Trying to get my air-con working ?

[sandybx]

Dear All,
I am trying to get my air-conditioning working
Firstly, the car has a problem in that the hot/cold control dial on the left hand side, is not functioning fully. The control dial will only rotate from cold, at say 1 o,clock around clockwise to about 7 o,clock. This I think is having two problems, in that apart from the car not getting fully hot it is also not getting to fully cold either. The reason for this is something I am also trying to sort out. It seems to be a routing of the cables/rods problem rather that a sticky heater tap problem.
Secondly, the reason I have mentioned this in the first paragraph, is that I am unsure whether the heater control dials have any sort of micro switches, that may be fitted behind the heater controls panel, with regards as to why the air-con is not working.
Today, I have looked at pulley on the compressor pump and whilst the belt and the inside part of the pulley are moving satisfactorly when the engine is running, but the outside part of the pulley is not rotating.
Inside the car, the fan blower speed control dial is working at all speeds and the air direction control is working correctly and the air recirculation switch is working correctly too. However when you switch on the air-con switch nothing happpens, no click as the clutch should be engaging.
Another thing I was aslo wondering is if at all I can drain and refill the system myself, with one these modern day diy kits that seem to be available these days
The car is a 93 1.6cc 8v BX TXi automatic.
Any help or advice would be gratefully received and many-thanks
Vince,

[Xaccers]

Those diy cans are not worth it.
You need to vacuum out the system to ensure it is dry and there are no leaks, and know how much gas and oil you need to add. Only a proper rig can do that.
If the gas is too low the compressor clutch won't engage.

It might be worth posting about the problems on our sister site http://www.bxclub.co.uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; if you haven't already.

[Hell Razor5543]

When I had Gracies' a/c done it took about an hour. Once the two pipes are hooked up they recovered the coolant, then the oil, followed by a vacuum test (to make sure it has no leaks), then they added 6cc of oil, 5cc of UV leak detection fluid, and 825g of coolant. Different vehicles require different amounts.

[sandybx]

Dear Xac,
Firstly, thank-you so very much indeed for your very kind reply
For 10 years I worked on Vauxhalls and for the last five of those I was the " only " mechanic that was doing all the air-con work. What I used to do was to write the day and the grams I used, on the cylinder in a felt pen, so I always new how much was left in the tank.
Thank-you so much for advice I hadn,t put on the BX forum, but Shari has now cut and pasted it for me ( I can only cut and paste wallpaper )
Vince,

[sandybx]

Dear James,
Firstly thank-you too James for your very kind reply
They don,t seem to have made doing this with the air-con any easier over the last 10 years then. I havn,t been anywhere where they sell these diy kits, and I don,t know anyone that has used one either
It looks that I will have to leave doing the air-con until she,s back on the road again ( as she is sorned at the moment ) and no M.O.T either
But thanks again for your valueable advice
Vince,

[Hell Razor5543]

Hello Vince,

I did not know your level of knowledge, so if I appeared to be teaching my grandmother to suck eggs, I apologise. I had Gracies' a/c done in May, at Formula One Autocentres (hence why I know the amounts, they are on the printout). I think that they are making it easier, as it was highly automated. All they had to do was to hook up the pipes, tell the system what car I had, and let it get on with it. I did have the a/c cleaned, and the total cost was £49.

[Xaccers]

If you wait until winter is officially here (I hope you enjoyed summer last week ) the re-gas places normally knock 50% off the price.
Otherwise sign up to Groupon and Living Social as they often have deals on for £14

[sandybx]

Dear James,
Firstly, thank-you very kindly for your reply and sorry mine is a tad late
Secondly, you don,t have to apologise to me for anything James, it is quite simple if I knew the answer to my thread, i wouldn,t have needed to post it on here.
I have to admit that one of the reasons I have to use these forums is that most of life I have spent liiving in Lincoln so we only had to move to the Maidstone area to be closer to my step-children But I don,t know Kent very well at all
I am at home all day everyday so sorting my car out is something I really look forward to doing everyday, the car will be a slowly, slowly catchy monkey
Thank-you for the tips on the air-con and where you had yours done, I will look to see if I have one of those close to us down here.
Many-thanks James,
Vince,

[Hell Razor5543]

There is a Formula 1 Autocentre in Maidstone;

http://www.f1autocentres.co.uk/branch/c ... dstone/30/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[sandybx]

Dear Xac,
Firstly thank-you so very much for keen advice about putting my thread on the BX forum I didn,t think about that
To my complete and utter amazement, they have all been so kind to me I now have loads of stuff to try out and I may be able to sort out these problems
At the rate I am going at it may probably be winter before I gét a chance to get the air-con working properly
Many thanks,
Vince,

[Xaccers]

You're welcome Vince its what we're here for