2006 BMW X5 3.0I AC Condenser and Aux Fan Cause Overheating

[Nick416]

Hello,

I saw a couple of your posts and I am hoping you can answer my question. I have a 2006 bmw x5 3.0i. It over heated the other day while I was stopped with the ac on. The AC was not blowing cold at this time. It takes 10+ minutes sometimes to kick on. I let it cool down, turned the ac off and drive it home with no problems. When I got home I tried the ac again and noticed the condenser was not engaging nor was the aux fan. I let it run at idle for already 10 munchies with the ac selected and no changes. The air was still warm, the condenser wasn't on, aux fan wasn't spinning and it was at normal running temperature. I took it to the local shop and they told me that the aux fan needs to be replaced. They said that the condenser won't kick in if the fan is bad and they have no way to test the condenser. I just want to make sure the condenser didn't burn up and waste $800 to fix a fan and still have no ac. Is it true that if the fan is bad it will prevent the condenser from kicking on and could I have burned the condenser up by trying to run the ac with the aux fan not working? Thank you in advance for any help you can give!

[B-M-W]

The first part is true. I'm not sure about you burning up your condenser however.

[Nick416]

Ok thank you for your response! I just want to know
before I spend all of that money to fix the fan.

[crystalworks]

^You can fix it for much cheaper than that if you do the work yourself. If you are unable, or it's not worth it to you though, I understand that as well. I find that the older I get the more I'd rather someone else turn the wrenches... unfortunately that is seldom an option for me with how expensive labor is.

I was under the impression, and someone else who has experienced this can chime in (I think Trader had, or has this issue with his fan), that the compressor will still function provided the charge is where it is supposed to be. The only reason your compressor would not engage is if the pressure switch is tripped or the clutch failed I believe.

[Nick416]

So the condenser should still function even though the fan is bad?

[Nick416]

I just bought this car. I put maybe 50 miles on it and already sunk $2000 into it on top of the purchase price between tie rod ends, tires, alignment, oxygen sensors, oil change, brakes, detailing etc. I don't know if I could've broke the condenser by running the ac with a bad aux fan causing Overheating. Thank you everyone for your any advice

[upallnight]

Originally Posted by Nick416

Hello,

I saw a couple of your posts and I am hoping you can answer my question. I have a 2006 bmw x5 3.0i. It over heated the other day while I was stopped with the ac on. The AC was not blowing cold at this time. It takes 10+ minutes sometimes to kick on. I let it cool down, turned the ac off and drive it home with no problems. When I got home I tried the ac again and noticed the condenser was not engaging nor was the aux fan. I let it run at idle for already 10 munchies with the ac selected and no changes. The air was still warm, the condenser wasn't on, aux fan wasn't spinning and it was at normal running temperature. I took it to the local shop and they told me that the aux fan needs to be replaced. They said that the condenser won't kick in if the fan is bad and they have no way to test the condenser. I just want to make sure the condenser didn't burn up and waste $800 to fix a fan and still have no ac. Is it true that if the fan is bad it will prevent the condenser from kicking on and could I have burned the condenser up by trying to run the ac with the aux fan not working? Thank you in advance for any help you can give!

First off lets get the terminology correct. It's the COMPRESSOR that turns on Not the Condenser. Only way that you can burn up a compressor if you ran it low on oil and it suffered what is know in the industry as the Black Death.

There's one member on this board that will tell you that he still get ac even with a fan fault. It depends on how the fan failed. You can test to see if 12 volt DC is still available at the fan connector. It should be present whether the key is on or off. No 12 volts will indicates that the fuse has blown. Only reason why that 50 amp fuse will blow is if the aux fan shorted out. If this is the case you need a new aux fan.

Here's a post from another forum member with the same problem and his fix:

http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...-suddenly.html

[crystalworks]

Originally Posted by Nick416

I just bought this car. I put maybe 50 miles on it and already sunk $2000 into it on top of the purchase price between tie rod ends, tires, alignment, oil change, brakes, detailing etc. I don't know if I could've broke the condenser by running the ac with a bad aux fan causing Overheating. Thank you everyone for your any advice

Oh, I thought you meant the compressor. The condenser is basically just a radiator for your AC system. It does some other stuff, but is just a mechanical device. Running without an auxiliary fan will not damage the condenser.

Oh, and spending $2000 after purchase price on a used BMW is pretty standard fare. Only way to avoid that is to pay top dollar to an enthusiast who has already done the work that 99% of used BMW's need. Most owners don't do the maintenance they are supposed to on time, or decide to live with check engine lights, clunking suspensions, etc until they trade the vehicle in or sell it to pass on the problems to the next guy. Sad, but true.

[Nick416]

There is power to the fan but the fan does not come on. That's what I was told by the shop. They said once I replace the fan the compressor should function normally. There is no way for them to test the compressor. Thank you for classifying the terminology!

[Nick416]

BTW I am referring to the ac compressor not condenser