Dead Air Con

Post your Cit/Peu/Ren air conditioning queries or advice.

Moderator: RichardW

Post Reply
Linchpin
Posts: 147
Joined: 22 Dec 2004, 21:27
Location:
My Cars:

Dead Air Con

Post by Linchpin »

Hey.. not sure if i posted this before... here goes.
306 XSi, P reg, no air con.
Press the button, light comes on, no fan, no nice cold air :-(
Any idea?
Cheers
alan s
RIP 2010
Posts: 2542
Joined: 26 Jan 2001, 15:53
Location: Australia
My Cars:
x 6

Post by alan s »

Can you hear the compressor cut in?
When you say fan, do you mean inside fan or outside?
If it's the outside, possibly short of gas. Inside, look for a fuse followed by a dodgy electrical connection or switch.
Alan S
Linchpin
Posts: 147
Joined: 22 Dec 2004, 21:27
Location:
My Cars:

Post by Linchpin »

Thanks for the reply.
I have checked the fuse in the interior fuse box, thats OK.
Basically i get nothing. No fans at all. Compressor dosent kick in at all.
Kev
User avatar
fastandfurryous
Posts: 1388
Joined: 07 Jul 2004, 17:57
Location: On the road, travelling at high speed. Meep Meep.
My Cars:
x 4

Post by fastandfurryous »

Does sound like it's just low on gas and the low pressure cut out switch is preventing the system from doing anything. That's good because if the compressor was to run, it would probably suck in some air and self-destruct. But it's also bad, as it means you have no gas. Any aircon specialist can do an R134a recharge. Bet on between £60 and £100 dependent on where you go.
Linchpin
Posts: 147
Joined: 22 Dec 2004, 21:27
Location:
My Cars:

Post by Linchpin »

Well... its P reg. And never been gassed. So i guess its over due :-)
A guy around by me does it for £50. I guess thats not bad.
alan s
RIP 2010
Posts: 2542
Joined: 26 Jan 2001, 15:53
Location: Australia
My Cars:
x 6

Post by alan s »

Before you saddle up to a regas, it is possible to bridge the switch out momentarily to see if the solenoid clicks in. If you do that, then you know where you're at with it.
Just be sure that the guy doing the regas can get access to all the fittings and as a double check, run over all the connections and look out for any signs of oil stains near the fittings.
Unfortunately it seems these days where we are supposedly that so much more environmentally concious that where mechanics in my day fastidiously ran over every joint and connection with a leak detector, these days they seem to just recharge, whack a tracer dye in (looked upon as a last resort in my day) and send you on your way and only fixing the leak either as a last resort after a few trips back to get it regassed or if they fall over it by accident. The number I hear of where the repairer hasn't even bothered to go looking for the leak is unbelieveable. Be particularly certain you give him access to the T/X valve as that is often the source of leaks after a lay off for winter.
Most joints that weep or leak will be due to "O" rings needing replacing and these have to be green ones not the black variety to be R134a compatable.
Alan S
User avatar
Kowalski
Posts: 2557
Joined: 15 Oct 2003, 17:41
Location: North East, United Kingdom
My Cars: Ex 05 C5 2.0 HDI Exclusive 145k
Ex 97 Xantia 1.9TD SX 144k
Ex 94 Xantia Dimension 1.9TD 199k

Post by Kowalski »

My Dad used to look after several refrigeration plants, the biggest had several tonnes of R12 in them. He kept the systems in good condition so that he didn't need to buy ANY refrigerant at all, if he got any sort of leak he'd be out with the leak detector straight away and kept the system absolutely gas tight. He started out with ammonia systems and doesn't like breathing amonnia, hence he's a bit pedantic about leaks...
Linchpin
Posts: 147
Joined: 22 Dec 2004, 21:27
Location:
My Cars:

Post by Linchpin »

Any idea how to bridge the switch?
Ill try that 1st.
alan s
RIP 2010
Posts: 2542
Joined: 26 Jan 2001, 15:53
Location: Australia
My Cars:
x 6

Post by alan s »

That's correct; these systems don't <b>use</b> refrigerant (gas) they <b>lose</b> it.
The really big issue that they never seem to mention is that apart from the environmental ones and the cost factor, I have seen it reported (not in any front page stories of course - can't have a small thing like this affect the multi nationals balance sheets) that R134a is carcenogenic and has been found to cause testicular cancer.
If this is the case, then how irresponsible is it for repairers to be pumping a kilo of this into the system to potentially blow it straight into your face if the leak is in the region of the evaporator?
Alright I suppose if you hold any ambitions to be lead soprano in the Vienna Boys Choir.[:D][:0][:0]
This is why I always make a deal out of getting them to find the leak and fix it instead of just dropping another charge in that will inevitably leak out again if the leak isn't found.
Alan S
alan s
RIP 2010
Posts: 2542
Joined: 26 Jan 2001, 15:53
Location: Australia
My Cars:
x 6

Post by alan s »

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Linchpin</i>

Any idea how to bridge the switch?
Ill try that 1st.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
There should be 4 wires to it. On mine, it's wires 1 & 2 as marked on the brown connector coming from the switch on top of the receiver/dryer.
One is green whilst the other is blue. That is as per a Cit BX but there's a fairly strong chance yours could be similar.
Alan S
Linchpin
Posts: 147
Joined: 22 Dec 2004, 21:27
Location:
My Cars:

Post by Linchpin »

Any idea what reading id get with a meter if i tested it ?
alan s
RIP 2010
Posts: 2542
Joined: 26 Jan 2001, 15:53
Location: Australia
My Cars:
x 6

Post by alan s »

It's a make and break switch so it should just show a full circuit.
Alan S
User avatar
Kowalski
Posts: 2557
Joined: 15 Oct 2003, 17:41
Location: North East, United Kingdom
My Cars: Ex 05 C5 2.0 HDI Exclusive 145k
Ex 97 Xantia 1.9TD SX 144k
Ex 94 Xantia Dimension 1.9TD 199k

Post by Kowalski »

The switch on the Xantia has 4 green wires going into it, one thick pair and one thin pair. The thick pair seems to control high/low pressure cut out, and the thin pair puts the cooling fans into high temperature "panic" mode.
I bridged the thick pair with my multimeter and 7 amps flowed through it.
Linchpin
Posts: 147
Joined: 22 Dec 2004, 21:27
Location:
My Cars:

Post by Linchpin »

And im looking for the compressor for this? excuse my ignorance... :-)
User avatar
Kowalski
Posts: 2557
Joined: 15 Oct 2003, 17:41
Location: North East, United Kingdom
My Cars: Ex 05 C5 2.0 HDI Exclusive 145k
Ex 97 Xantia 1.9TD SX 144k
Ex 94 Xantia Dimension 1.9TD 199k

Post by Kowalski »

No, on the Xantia its on top of the dryer bottle. This is a cylinder about 4 inches in diamter, 6 inches deep with a pipe going into the top of it (where the switch is) and a second pipe coming out of the side of it. On the Xantia this is in the front of the engine bay on the off side.
Post Reply