406 Air conditioning

Often it can be because the seals have gone if it hasn't been used. You're supposed to use them for at least 15 minutes a month (if not a week). A cheap and cheerful way is to get a top up cannister from Halfords. For £17 or so it will repressurise the system and if it springs back to life then you'll know the problem. Replacing seals is probably a specialist job because of the gasses involved. A simple refill will be about £50. It's possible that there's no power to the electric clutch in the compressor due to another fault but the clutch won't engage if there's no pressure.

If you're anywhere near Poole I'd be happy to take a look

Lack of use has caused your seals to dry up, and all the gas to escape. You need to use your aircon all the time, get in the habit of running it on at least a weekly basis. Note that it doesn't have to blow cold air - it works as a dehumidifier whatever you set the temperature to.

Get out your Yellow Pages, and phone some local AirCon guys. You'll be able to get it regassed for around £50, and this will include them adding a dye to the system. So if it does have any leaks (unlikely - it's prolly just the seals as above), they can be spotted.

As Malc says, try one of the regassing bottles from Halfords, they also contain a sealant which will help if the seals are a bit dry. If it then still won't work, it's a specialist job.

As others have pointed out, if you do not use your a/c during the winter, the seals glue up and the first time you turn on you lose all your gas.

So why would anyone use a/c in the winter?

Simple. There is no method quicker than turning on the a/c to de-fog inside the windows. As you will know from seeing a pool of water under your car below the a/c, the a/c reduces the humidity of the air and, especially if you also run the heater, your windows clear in a flash.

And if you do this two/three times during the winter you will probably save your seals and your gas.

My repairer suggests leaving the A/C on permanently, He reckons the additional fuel cost is far less than having to re-gas and have new seals fitted. I have to admit that, whereas my 405 with belt driven A/C used an additional 5mpg, I have not noticed any real difference in mpg on the 406 with or without the A/C.

I thought about doing it myself but decided to let a specialist do it, It seems they have to vacuum the system before re-gassing it. If you know how to do it try the a/c kits you can buy but I thought £60 for someone to re-gas my car was not bad . I know I would have botched it up.

You can't regas properly at home. The pukka job involves sucking out the old gas and refilling with a specific amount. The Halfords kit really just repressurises. I have used one on my old Xantia just before I sold it because there was no way I was going to pay £200 for a recon compressor and regassing. It did work but it isn't a kosher solution.

Cheers chaps I am going to take it to a garage for a regas I did consider the halfords option but if it is something bigger like the seals then I would end up there anyway.