[AK Bear]

I have a 98 Z3 that my wife and I have been leaving here and there in storage between trips. Last time we used it the air conditioner button wouldn't engage except for when the ignition was on the motor was off. So long as we would pull over and turn off the car and try again it would work just fine, but if we turned it off while driving, we would have to repeate the stop and restart procedure if we wanted it on again. Prior to this last trip everything was fine. Any thoughts about what's going on? We won't have a chance to travel with it until October, but we have it in Florida and will need the air. Thanks for any help.

 

[Blacklane]

There isn't much in that circuit. There is a relay, and those can act like that. There is also a low-pressure switch that disables the A/C if the refrigerant charge is too low. You could be right at the margin for that. And the switch in the cockpit is not very reliable and often fails.

You can probably track it down by starting at the relay socket and measuring voltages there.

Lots of good info here: http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=698119

Map of the relay panel here: http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=867554

 

[AK Bear]

Thanks. I won't have tools or a place to work but at least now I have an idea of what could be wrong. Desn't sound serious so I won't worry.