Regassed my Xantia, and it worked.. Briefly

Dommo · Post by **Dommo** » 27 Jun 2010, 11:25

Hi folks.

I found a leak on my Xantia AC and got it fixed. I changed the dryer unit as well, knowing the system had been 'open' for a few months so I thought it was a good precautionary measure. I then took the car to Kwik Fit to get it regassed, knowing that if it leaked again I wouldn't get charged.

Anyway I got it regassed, and it worked for about an hour and was great, but now it's all leaked out again.

Where is it likely to have leaked out, the compressor? I need one of those refrigerant sniffers ideally..

Any thoughts? Thanks, Dom.

Post by **xantia_v6** » 27 Jun 2010, 18:21

Any refrigerant leak, especially a fast leak is accompanied by an oil leak. Look all around the system for an oily stain.

You might want to check the voltages on the pressure switch to see if there is any pressure?

Dommo · Post by **Dommo** » 01 Jul 2010, 00:36

Found the leak - on the longest pipe in the system it seems, typically.

The pipe comes from the bulkhead towards the nearside, around to the offside, then forwards to behind the headlight, then down and round to the compressor, and it has a top up port on for good measure, £220 or so from Citroen - ouch!

Post by **xantia_v6** » 01 Jul 2010, 06:44

You have described the "low" pressure pipe, this has a joiner at the point it passes the suspension strut. There is a definite knack to splitting the joiner, and it must be done to untread the pipe from the bodywork.

I imagine that your leak is somewhere near the compressor end, due to road salt + aluminium pipe?

There are a variants of the front section of the pipe for various engines and compressors.

Dommo · Post by **Dommo** » 01 Jul 2010, 11:56

Yes sorry, I meant to say that it was the low pressure pipe! Where am I best looking for a replacement pipe? I was thinking of a scrappers but it's surprisingly difficult to find this pipe, which is pretty annoying.

The compressor is attached to the sump on my car, I know the high pressure suspension/steering pump sometimes attaches here on (presumably) non AC cars? Or at least it does on the two sinker 1.9TD's I've looked at.

Also - the leak was actually caused by a little pissy cable rubbing a hole in the pipe just behind offside headlight, so it's worth checking your cars to make sure this isn't an issue!