Air-con?

This is the Forum for all your Citroen Technical Questions, Problems or Advice.

Moderator: RichardW

Post Reply
Rich
Posts: 103
Joined: 26 May 2002, 23:59
Location: United Kingdom
My Cars:

Air-con?

Post by Rich »

I have just bought a Xantia Exclusive 2.0HDi, everything seems okay but i think the air conditioning may be low on refrigerant, as when the system is operating, there is no visible flow of fluid in the sight glass on the filter/drier bottle. Can anyone recommend a good car air conditioning specialist who can do a full check/service on the system for me? Thanks!!
marco1
Posts: 52
Joined: 10 Jan 2002, 00:19
Location: United Kingdom
My Cars:

Post by marco1 »

hi, thats good..if you see bubbles inflow it needs toping up.if its cloudy then you,ve got problems yours sounds good to me.top and check about £50 from any aircon specialise.
Rich
Posts: 103
Joined: 26 May 2002, 23:59
Location: United Kingdom
My Cars:

Post by Rich »

Hello everyone!!
Marco1, thanks for your advice mate, it is appreciated!! I have tried the air-con on way home from work and it's nice and cool so things must be good. I will have it checked every year i think, just to keep it in good fettle. Thanks again, regards, Rich.
Robbie
Posts: 37
Joined: 05 Feb 2002, 12:46
Location:
My Cars:

Post by Robbie »

Hi, I'm still not sure if my air con is working properly, it does blow reasonably cold but seems to take a while to do it especially if the car has been sitting in the sun all day, should it make a difference? if I put the car in the garage out of the sun it works ok straight away, if I look in the glass window you can see the flow and there doesn’t appear to be any bubbles, I’m reluctant to pay to have any work done on it and then it’s just the same because it’s working as it should be anyway, I have no way of trying out air con in another car to see if it’s the same. How long should it be before you have the refrigerant refilled? mines four years old.
Thanks Robbie.
hardmanm
Posts: 73
Joined: 30 Jan 2002, 15:42
Location:
My Cars:

Post by hardmanm »

The air-con does seem to take a while to cool down when the car has been in the sun, this seems to be normal as long as it gets cold within a minute or two.
The Xantia system is simply not very good compared to the system on some other ie japanese cars, still it's better than not having a/c at all!
Mark
JohnD
(Donor 2022)
Posts: 2632
Joined: 14 Mar 2001, 23:41
Location: Epsom, Surrey
My Cars: 2010 Citroen C5-X7 tourer
1998 Citroen Saxo 1.5D
2018 Citroen C4-B7
1998 Peugeot 306. 1.9D
2011 Citroen C1
x 72
Contact:

Post by JohnD »

Robbie - I had air-con fitted to my BXTZD when it was new in 1991. When I gave the car to my daughter in 1998, the aircon was still working. Throughout that time it had not required any attention other than making sure that the system was operated for at least ten minutes every week.
marco1
Posts: 52
Joined: 10 Jan 2002, 00:19
Location: United Kingdom
My Cars:

Post by marco1 »

hi Rich me again,yep i had mine toped up and checked last summer readings at vents as follows..6c at vents not sure to other makes passed system..i would say maybe not best in the world but went to south of france last year 3 weeks very hot all the time with 2 kids it worked good no sweating as previous years without aircon.im happy with it, mine just 5 years old i would say to have yours checked,mine had bubbles in it he put 15ml in it, 850g of gas.so i think im the only one ho had it checked.hope this is some use to you.any records on service history??to see if yours has been done.
Rich
Posts: 103
Joined: 26 May 2002, 23:59
Location: United Kingdom
My Cars:

Post by Rich »

Hello Marco, that is a great help, cheers, yeah, i see what you mean, i have found a guy who will do a full job for £70, he says he will do a full service on the air con. He says he will completely evacuate and check the system, and on refilling he will add the correct amount of oil and make sure the system is full. And he will even ultrasonically clean the evaporator fins to kill any bacteria/bad smells. For an extra £5 he says he can add a dye to the system to make any future leaks easier to find. Seems like a good deal to me!! The car is only just over one and a half years old but has got a full service history, but there is no evidence of the air con having had any attention, so i will let the man check it. I have never had a car with air con before, but i think the system on the Xantia is good, i would much rather be with it than without it!! I have found though, the more i use it, the better it seems to work. It demists the windows fast too!!! Regards, Rich.
Robbie
Posts: 37
Joined: 05 Feb 2002, 12:46
Location:
My Cars:

Post by Robbie »

Hi again, some one told me it's best to just leave the air con on all the time, is there any benifit to that?
Robbie
Dave Burns
Posts: 1915
Joined: 14 May 2001, 05:30
Location: United Kingdom
My Cars:
x 2

Post by Dave Burns »

If you leave the aircon on all the time it will shorten the life of the compressor, plus running the compressor and the cooling fan's soaks up a fair bit of power so mpg will drop accordingly.
Use it when it's required, but as John said previousely give it a workout now and then, this keeps the seals in the compressor in trim.
Dave
Edited by - Dave Burns on 28 May 2002 23:13:56
Post Reply