Xantia Activa AC Liquid Line Replacement

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

Moderator: RichardW

Post Reply
Online
User avatar
Zelandeth
Donor 2024
Posts: 4731
Joined: 16 Nov 2014, 23:36
Location: Milton Keynes
My Cars: 2006 Peugeot Partner Escapade 1.6HDi.
1988 Renault 25 Monaco 2.0i.
1985 Sinclair C5.
1984 Trabant 601S.
1975 Rover 3500.
1973 AC Model-70.
x 1403
Contact:

Xantia Activa AC Liquid Line Replacement

Post by Zelandeth »

Something which I've become acutely aware of lately is that the Xantia suffers badly from being designed with the general expectation of being fitted with air con.

The cooling/ventilation performance without it is pretty impressively poor. Having no air conditioning and a black leather interior has rendered it a thoroughly unpleasant place to be on days like this.

I want my A/C back!

The good thing is that I know where the leaks are. Assuming there are none hiding actually on the evaporator anyway.

One of them is dead easy. Leaky Schrader core on the LP service port. That's a five minute job to change - and I think I might even still have the core changing tool floating around somewhere so I can do that myself.

The second leak however is a little more troublesome. The crimped join between the rigid pipe and flexible hose on the pipe running between the accumulator and evaporator has failed.
IMG_20180724_211136.jpg
Wider angle to better show the location.
IMG_20171116_122418.jpg
That end is nice and accessible...but the other end vanishes into the bowels of the engine bay behind the engine. I've a horrible feeling it may well run all the way to the TXV on the evaporator (assuming it has one...do automotive systems use a TXV or cap tube usually?) which would mean it's a dash out job to change. Anyone got a diagram?

Given that replacing the whole line looks to involve taking the whole car apart, is there My reason the rigid line couldn't be cut and a new flexible line be made then attached using compression fittings?

There are assumptions there that the pipe is a size you can get fittings for and that the pipe (aluminium I'm guessing from the appearance) isn't too soft to make a firm enough joint to be gas tight... compression fittings aren't that unusual on industrial HVAC kit (especially the ancient gear I used to help look after) so in principle there's no reason why not as far as I can see...

Confirmation of where that line goes is the main thing I need though. If it's accessible from the engine bay, even if it means taking the inlet manifold etc off, obviously that's the best solution.

Assuming the pipe itself is long since NFP from Citroen...should be trivial to have Pirtek etc to make a new one up from the original as a template though if so.

Really don't want to go pulling the dash though...
Current fleet:
06 Peugeot Partner Escapade 1.6HDi, 88 Renault 25 Monaco, 85 Sinclair C5, 84 Trabant 601S, 75 Rover 3500, 73 AC Model 70.
User avatar
xantia_v6
Forum Admin Team
Posts: 9052
Joined: 09 Nov 2005, 22:03
Location: France or NewZealand
Lexia Available: Yes
My Cars: -
1997 Citroen Xantia V6 (France)
1999 Citroen XM V6 ES9 (France)
2011 Peugeot 308 CC THP 155 (NZ)
1975 Jaguar XJ-S pre-HE (NZ)
x 825

Re: Xantia Activa AC Liquid Line Replacement

Post by xantia_v6 »

I am pretty sure that the Xantia TXV is on the engine side of the bulkhead, probably below the LHM tank.
User avatar
Stickyfinger
(Donor 2016)
Posts: 10411
Joined: 28 Mar 2013, 21:05
Location: Somset my lovleee
My Cars: Xantia V6 ACTIVA 3ltr 24v Manual p1
Xm 2.1TD Ph2 Exclusive
AX, little Daffodil
SAXO White Mk1. Sally
x 1280
Contact:

Re: Xantia Activa AC Liquid Line Replacement

Post by Stickyfinger »

2"ltr XUD type...they all look similar.
Attachments
Capture.JPG
Alasdair
Activa, the Moose Rider
3x C5x7 Steering racks and counting
Online
User avatar
Zelandeth
Donor 2024
Posts: 4731
Joined: 16 Nov 2014, 23:36
Location: Milton Keynes
My Cars: 2006 Peugeot Partner Escapade 1.6HDi.
1988 Renault 25 Monaco 2.0i.
1985 Sinclair C5.
1984 Trabant 601S.
1975 Rover 3500.
1973 AC Model-70.
x 1403
Contact:

Re: Xantia Activa AC Liquid Line Replacement

Post by Zelandeth »

Pretty sure the accumulator is in a different location on the TD - on my first Xantia (admittedly an S2 car) it was directly behind the O/S headlight - I remember hurling curses at it when changing the bulbs.

Either way... it's shown as NFP exactly as I expected. If that's for the TD, even less likely not still be available for the TCT given there are probably an order of magnitude XUD/DW engined cars left...

What's more worrying though is it looks like both of those lines are part of one assembly, joined together at the bulkhead if the diagram is right...in which case yes, chopping things up and getting inventive is very much more likely to become necessary.
Current fleet:
06 Peugeot Partner Escapade 1.6HDi, 88 Renault 25 Monaco, 85 Sinclair C5, 84 Trabant 601S, 75 Rover 3500, 73 AC Model 70.
User avatar
xantia_v6
Forum Admin Team
Posts: 9052
Joined: 09 Nov 2005, 22:03
Location: France or NewZealand
Lexia Available: Yes
My Cars: -
1997 Citroen Xantia V6 (France)
1999 Citroen XM V6 ES9 (France)
2011 Peugeot 308 CC THP 155 (NZ)
1975 Jaguar XJ-S pre-HE (NZ)
x 825

Re: Xantia Activa AC Liquid Line Replacement

Post by xantia_v6 »

Although there were several variants of the A/C pipes, I expect that the version you need was used on more than the TCT.

I have on several occasions had A/C hoses for classic cars remade with new flexible sections fitted to old metal ends. The trick is finding someone with the correct crimping tools and the expertise to get everything aligned properly.

Also note that there is a join in the low pressure line from the evaporator to the compressor, which is quite tricky to undo without damage, and (according to Citroen) on good for a few connection cycles before both halves of the pipe must be replaced.
Post Reply