Air con & engine management problem on new xantia

[raffrich]

Hi folks, first time poster - long time reader.

I have just sold an 'N' Reg petrol 2.0 16v Xantia that I was really attached to I did 40k in it (MOT failure on ABS and brake pipes, got £100 on ebay and the guy put it through the MOT next day and it passed - without any work?!?!?!? ) I didnt fix it because I was cahanging jobs and getting a new company car (which i think i'm gonna give back and take the cash alternative).

In the meantime however I have swapped my fiancees 1.1 106 for a 1998 R reg Xantia TD SX new shape 65k miles 12 month MOT - £675 - immaculate condition!. The car has done 2000 miles in the last 6 years!!! Decided it was a good one and took it home and then discovered it was pi***ng LHM all over the rear o/s wheel. I depressurized the system and found that the mechanic who had just replaced the spheres (the seller gave me an invoice for £330!!) had left the old sphere seal on, as there were now 2 seals it was leaking i removed the surplus seal and all is fine - I was very chuffed with this fix.

I have now changed the engine oil and serviced it etc.. but I have a query with 2 things.

1. The air con button does nothing - not even light up, does this happen when it needs regassing and just cuts all power to everything - even the swithch? Also when the car gets warm only one of the front radiator fans cuts in, but it seems to do a good job of cooling the engine with the temp. guage going rapidly down when it cuts in - do you think this is something to do with the air con problem.

2. The engine management light comes on momentarily when the engine is started and idleing and disappears when the throttle is blipped - does anyone think this is serious?

Sorry for the essay folks but still excited about the new old beast.

Cheers

Rich

[MikeT]

The air con button does nothing - not even light up, does this happen when it needs regassing and just cuts all power to everything - even the swithch? Also when the car gets warm only one of the front radiator fans cuts in, but it seems to do a good job of cooling the engine with the temp. guage going rapidly down when it cuts in - do you think this is something to do with the air con problem.

Hi Rich, yes, the A/C compressor will not run if there's inadequate refrigerant pressure.

As far as I know, both fans should operate together. There's a lot of detailed information & links on this forum about the fault you describe.

[xantia_v6]

1. The air con button does nothing - not even light up,

Does it illuminate when the lights are on? if not, it is likely the bulb (as wll as lack of gas).

1. Also when the car gets warm only one of the front radiator fans cuts in, but it seems to do a good job of cooling the engine with the temp.

Most likely that the fan that is not running needs lubrication. Fix this before getting the A/C fixed, as when the A/C is operating, it will attempt to run the seized fan at full speed, which may lead to consequent damage to relays, wiring etc.

2. The engine management light comes on momentarily when the engine is started and idleing and disappears when the throttle is blipped

Maybe a sticky idle stepper motor? If it is causing the warning light to come on, it should be leving a fault code in the system that you can have read at your leisure.

[raffrich]

hi there, cheers for the tips.
I have made some progress tonight.

I was wondering why as mentioned above the A/C switch did't illuminate when the lights were on. As I was sitting pondering in the car I wondered why the A/C switch was in the position it was (behind the steering wheel, not next to the hazards where there was a blank) so i pulled the blank off - and there was a bayonet connector thing there. I then pulled the A/C switch out and lo and behold it was not connected to anything, hence no light.

I then swapped the blank and the switch started the car, switched it on all all lit up nicely (no a/c compressor kick in though).

Re: the non-working fan it has not seized as it spins freely when turned ny hand, there just seems to be no power to it - I will try and look further into this.

Re: the the ECU light - it seems I have a diagnostic socket under the dash, next to the fuse box. Is it possible to buy a cheap reader or software and a laptop cable off ebay e.g. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/OBD2-USB-for-Kia- ... eers Guys.

[CitroJim]

Have a good trawl around the A/C subforum. The fan and A/C problems ahve been extensively covered here and Clogzz has posted diagrams of the fan control circuit which will help greatly in tracing the problem. Also search for posts about the BITRON sensor.

As regards ECU diagnostics, diesel Xantias of this age unlikely to be OBDII/EOBD compliant and the stuff you're looking at will not work if this is the case. Diesel EODB compliance was not mandatory until 2004.

Have a look at your diagnostics connector. If it is a 16 pin socket that looks like a big, fat version of a computer serial (D-type connector) then it may be compliant. If it is a big 30 pin connector then it won't be. Even if it was EODB compliant, it may be of limited value and standard EOBD software may mis-interpret the codes given.

The diagnostic light coming on usually indicates one of the engine sensors is a little unhappy, either the TDC sensor, the No.3 injector lift sensor or the coolant temperature sensor. If it only comes on briefly on start-up and then never again, I'd not overly worry. It may have a stored fault code which you may be able to loose by leaving the battery disconnected for 15 minutes or so (make sure you know your radio code though!)

Another cause of the management light coming on can be if the engine is very slightly mis-timed after a cambelt replacement. Check the timing very carefully as it is very critical on these engines. Mis-timing of this nature is usually given away by rough running though.

[admiral51]

this link is for the fan relays/wiring etc

http://www.peugeotlogic.com/workshop/ws ... fanop1.htm

search posts from Clogzz and alan s on aircon/relays minds of information
colin