air bag and air con

[chili]

evening chaps just got my new baby v reg d9 406.

how do you know if the air con is working ? excuse my ignorance but i have not got a manual yet now on my dash i press the air con button and some bits light up....question do i also need to turn the fan on ?

air bag light last week was flashing tonight when i collected the car it was not moved that bloody handle down by the seat to see what it done....seat up seat down flashing air bag light back so i think that must the tension straps......question if i am going to fiddle with these connectors do i need to disconnect battery ? if this is the case will i loose my radio code have not got one and can i loose any other info if i disconnect the battery, also are these tension strap connectors hard to get too ie can they be done with seat in the car ?


also bits of centre console illumination missing so i think that will be bulbs does the front facia just prize off ? the clock i cannot see i can see the date and the rest is quite dull at the moment.

any tips appreciated

oh i also have to replace the aerial, do the do a short one ? the bolt is still in the roof but the actual aerial connection is bust.

[Welly]

There's a lot of in your post.

I would say to relax, run the car for a week or so and determine which things you would like to tackle first.

The air con, is it the manual type with rotary switches for fan speed, temperature and air direction or is it the climate control with the digital disply console?

An easy way to check is to start the engine, THEN switch the a/c on and you will here a distinct 'CLICK' from near the alternator as the air con compressor kicks in, the pipework carrying the refrigerant runs behind the radiator low down on the right hand side as you look at it, the larger of the 2 air con pipes will become pretty cold to touch if the a/c is working.

Another test is the 'air off' test at the face vent where you should be looking for between 5 and 8 deg C on full cooling.

The illumination bulbs are a bit fiddly but can be done with care, I'm sure Blue406 on here knows how to.

The airbag light is a common fault and I believe it is to do with a poor connection, maybe ask a separate question on here for this I'm sure it has featured before.

As I said, don't panic you have just a few little jobs that have built up (probably why it was for sale?) the 406 is a decent car overall.

Welton

Long reply specialist

[Foghorn Leghorn]

evening chaps just got my new baby v reg d9 406.

how do you know if the air con is working ? excuse my ignorance but i have not got a manual yet now on my dash i press the air con button and some bits light up....question do i also need to turn the fan on ?

Set the temperature down to 14?C put the fans on auto and see what comes out of your vents. Don't want to be a killjoy but at V reg its about the right time for the condenser to leak and require replacing (approx. ?300-?350 all in ) they rot through at about 6-7 years old.

air bag light last week was flashing tonight when i collected the car it was not moved that bloody handle down by the seat to see what it done....seat up seat down flashing air bag light back so i think that must the tension straps......question if i am going to fiddle with these connectors do i need to disconnect battery ? if this is the case will i loose my radio code have not got one and can i loose any other info if i disconnect the battery, also are these tension strap connectors hard to get too ie can they be done with seat in the car ?

If it came back when you moved the seat then it will be the orange airbag connector under the seat (common problem), disconnect your battery and then sort out the connector. The car should retain the stereo code and other settings, but the BSI unit has been known to lose its brain on the odd occasion when disconnected from the battery (v. expensive to get sorted and dealer only).

also bits of centre console illumination missing so i think that will be bulbs does the front facia just prize off ? the clock i cannot see i can see the date and the rest is quite dull at the moment.

there are little bulbs in the rear of the panel, you need to pop the covers off either side of the display and unscrew it. V easy.

oh i also have to replace the aerial, do the do a short one ? the bolt is still in the roof but the actual aerial connection is bust.

Don't know about thsi one, sorry.

Oh aye, welcome to the forum

Fog

edit: doh!! took too long, you beat me to it Welton

[chili]

There's a lot of in your post.

The air con, is it the manual type with rotary switches for fan speed, temperature and air direction or is it the climate control with the digital disply console?

Long reply specialist

it has a digital display and i think it has climate control it has a button to alter temp but part of that dislay is not illuminated, will take piccy later.


what is a bsi ? and how common is this thing loosing its mem ?

[Welly]

Just because I am bored this morning I have taken these pics to show you the effect of the a/c:

Before starting engine:

Start up and set to 14deg C:

2 mins later:

2 mins later:

2 mins later:

5 mins later:


Just had new Condenser and new gas, but this should give you a good indication of a system working well.

*goes off to clean car*

[pug406gtx]

Think you should clean that car welton look at the colour of that carpet you should be ashamed

[Welly]

Think you should clean that car welton look at the colour of that carpet you should be ashamed

There is a VERY good reason why it is dirty like that........

Mrs Welton has been using it for 4 days

Otherwise it would be spotless.

