The Detailed E30 R-134a Conversion Thread/DIY

[Garemie]

Are the heater core shut offs known to not fully close on these cars? It looks like no matter what the blower blows through the heater core even when running AC so maybe my valve is partially not closing?

[jeffnhiscars]

Are the heater core shut offs known to not fully close on these cars? It looks like no matter what the blower blows through the heater core even when running AC so maybe my valve is partially not closing?

The blend doors can stick or get blocked by a bent temp probe (AMHIK)

[Garemie]

What are the blend doors? Can't find any info on that.

[jeffnhiscars]

My comments are not specific to your posts but are general based on dozens and dozens of similar posts. I'm not sure how you can say blower speeds are a constant when there are 4 of them plus recirc but that absolutely matters. I can adjust the blower speed of my home AC and it re rates the entire system and virtually all new air handlers are variable speed.

I recall getting in to other people's cars (when I did such things) and when I saw they had it on permanent recirc the air was always nasty. It's intended for short term use for rapid cool/heat and dehumidification (read any owners manual). Cars leak but are not typically sieves so without fresh air coming in it does make a difference...but of course it's your car :)

If your gauging your system performance with that being the case then it kind of proves my point.

You're supply air is the same temp as your return air so your cooling and recooling the same air over and over without ever introducing warmer outside air and at apparently highway speeds with the blower on high so of course it will be lower temp. I don't use recirc, turn my fan down to 2 within about 10 minutes cause it's getting too cold and am in town most of the time.

I'll also add that the evaporator is only capable of transferring so many btus regardless of cfms. You can move more air through it which creates a perception of comfort which is why they say turning on a ceiling fan makes it FEEL 4 degrees cooler but it won't make it cooler than it's design limit.

We can agree to disagree about which is best but blaming the planet I'm from seems kind of off topic ;)

[325e '87]

I want to stress that the use of any figures from the performance of my refreshed a/c should not be assumed to be a proper baseline for anyone. My system keeps me comfortable in the hot and humid south, I run 1 or 2 fan speed, never any higher, and i use recirc rarely. I hate stale air.

When ambient temps are in the upper 80º’s I am perfectly content. I’m sure I didn’t do the best job charging the system and I don’t know if I overfilled it a bit or if its a little low on Freon. It works and that’s good enough for me.

[Garemie]

What are the blend doors? Can't find any info on that.

Still not sure what these are.


If you're talking the sliders for air flow then I've checked those. It just seems to me that by design air will always pass through the heater core so if the heater core isn't fully shut off then this is a problem.

[jeffnhiscars]

I couldn't find a good pic on real oem but the blend door is controlled by the rotary temp dial to the left of the sliders. It sits between the heater core and evaporator and directs air through one, the other or divides it between both (hence the blend). When you're on max AC there's no water going through the heater core so it's moot and when you're on max heat you typically don't have your compressor running although if you do, you'll still get hot air AND the benefits of the ac's dehumidification (perfect in rainy climates in winter).

The door also triggers the heater control valve as you begin to turn it clockwise so the dial acts as an on/off valve for water flow. It's the door that actually determines the air temp coming in.

I'm sure crap can find its way in there or the cable can get sluggish. It in my case it was user error. I had replaced my evaporator and while there's a hole in the left side of the frame for the temp sensor, the fins themselves are not pierced so I Just shoved the sensor in and it punctured it way through the fins. Unfortunately, the probe is rather soft so instead of going straight in it curved off to one side, blocked the blend door and kept me from getting past about 2/3 on the dial. After a cold and uncomfortable winter (in NC) I pulled the sensor, used a similar diameter screwdriver to drive a straight new hole then reinstalled the probe and VOILA...heat !!

[S.J.1981]

Has anyone tried the following adapters from BMW:

64118363259
64118363260

Only one supplier in Germany and MAYBE able to get it, otherwise NLA and all th ebay/amazon ones do not fit.

Is it also possible to use the new pipe from the IX/convertible models?

64538391040

That long extension maybe "thin" enough just to allow the hood brace to shut, otherwise everything is either NLA or incorrect length.

[S.J.1981]

Well, everything installed, took it to a professional to test for leaks, do vacuum etc.

Machine was able to pull around 27-28 Hg, they suspected a leak, so they filled the system with Nitrogen and used a "sniffer" to check for leaks, none found. So they checked the system with UV light, since there was some in the system. Again none found, which was interesting.

Nice and cold air now, but the low speed condenser fan is not kicking in. We pulled relays and tested them, they are fine, we applied 12v to the condenser fan plug and it ran. So i tested the condenser fan resistor using this blog:

http://www.rtsauto.com/e30-aux-fan-r...ary-fan-types/

Low speed does not kick in, and clearly audible relay clicking. High speed kicks in fine, as well as the relay. So tomorrow a new resistor will be installed, will chase the wiring for any signs of cracks/corrosion etc.

Next week, the shop wants me to come in again to double check for leaks, we are all not happy with the low vacuum, but we could not find any leaks, could be the gauge or elevation or something else.

One last item, i ordered the BMW high pressure valve adapter: 64-11-8-363-260

It fits right on top of the R12 connection, no need to remove the internal valve, it just screws on and deep enough to allow the R134a quick connect to do its thing. It also clears the brace for the hood just fine. I could not find any dealerships selling this in Germany but one (Schmiedmann), so if you are having trouble finding a short HP R134a adaptor, this one fits and clears just fine, pricey though at €16 here locally.

[agisthos]

Maybe this has been answered in this thread somewhere.... but I just purchased a new E30 condenser along with 3 new rubber grommets for the A/C fan frame and... I dont think I can get them on without slicing them in half, or taking a grinder to the new condensers mounting points to cut a slot. Am I wrong about this? Can those grommets go on with hacking things?

[marko]

Phenomenal thread that has been made exponentially less useful by the broken photobucket links

glucklich21 any chance we can get you to re-up the photobucket account? Apparently they've gone back to having a free tier for 250 photos. Or if there is a better way to host them.

In lieu of that, did anyone screenshot or archive this? Kicking myself for not having done that myself now.

[mlytle]

Phenomenal thread that has been made exponentially less useful by the broken photobucket links

glucklich21 any chance we can get you to re-up the photobucket account? Apparently they've gone back to having a free tier for 250 photos. Or if there is a better way to host them.

In lieu of that, did anyone screenshot or archive this? Kicking myself for not having done that myself now.

yes, agree! awesome info at the start of the thread, but lack of pbucket account renewal has made it far less useful.

[glucklich21]

Hi R3V, long time no see!

Hmmmmm I get mentions by my username and get emails now? Weird. Yes photobucket is trash, but also there weren’t a whole lot of options back then. I have over 3000 photos hosted with the jerks and that would literally take weeks to sort out. Let me see if I can rehost the photos for this thread on my personal site.

[ForcedFirebird]

Hi R3V, long time no see!

Hmmmmm I get mentions by my username and get emails now? Weird. Yes photobucket is trash, but also there weren’t a whole lot of options back then. I have over 3000 photos hosted with the jerks and that would literally take weeks to sort out. Let me see if I can rehost the photos for this thread on my personal site.

It's a pain, but I have been re-sizing pics and uploading directly here for photos I would like to see last.

Where you been mang? glucklich21

[Hoffbrohaus]

I'm getting ready to do this conversion and bought a Nissens 94172. I can't find any verbiage online confirming it is a parralell flow condenser but it looks like it is to me. Can anyone else confirm? https://www.autohausaz.com/pn/64538391509NIS Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk