How does the 406 digital climate control work?

[jason1987]

is the air con always on or only if you press the AC button? i mean if its just on auto and you set it to 15c is it going to turn the air con on automaticaly? also if i press the AC button it wont work on auto, air con only stays on manual, is this right? how is it ment to be used?

[mjb]

Auto mode means it's controlling the a/c, recirc and fan speed to keep the car at your set temperature. If you press any of those buttons, you override the climate control for that function

[jason1987]

so what temp does the air con switch off at? as dont wanna waste fuel, and why does it have an air con button then?

[averagejo]

im quite curious about this also as whatever i set the temp to after pressing auto it always lights up the air con indicator, when the car was in the dealer the other day even got them to test the cabin sensor and apparently its fine.

should it just dis-engage the air con when its no longer needed???

(just replaced the ambient temp sensor too after the '--' prob so i know thats fine)

dan

[Welly]

As far as the D9 goes when it's in 'Auto' you can still switch off the air con compressor using the "a/c" button - the word "a/c" will dissapear from the screen! you still get automatic air flow and temperature regulation but no a/c.

The only function that isn't automatic is the direction of air flow - this is left to the driver to decide.

The a/c will automatically engage though if you hit the screen demist button or drop the temp down to minimum, similarly it also switches off if you select 32 deg C.

The other thing it does is 'call' for the a/c when you jump in the car of a morning depending on the outside temp whether you like it or not - this is annoying if you weren't running the a/c the day before but hey - it's only trying to help

[averagejo]

thanks, but still a little confused........ if you set the temp to say 20deg, when the cabin temp reads 20deg will it turn the aircon off or continue to use it to maintain the temp?

[mjb]

It depends on the external temperature and the interior humidity. If it's sub-zero outside it won't need to use the a/c unless you're using a kettle in the car. If it's the middle of the sahara yeah it'll use it

[steve_earwig]

The a/c will keep going, it turns itself on but it don't turn itself off, it'll still dry the air if the climate control calls for it, hot or cold, so you'll still hear the compressor cutting in. If it's a D9 leave it on, I tried turning my D9's off last winter and ended up with condensation running down the screen, then I discovered the BSI isn't sealed against condensation...

[jason1987]

so whats the point in the AC button then if the AC comes on anyway if you select a low temperature? i dont understand it.

[steve_earwig]

Welcome to the 406 owner's club

[steve_earwig]

Actually, the 406s are the only cars I've had with clamte control so I don't know if it's normal or (as I suspect) mad.

[totaleclipse]

Actually, the 406s are the only cars I've had with clamte control so I don't know if it's normal or (as I suspect) mad.

only other car i had with climate control was a BMW 5 series.

trust me, compaired to that thing the climate control in the 406 actually kinda works.

[mjb]

so whats the point in the AC button then if the AC comes on anyway if you select a low temperature? i dont understand it.

The a/c button lets you force it off (dunno about on) on D9s, or force it on or off in D8s

Best to leave everything 'auto' unless you want a specific override. The climate control does an exceptionally good job of keeping the cabin comfortable.

[jason1987]

no cos it either says auto, eco or air con, if its on auto and i press air con it says air con on display and it goes cold, i really dont understand it, i dont want to have air con on all the time either as it uses more fuel, shame you cant just turn the climate control off, i dont want a fan blowing on me all the time, its annoying, why would driver want the fans on constantly?

[DaiRees]

Try pressing the fan speed down until the fan stops?