If they detect the gas, that means your dashboard evaporator is screwed. This is a very expensive job, and your E34's dash is brittle, and good replacements are expensive and difficult to find so its better to go to a workshop that is very familiar with the car to get this done. Idiots can destroy the dashboard during removal and reinstallation and you won't know until a some time later when you hear odd noises etc while driving.
Another way to see if there's a leak in your dash evaporator ( "cooling coil") is to put your face to the dash vents in the morning after leaving the car overnight, then start the engine and ac at the same time and do nothing but inhale. See if you get a sudden blast of weird bad chemical smell. it may last less than a second - repeat this test 3 times on 3 separate mornings to confirm it is not there.
If you get that smell, you know you have a leak there.
Show the pictures of the siliconed up evaporator compartment to whoever you do the job. Make sure they do it too. Tell them to do it even if they feel your stuff is in good shape. This is NOT expensive work, silicone is like rm8 a tube, and you only need 2-3 tubes and around 20 minutes work to have it sealed properly. Good insurance. Really good idea given by the sifu here imo.
Insist on it even if the mechanics say its not necessary. Tell them that, unless they are prepared to say that silicone sealing will DAMAGE your car, you want it done. They will say it won't damage the car but its not necessary. Tell them to do it and you'll pay a few bucks for the extra 20 minutes work they need to do. That will always shut them up. Your time, life, money and future peace of mind and lack of stress matter alot more than their opinions.
Of course you won't have those problem if you go to the guy recommended in this thread. Bro please post up a picture of their shop's business card soon if you can. Thanks.
When the car is moving, the condensor's heat is removed quickly by the onrushing air. You get cold air in the cabin while on the move.
You need to check this situation out with mechanics.
Oh yeah....if your ac gas pressure is decreasing (might be due to a leak), not having cold aircon while standing still could also happen along the way to having no ac totally. So have your gas pressure checked as well.
While we should wait for a good reliable sifu to do dashboard evaporator work, a normal ac shop that's been in business for many years should be fine for other things such as the compressor, gas, gas pipe leaks, and the condensor (this is the mini radiator like thing at the front of the car behind the auxiliary electric fan - cannot be seen without removing the bumper in front or the radiator behind).
This work is simple enough for an experienced joe to do without fucking something up. You dont' need someone specifically experienced with the E34's dashboard in particular for the rest of the ac system.
Go to such a shop or your regular mechanic's workshop for a diagnosis of your current situation.
These ac shops have a device that looks like a handheld multimeter with a probe, which is inserted into the dashboard's ac vents, that can detect the present of ac gas. Get them to check on that. If they detect the gas, that means your dashboard evaporator is screwed. This is a very expensive job, and your E34's dash is brittle, and good replacements are expensive and difficult to find so its better to go to a workshop that is very familiar with the car to get this done. Idiots can destroy the dashboard during removal and reinstallation and you won't know until a some time later when you hear odd noises etc while driving.
Another way to see if there's a leak in your dash evaporator ( "cooling coil") is to put your face to the dash vents in the morning after leaving the car overnight, then start the engine and ac at the same time and do nothing but inhale. See if you get a sudden blast of weird bad chemical smell. it may last less than a second - repeat this test 3 times on 3 separate mornings to confirm it is not there.
If you get that smell, you know you have a leak there.
Show the pictures of the siliconed up evaporator compartment to whoever you do the job. Make sure they do it too. Tell them to do it even if they feel your stuff is in good shape. This is NOT expensive work, silicone is like rm8 a tube, and you only need 2-3 tubes and around 20 minutes work to have it sealed properly. Good insurance. Really good idea given by the sifu here imo.
Insist on it even if the mechanics say its not necessary. Tell them that, unless they are prepared to say that silicone sealing will DAMAGE your car, you want it done. They will say it won't damage the car but its not necessary. Tell them to do it and you'll pay a few bucks for the extra 20 minutes work they need to do. That will always shut them up. Your time, life, money and future peace of mind and lack of stress matter alot more than their opinions.
Of course you won't have those problem if you go to the guy recommended in this thread. Bro please post up a picture of their shop's business card soon if you can. Thanks.
On NPE from old klang road headed towards sunway, there's a Caltex on your left. After that you can see Wisma Peters and a little further up, Brothers car accessory shop. All highly visible from road. See map in link below.
http://www.streetdirectory.com.my/malaysia/selangor/travel/travel_id_480575/travel_site_588529/
Turn left after Brothers and immediately right towards the row of shophouses. It's the corner shop on the row of shophouses. You'll see aircond tanks hanging outside. The shop is shared by aircond man, mechanic and car wash. His name is King. Chinese chap in the 30s. One man show. 012-2043219
Sent my e34 there based on positive review by Julian. I said do everything that needs to be done and change whatever needs to be changed. Left my car there for more than a month whilst travelling. He really took his time and was meticulous. Internally, the piping, hoses, everything is redone and almost like new and works like new aircond system. You might want him to give an estimate after checking out your car. Cos in my case I told him cost not a concern and I never asked how much until everything was done. I had estimated 5k. It was more than that but I also purchased/re-fixed aux fan non-ori. Original was removed when converted fan clutch to electric fan.
http://www.streetdirectory.com.my/malaysia/selangor/travel/travel_id_480575/travel_site_588529/
Turn left after Brothers and immediately right towards the row of shophouses. It's the corner shop on the row of shophouses. You'll see aircond tanks hanging outside. The shop is shared by aircond man, mechanic and car wash. His name is King. Chinese chap in the 30s. One man show. 012-2043219
Sent my e34 there based on positive review by Julian. I said do everything that needs to be done and change whatever needs to be changed. Left my car there for more than a month whilst travelling. He really took his time and was meticulous. Internally, the piping, hoses, everything is redone and almost like new and works like new aircond system. You might want him to give an estimate after checking out your car. Cos in my case I told him cost not a concern and I never asked how much until everything was done. I had estimated 5k. It was more than that but I also purchased/re-fixed aux fan non-ori. Original was removed when converted fan clutch to electric fan.
expensive, yes. overpaid substantially, no. cos i compared indiv item prices in the bill against my little spreadsheet on price of parts paid by others here on forum. i wanted everything like new if possible. whatever can be changed was changed. quite a long list including cooling coil and compressor. and i asked for ori parts, if not available then next best aftermarket based on his experience.
