[agad]

Need some help guys as my AC is frustrating me and can't put my hands on what causing this.

I never had any problems with my AC until I travelled for a 3 weeks holiday and when I got back I realized that my ac is only blowing hot air. I initially thought I had a leak somewhere in the condenser and that the gas was all drained during my holiday.

I went for an ac specialist who checked the pressure and ran a full leak test and there wasn't any leak what so ever. He asked my to run a diagnostic on the car to spot what is causing the problem. The next day I gave the ac a try and it blew a super cold air for about 10mins and then it stopped, when I parked the car to get a takeaway I checked the ac clutch and realized that its not spinning, few minutes later when I got my food I turned the ac on and it was blowing cold air again and the clutch was spinning. It kept working for 2 days regardless of how many times you start and stop the car until it blew hot air again and since then it never turned on for a full week.

I ran a diagnostic on the car via ISTA/D and couldn't find any faults on any module except one error on the JBE which is : 9c69 Rear cabin stratification adjuster. I guess this error has nothing to do with engaging the clutch as its related to the rear passenger vents. I then played with the JBE functions until I managed to manually trigger the ac clutch to turn on and I could hear the clutch every time I test it!! Actually before this step I was thinking that the compressor was seized and is not able to engage anymore but how come it can be engaged manually via ISTA and it doesn't engage via the climate control panel?

I would appreciate very much if anyone can help me sort out this as its getting very hot these days and can't spot the cause as the gas pressure is fine and all sensors are not throwing any errors.

PS: I have been driving BMW since 10 years so please don't ask me to put the adjuster on the blue side as its there

Cheers!

[agad]

UPDATE:

Checked today the pressure sensor reading and its says 127.5 Bar which is extremely high, so do you think this may be the cause that prevents the compressor from engaging?

[DustyLBottoms]

Originally Posted by agad

UPDATE:

Checked today the pressure sensor reading and its says 127.5 Bar which is extremely high, so do you think this may be the cause that prevents the compressor from engaging?

Jesus, that's 1,849 PSI. I seriously doubt your AC system is that highly pressurized. I'll bet the pressure sensor/switch is bad, and preventing the system from cycling correctly.

[agad]

Thanks mate! Yeah i guess this is the cause of the problem as the IHKA will prevent the clutch from engaging when the pressure is above 30 bars so 127 is an absolute joke! I've already ordered a new sensor from the main dealer and will be fitting it on Monday.. I hope this sorts out the problem as its really driving me crazy ��

[agad]

Replaced the sensor today and unfortunately the ac still not working and the pressure value is still showing 128 bars when checked from the JBE and Zero bar when checked from the IHKA..
Any suggestions to sort out this??

[Cory S]

Maybe evacuate the system, and recharge it?

[frenchi]

The reason your ac doesn't work is this error - 9c69 Rear cabin stratification adjuster
Nothing to do with your compressor !! Did you change recently something on your armrest usb aux connectors ? Try to remove this central part between the front seats and rear ac blower and check all cables and connections you got some problem there.

[agad]

Originally Posted by frenchi

The reason your ac doesn't work is this error - 9c69 Rear cabin stratification adjuster
Nothing to do with your compressor !! Did you change recently something on your armrest usb aux connectors ? Try to remove this central part between the front seats and rear ac blower and check all cables and connections you got some problem there.

Are you sure about that? Have u had a similar error? Yes i've done an idrive retrofit in my car 3 month ago but the ac was working fine! I checked for similar errors online and no one mentioned that the ac not engaging.

[frenchi]

Yes i am,few years ago i lost 3 days on my friend 5 series for the same problem and we found a cable connector problem under his armrest

[agad]

Originally Posted by frenchi

Yes i am,few years ago i lost 3 days on my friend 5 series for the same problem and we found a cable connector problem under his armrest

Will take off the centre console now and check for any loose connection!

[agad]

"frenchi" your the man!