[pug406gtx]

You should still be ashamed letting your wife drive your 406 buy her some old banger of a rover or something cos is it really worth all the hassle if she crashes it THINK ABOUT IT

[chili]

welton thanks very much for the effort buddy, where did ya get ya temp gauge ?

ok onto my probs using your photos as a guide, on your radio display unit where you have 1028 in the display, i can only see the lower bits of my numbers, and below these i have the date flashing as i have not set this unit up yet to read correct info.i have just sourced another unit at ?15 so i'm off to get that in a mo.
next in your centre display where you have 20.5 i am only able to see bits of these numbers all other bits seem to be there, i sourced one of these at ?20 but i did'nt like the mush so i never bothered plus i don't know how to get that bit out. i have the clock out
i suppose ?20 is quite reasonable to be fair.

now i see in your piccys that it has 17oc in the corner...what is this a reading of ? and i also notice you do not have any blower on.

thanks for your help buddy, off to get my bit. i also need a bloody aerial plus its base

[Welly]

The thermometer is from http://www.thermometersdirect.co.uk Was ?15.00 plus ?1.50 post it is very good actually, very fast acting and acurate -50 to +150 deg C.

So your going to change all the displays? hope that works, how did you manage to find replacements so cheap/quickly.

The 17 displayed is outside temp this is read bu a sensor in the passenger wing mirror (believe it or not!).

I did not select the fan manually as the system was set to auto. I find it best to leave the climate in auto, it is very good at maintaining the in car temperature (even if you think the fans aren't running!). It took me ages to get my head round the auto programme but believe me it works perfectly.

[chili]

well my clock display is changed for my replacement and is working fine where you have the mpg info etc i have the date, however all the display bits light up as they should now

went to plug my tomtom into the lighter socket...guess what....the bloody lighter socket does not work, have a quick look at that tomorrow.

as for finding the parts we have 2 good car dismantlers down here in canterbury area one is a rip off merchant with his prices hence my effort to go elsewhere 2nd place did not have the temp/auto/a/c bit of the console

just looking at your piccys my word "auto" does not come on in the display. i have after fiddlin established that the air con is working.
if i turn the fans off and set the little man display to the same as yours i get air coming out of the middle etc not freezing cold, cool would be a better description.
my 2 window heater bits light up in the display and so does the fan display next to a/c that also light up part of the temp lights up but no word auto.

what is the button with the airflow going over the bonnet for ? does that demist the windscreen ?

what model car do you have ? getting back to the radio/clock display when i set that unit up it asked me how i wanted the distance showed miles or kpm....have you a trip computer in your car ? or should i see that too ?

once more many thanks for your time.

raining like hell here so can't get out with me polish

this should be ok should'nt it
http://www.thermometersdirect.co.uk/aca ... 02617.html

[Welly]

ON the end of the windscreen wiper stalk, there is a button on mine which lets you scroll through AVG MPG, Distance Covered, Instant MPG, Miles Left on fuel etc. Have you got that?

The symbol which shows air going over the bonnet is the re-circ function where no air from outside can enter the car (this is for FULL air con power or to stop smells getting in from other exhausts etc).

Not sure why your 'auto' symbol is not showing, maybe it is the display? One way of testing it though is this:

Set your fan speed to MAX at a temperature, today of say 20deg C, Then press the AUTO button, if the fan speed ramps right down to virtually nothing then the AUTO function is actually working.

That thermometer looks crap by the way, the one I got from them is excellent

See this one (second one down.

[chili]

morning welton ;)

my local breakers is no longer open on sunday mornings

anyway got a few pics this morning. 1st one is my new clock display unit you can see the missing digital bits from the a/c unit and in the 2nd pic you can just see the word auto but it does not light up.





third pic is the old clock unit apparently on the paper sticker it says it came from t reg 406 mark 1 lx hdi




last pic is of my wiper stick it has i think an end that once could of been a button but it does not seem to press now or it is stuck in






after following your instructions this morning i have establised that the "auto" function does work.

now how do i get my radio out to access the a/c unit is it a case of using a couple of bits on wire coat hanger in the 2 holes and prising it out ?

[Welly]

Your Climate display certainly seems to have suffered some sort of electrical fault, very strange, hopefully if you get a new display all will be ok.

I can't advise how to remove the radio and climate display as I have never needed to do it, someone on here will know.

On my wiper stalk the button has 2 arrows << pointing into the stalk, maybe yours has not got the trip computor fitted, (i think it was limited to top spec models or an optional extra?).

Hopefully though your display will be easily fixed and all will be well again, good luck!

[chili]

yeah the whole middle bit seems to have suffered as i a say the clock display was almost non existant, anyway i'll get it sorted at the moment it is just minor cosmectic bits that need sorting, my son can get my air con re-gassed for ?60 from peugeot is this an ok price to pay