A/C blowing warm air suddenly

[babyduke]

Originally Posted by upallnight

You can uncouple the fan connector that I showed you, and use your volt meter to test the two large wires at the connector for the harness from the car. There should be 12 volts at the two wires. If you have a blown fuse, replacing the fuse will not work until you replaced the fan. The only reason why that fuse would blow is if the fan is shorted.

I just checked the fan connector with the volt meter and it showed 12 volts. Could my problem be as simple as replacing a blown fuse or is fan definitely the issue?

[upallnight]

Originally Posted by babyduke

I just checked the fan connector with the volt meter and it showed 12 volts. Could my problem be as simple as replacing a blown fuse or is fan definitely the issue?

The scan I did showed a fan fault for the AC. The fault could be in the control circuit for the fan. The DME will command the fan to spin at the beginning and stop supplying power to the fan. When a DC motor is spinning it acts like a generator so it will send a voltage back to the DME. Once the DME sees the voltage it can assume that the fan is spinning and is o.k.

The compressor was not clicking on when you where at my place. The static pressure for the low side was over 100 psi.

When I had the problem my scan showed a fan fault, and it did blow the 50 amp fuse so I definitely knew it was the fan.

[David.X5]

I think the difference here is what signal is getting back to Ihka. The OP has a code for a bad fan and that seems to lock out the AC. If your fan fails but somehow doesn't generate the code, then you get what trader4 reports - AC works when there is some extra air flow.

[kwalk]

I'm still having issues with my a/c as well. I followed advice, took it to an indy, and he added refrigerant. I thought all was well. It blows ice cold at first. After driving a few minutes, all the front vents just stop blowing, but my rear is still blowing cold air. If I turn it on auto they all started to blow again, but soon stopped. Again, the rear vents still blows. Any ideas?

[upallnight]

Originally Posted by kwalk

I'm still having issues with my a/c as well. I followed advice, took it to an indy, and he added refrigerant. I thought all was well. It blows ice cold at first. After driving a few minutes, all the front vents just stop blowing, but my rear is still blowing cold air. If I turn it on auto they all started to blow again, but soon stopped. Again, the rear vents still blows. Any ideas?

Sounds like the blower fan is the problem. Could be the FSR or the blower motor.

[David.X5]

I'll second that - If you really mean it stops blowing completely, look at the fan speed resistor (fsr) or fan/blower itself. The rear has its own blower, BTW.

There are threads here on testing the fan without removing it.replacing it is a big job.
I'd consider the FSR first though. Very common failure and not hard to reach.

[GBorklu]

It may sound funny but you are saying that it is starting to flow hot after some time, so please do this test. When the AC is working correct the condenser in the front is hot, When you feel the hot air flow starts stop the car and open the hood, touch your hand with the condenser.

IF it is cold or hot makes diagnosing completely different. The hiss of sound you told in the first messages, I guess I heard that sound too when the system was over charged with AC refrigerant.

I wish you good luck.

[kwalk]

Let me tell you what hubby did this morning (before reading this thread): He checked the heater/water valve as suggested and water wasn't flowing through. He tapped on it a bit and then it started flowing. He used a stick and could hear it coming through almost like a heartbeat. So it seems maybe it was stuck. Right now the valve is pumping, and everything seems to be flowing through. We'll know more after he drives it to see if it stops again like yesterday. Does that mean my heater valve needs to be replaced?

[David.X5]

Glad you are moving in the right direction. Does sound like your valve, but give it a day or two to be sure. You want it fully closed in the summer to keep hot water out of the cabin, and then open in the winter for heat. It is normally open, so if you disconnect the wires, it will be open and you will get heat (it would be nice if it was normally closed...).

The seals do go bad and the inside parts sieze up. It is a common failure part on all BMW's it seems. Some people try to rebuild the valves - you can get a seal kit on ebay for $55.

UPDATE 8-8-15 (I bought this part and it arrived DOA, so I would not recommend it) --> However, xyz sells a Hamburg-Technic version for $100.

The dealer (depends which dealer) wants $150-$200.

[babyduke]

Update

I ended up replacing the aux fan and my X5 feels like a freezer again! Thanks to everyone, especially upallnight, for your feedback and generous assistance.