update on flat battery xm turbo est

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sammycitroenzx
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Joined: 18 May 2005, 17:57
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update on flat battery xm turbo est

Post by sammycitroenzx »

Hi guys i have cracked i think the car has an an aftermarket ac system from astroair its never worked in all the time i have had and i done close to 230k in it the previous owner said the switch was at fault and astroair dont do them anymore and are not that helpfull its located on the lefthand side of the center console infront of the sport/norm switch it has a snowflake on it well i prised it out its a four pole item but it had no wires going to it after tacing the center console out its an auto box i found the wires spade connectors 4 in total the 12v feed had been shorting out on the gear selector hence the erratic drain problem i like to connect these back up to the switch but i have not got a clue which one is which in relation to the switch and neither does astroair and they bloody fitted it so i have made safe the wire so they will not short again
what is the long term problems of having an ac system that does not run will the compressor sease with lack of gas you help will be most helpfull
also will a s1 single spoke steering wheeel fit on a s2 as mine is very worn i can remove the air bag wheel ok as i have changed the indicator stalks before now aND I HAVE A VOLCANE FOR SALE TOO
aengus
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Joined: 04 Jul 2005, 21:56
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Post by aengus »

Sam,
a/c not running should cause no real problems as the compressor will not be engaged. BUT, it is possible that the bearing in the free-wheeling part of the clutch can fail and then the belt goes with it and you're into roadside repair/recovery, perhaps. You may be able to get a belt that can be fitted without the compressor in the loop, esp given it's an aftermarket one.
Ask on XM-L at yahoogroups dot com, someone there may know the answer re the switch and wiring of it.
re the S1 wheel, it can't support an airbag, so likely you'd fail the MOT. Also the wheel controls will likely be different for the radio. Someone on XM-L may have a wheel if that helps.
regards
dnsey
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Post by dnsey »

It might be interesting to attach a temporary supply & earth to the A/C clutch, just to see what happens!
If the aircon works OK, it's worth working out where the proper wiring goes.
FrenchLeave
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Post by FrenchLeave »

If your car has the auto box, the switch with the snowflake on it is nothing to do with air conditioning - it switches the gearbox to snow mode, making it start in 2nd gear to reduce the chance of wheelspin when startng off on slippery surfaces. It's usually paired with another press switch with "sport" on it diagonally in the form of a cross, this delays the change up points. I'm not surprised that Astroair know nothing about it.
You don't say which car you own but I assume it's a series 2 xm. In that case you should have the gear selected showing in a window at the bottom of the speedo. It should also show the gearbox mode in the same window - either "eco", "snow" or "sport".
I havn't a clue where your air conditioning switch is likely to be, it's normally on the climate control panel above the radio, although on the series 1 (with rotary heater controls) it was at the bottom of the dash to the right of the steering wheel and it's possible that an after market a/c system would have it there.
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