I took of the back vent cover of my centre console and noticed the wires going to the strafification adujustor are trapped under the centre console 10mm bolt! Took the bolt off and released the wires and noticed part of them are bare and touching each other. Repaired them and covered them with new tape and cleared the error and it was gone! Checked the refrigerant pressure and it gave the correct pressure and finally tested the ac and it worked

Thanks very much guys for your help and specialy to "frenchi" who spoted the problem.
My advice for everyone to sort out any error code the comes in the diagnostics EVEN if its not related to the problem as in my case this cable made the JBE give a very high pressure reading and acorrdingly the ac clutch stopped engaging.

Thanks again!

[PichaDis11]

Well did not see that one coming. Forum wins again.

[E92er]

Originally Posted by PichaDis11

Well did not see that one coming. Forum wins again.

Yep same here. Figured it was a wire issue but not where he found it.

[5tony]

Awesome!

[frenchi]

Originally Posted by agad

"frenchi" your the man!

I took of the back vent cover of my centre console and noticed the wires going to the strafification adujustor are trapped under the centre console 10mm bolt! Took the bolt off and released the wires and noticed part of them are bare and touching each other. Repaired them and covered them with new tape and cleared the error and it was gone! Checked the refrigerant pressure and it gave the correct pressure and finally tested the ac and it worked

Thanks very much guys for your help and specialy to "frenchi" who spoted the problem.
My advice for everyone to sort out any error code the comes in the diagnostics EVEN if its not related to the problem as in my case this cable made the JBE give a very high pressure reading and acorrdingly the ac clutch stopped engaging.

Thanks again!

my pleasure....don't ask me what we did to my friend car before finding this stupid think under the armrest cover. Local Bmw dealer ask 2800e to replace compressor first then Dme...so we almost disassemble the car in 3 days testing every single unit

[agad]

Originally Posted by frenchi

my pleasure....don't ask me what we did to my friend car before finding this stupid think under the armrest cover. Local Bmw dealer ask 2800e to replace compressor first then Dme...so we almost disassemble the car in 3 days testing every single unit

Definitely agree with you and this was the reason why I didn't visit the main dealer as im sure it will take them more than 2 hours for the diagnostics which costs £180 and another £180 for each hour after and in the end will say it needs a new compressor! Thanks god that we have the bmw software and an awesome guys like u in this forum 😀

[Otruba_843]

Glad you didn't have to replace the compressor. I had the same problem with my A/C blowing hot air; however, I wasn't so lucky. Ended up have a bent compressor wheel

[agad]

Originally Posted by Otruba_843

Glad you didn't have to replace the compressor. I had the same problem with my A/C blowing hot air; however, I wasn't so lucky. Ended up have a bent compressor wheel

Yeah i've replaced the compressor before in my 07 320i when i was in the middle east but the 320d i have now only done about 43k and in the UK we only use the AC a few times a year and from my knowledge, the compressor i have in my car is the 6SBU14C which is the updated version that has a clutch rather than the clutchless comprossers that usually seize.

[bbrf033]

Originally Posted by frenchi

The reason your ac doesn't work is this error - 9c69 Rear cabin stratification adjuster
Nothing to do with your compressor !! Did you change recently something on your armrest usb aux connectors ? Try to remove this central part between the front seats and rear ac blower and check all cables and connections you got some problem there.

Omg. The rear cabin stratification adjustment. I would never have never guessed, but the ac compressor stopped engaging right after replacing my airbag module under the armrest. Thanks for helping me figure this out. It gets a hot here in July

[bigfwop]

After a solid YEAR of intermittent ac compressor function that 9c69 code finally showed itself in error memory via inpa. For the past year I’ve installed 2 compressors and refilled refrigerant at least 5 times and was ready to sell the car since I live in Florida.
I finally remembered this post and sure enough the rear stratification wire was pinched under the rear console. For anyone dealing with intermittent ac compressor engagement: Check that cable run regardless of it showing in error memory!!!!
This is the only post I’ve found where a weird gremlin was resolved by the most odd break in wiring. I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that the entire system/operation will stop intermittently because of a pinched wire.

[Pa-Beer's e90]

Some serious checking going to happen after reading this thread. This forum rocks with valuable and time and money-saving tips!

[tobewan]

Fwiw, I had code 009C69 on my 06 330i. Found these threads and was about to dig into the console to look at wires and thought "no one's touched that dial in years".
Rotated the dial vigorously end to end a number of times, left it in the middle, cleared the error, it never gave back.