Need help in San Diego!!

[brodee]

Hey, I just bought an '89 325is. My wife and I flew up to Reno from Houston to get in and have been driving it back. We got to San Diego tonight and will be staying through tomorrow night also.

Problem I have is the AC isn't working on the car. I'd like to find a shop in San Diego that can recharge the system for me tomorrow while I'm here. I think by law they have to test the whole system and do a lot of work before just re-filling it. I'm pretty sure that it just needs a charge. We really don't want to head out across the desert and West Texas without AC this week.

Can anyone help me out with a shop that can do this for me? Doesn't need to be a BMW Shop, just someone that can charge the AC.

Thanks,
Brodee

[KenC]

Re: Need help in San Diego!!

Hey, I just bought an '89 325is. My wife and I flew up to Reno from Houston to get in and have been driving it back. We got to San Diego tonight and will be staying through tomorrow night also.

Problem I have is the AC isn't working on the car. I'd like to find a shop in San Diego that can recharge the system for me tomorrow while I'm here. I think by law they have to test the whole system and do a lot of work before just re-filling it. I'm pretty sure that it just needs a charge. We really don't want to head out across the desert and West Texas without AC this week.

Can anyone help me out with a shop that can do this for me? Doesn't need to be a BMW Shop, just someone that can charge the AC.

Thanks,
Brodee

I'm assuming they need to check the whole system because your car uses R12 Freon, which creates CFCs. I'm sure they need to test if for leaks, since the R12 is very harmful to the environmen. It'll probably be $200+ just for the actual R12 since it can't be manufactured in the US any longer.

[JasonH]

Give me a rough idea of what part of town you are in and I can narrow it down to a shop or two for you.

[brodee]

I'm at the Travelodge in La Jolla. I think this car has been switched to R134, I emailed the previous owner to check.

[JasonH]

Definitely call La Jolla Independent in the morning and ask for Carl. Their number is 858-488-1555. Carl is a BMW CCA Tech Advisor and an all around good guy. Besides, it would be worth stopping by his shop to check out the cars he usually has around.

[brodee]

Sounds great Jason. Thanks for the help!!

[KenC]

I'm at the Travelodge in La Jolla. I think this car has been switched to R134, I emailed the previous owner to check.

R134 should be no problem for any shop. It's $10-15 for the coolant and probably not much more for labor. Definitely don't get a fully system check. If it was recently upgraded to R134 I'm sure the system is fine. Good Luck!

[JasonH]

Sounds great Jason. Thanks for the help!!

My pleasure. Let me know if I can be of any further help.