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'85 325e A/C Questions

 
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jamesnau



Joined: 19 Jul 2002
Posts: 520
Location: NC State University

PostPosted: Thu Jun 28, 2012 6:55 pm    Post subject: '85 325e A/C Questions Reply with quote

UBB A/C Pros,

Need a little help here. I am rebuilding the A/C in my wife's '85 325e with the Behr compressor. I am finding conflicting specs on the amount of refrigerant oil. I am staying with R12 and will use mineral oil:

1. How much oil? Bentley says 300 cc for the swash plate compressor, which I assume is the Behr. 300 cc is a tad over 10 oz. This seems like a lot to me.

2. I will, of course, remove and flush all system components. Do I spread the oil around as Bentley recommends (Chapter 14, page 43)? If I follow his recommendations, I would put the remainder of the oil in the compressor, which would still amount to about 6 or 7 oz. Seems like a lot.

Where can I find the true specs? I can't find the specs in the e30 service manual posted here on the UBB.

Thank you in advance. It is going to be well over 100F for the next few days, and my wife is screaming for A/C.

Jim
'85 325e born October 1984
original owner
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jamesnau



Joined: 19 Jul 2002
Posts: 520
Location: NC State University

PostPosted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 6:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

UBBers,

After some research, I have answered my own questions. For the possible benefit of others who wish to rebuild their original A/C system:

Behr compressor: 200 cc or 6.76 oz (call it 7 oz) oil
I will spread it out as Bentley recommends. The condenser, drier, and evaporator will take about 2.5 oz leaving 4.5 oz directly to compressor.

Little black box in the wire to compressor is a diode to prevent possible voltages surges from harming the car's electronics. These surges may arise from the normal cycling of the compressor.

Jim
'85 325e born October 1984
original owner
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85-325e



Joined: 30 Jun 2002
Posts: 4712
Location: Southampton, NY

PostPosted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 10:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I was thinking about you and this project yesterday jim... I had to drive down to Denver and back, so I took the 325e to save gas. It's been sweltering here in Colorado this summer, both in the city as well as the mountains. The car ran like a champ, but I ended up in bumper-to-bumper traffic for about 45 minutes... closed up the windows, turned on the A/C, and in seconds the car was cooling down.

Glad you found all of the info you needed. Interesting about the diode, and my compressor was definitely cycling on that trip.

The oil thing is certainly interesting too. Spread that stuff around like Johnny Appleseed!
_________________
Cosmo - 1985 BMW 325e, Single Owner, 265,000+ ORIGINAL miles and still going strong! But now on the East Coast and the salt air corrosion is eating my beautiful car alive... Sad

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idanity



Joined: 21 May 2005
Posts: 3097
Location: N.W.U.S.A.

PostPosted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 3:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

when i had my AC fixed i asked about flushing out the old oil, and was told its never needed.
unsure why new oil would be bad, but i think i will do it next time it needs doing..which may be another 15 years..right.

and kuddos for keeping r12.
its my favorite, and my cabrio was measured at 26 or 28 degrees at the vents., making my friends think their A/C is broken, even though their cars are brand new. (r12 ftw) Cool
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