Converting To R134A - CITROEN XM Internet Reference

113 Converting to R134A

Air-conditioning
113 Converting to R134A
With further reflection I would think all retro fit upgrades for so-called luxury equipment would more or
less depend on what's in the wiring loom on the the car in question. Is there an expert on looms out
there.
Air con (2)
I have posted the following note to the CXList & it may be of interest to those of you preparing for
summer:
I had my air con "converted" to R134a and it worked pretty well each time for 15 minutes or so, then it
stopped working, and it was cooler to open the windows, turn the air off and close the recycle flap. The
shutdown air con system, for some reason turned into a really good heater after this time, handy when
its 35 or so! This vendor said the problem was that the car was a Citroen!
By luck I found someone competent in air con, who re worked this R134a reagas attempt and the
Grande Exportation air (dual unit) is now as good as my old 2400 on R12 used to be, which was
excellent.
I am told by the competent bloke:
a) An R134a dryer is a must (which should be up front in the radiator air
intake, not inside the engine bay ),
b) The correct charge volume is vital(knowing how to do this bit seems to be the secret, they used a
large volume measuring glass cylinder with calibration marks, and would say nowt about it, there is
more to it than pressure measurement apparently).
c) The standard factory full frontal condenser is apparently ok.
d) Recycle is essential for decent cooling.
I have:
1) Closed off the thru flow vents on the rear pillars with tape (remove
the embellishers to get access).
2) Put Police approved 3M Solar tint on the windows except the windscreen
(the law here doesn't allow windscreen treatment).
3) Looped out the heater water pipes in the engine bay.
====
I have a Turbo Prestige Auto, and have just had the Air Con looked at after fitting of a replacement
gearbox. Main Dealers said there was no gas in the system, but a specialist checked it out and there
was a blockage in the system. To remedy this he reverse connected the flow pipes and cleared the
block, reconnected it and re-gassed up the system. It worked a treat, I can now make my own ice
creams in the cabin.
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