Compressor on the fritz

E60orBust · 07-28-2014, 08:15 AM

Drove to work today, hit the A/C button and nothing but warm air. Thought to myself "Well crap, it did it again". And by again I mean my AR design oil cooler must have bounced back and hit my condenser and put a hole in it.

The first time I installed it, I mounted it a hair too close to the condenser so it wouldn't be clipped by the hood bracket when I closed it and one pot-hole later it jiggled enough to punch a hole in the condenser and leak out all my refrigerant. Lesson learned and I remounted it angled to clear everything and secured the bolts with blue lock-tite for good measure.

I get to work, part and open the hood to look for any contact between the oil cooler and condenser and see nothing. Perfect spacing from when I installed it. Poked around with a flashlight and could not find any visible holes like from a rock or road debris.

My car has actually been in the garage since last week due to a lot of rain and storms, but I can't remember if I used A/C or not since we had that summer cold-spell in the D.C. area.

Edited for new info

shadow191 · 07-28-2014, 09:29 AM

First check to see where your AC is leaking from? May be another hole in condenser or somewhere else. It may be all coincidence.

And I can relate, last year my AR Design oil cooler punched a hole in the condenser. That was a fun project to fix. Still not sure how it happened since there appeared to be plenty of clearance. My cooler had even clearance all around, but it clearly did punch the hole since it was leaking from right behind one of the corners.

E60orBust · 07-28-2014, 04:26 PM

No leaks. I still had the bottle from the last time I dinged the condenser and it showed about 35-45 psi of refrigerant. I also checked the three snowflake fuses in the glovebox and all checked out fine.

Update edit: After reading a post about how the RPM changes should vary when the snowflake button is hit, I went outside to check that. From what I read, the RPM's should decrease when the button is on and increase when the button is off. I have the P3 vent gauge installed so I put it to RPM reading and found the exact opposite. With the snowflake button lit, RPM goes to about 720 at idle. When I turn it off it drops down to about 640.

That doesn't seem right to me.

07-28-2014, 08:15 AM	#1
E60orBust Captain 89 Rep 825 Posts Drives: "The Brothers //M-Sport" E90/2 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: MD iTrader: (2)	Compressor on the fritz Drove to work today, hit the A/C button and nothing but warm air. Thought to myself "Well crap, it did it again". And by again I mean my AR design oil cooler must have bounced back and hit my condenser and put a hole in it. The first time I installed it, I mounted it a hair too close to the condenser so it wouldn't be clipped by the hood bracket when I closed it and one pot-hole later it jiggled enough to punch a hole in the condenser and leak out all my refrigerant. Lesson learned and I remounted it angled to clear everything and secured the bolts with blue lock-tite for good measure. I get to work, part and open the hood to look for any contact between the oil cooler and condenser and see nothing. Perfect spacing from when I installed it. Poked around with a flashlight and could not find any visible holes like from a rock or road debris. My car has actually been in the garage since last week due to a lot of rain and storms, but I can't remember if I used A/C or not since we had that summer cold-spell in the D.C. area. Edited for new info __________________ Down for Maintenance Last edited by E60orBust; 07-28-2014 at 06:52 PM..
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07-28-2014, 09:29 AM	#2
shadow191 Lieutenant Colonel 181 Rep 1,681 Posts Drives: 2017 Volvo XC90 R-Design Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: GA iTrader: (3)	First check to see where your AC is leaking from? May be another hole in condenser or somewhere else. It may be all coincidence. And I can relate, last year my AR Design oil cooler punched a hole in the condenser. That was a fun project to fix. Still not sure how it happened since there appeared to be plenty of clearance. My cooler had even clearance all around, but it clearly did punch the hole since it was leaking from right behind one of the corners.
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07-28-2014, 04:26 PM	#3
E60orBust Captain 89 Rep 825 Posts Drives: "The Brothers //M-Sport" E90/2 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: MD iTrader: (2)	No leaks. I still had the bottle from the last time I dinged the condenser and it showed about 35-45 psi of refrigerant. I also checked the three snowflake fuses in the glovebox and all checked out fine. Update edit: After reading a post about how the RPM changes should vary when the snowflake button is hit, I went outside to check that. From what I read, the RPM's should decrease when the button is on and increase when the button is off. I have the P3 vent gauge installed so I put it to RPM reading and found the exact opposite. With the snowflake button lit, RPM goes to about 720 at idle. When I turn it off it drops down to about 640. That doesn't seem right to me. __________________ Down for Maintenance Last edited by E60orBust; 07-28-2014 at 06:54 PM..
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