P38A Air con thoughts.

Flossie · Jun 17, 2022

I wonder if you can undo the screws on the top of the grill and the bolts holding the slam panel on and slip the slam panel away to give some access?.

P38 Monkey · Jun 17, 2022

Flossie said:
Forgot about this thread.
The clutch does pull in when I put 12v direct to it. Booked in at kwikfit this Monday morning coming, see what happens.

Sorry if it is obvious, but do get them to put some UV dye in the fluid so you can easily check for future leaks...
That worked for me - I had the system re-pressured with dye in it. After a couple of weeks the aircon stopped working. Very obvious leak from where the in/out pipes join the compressor (viewed with a £5 UV torch). My local garage then fitted new o-ring seals (the correct pale green variety) and touch wood all nice and cold now.

J L Carr · Jun 17, 2022

Flossie said:
Bumper removed would help but that can be a struggle if it's not been off before. If the 2 multipoint bolts undo, that go into the chassis under the front, the rest is straightforward.
Probably be easier to bridge the relay(s) . Can't help where they are but probably in the under bonnet fusebox at a guess.

I can easily bridge the relays but will need to know what 1 as all it shows on the fuse box lid is 3 snowflake signs and 2 fans I know the bottom ones are my cab blower but what 1 for the air con fans is a guess. Looks like it will be easier to drill out the dome head screws to get my grill off and replace them, then I could rig up a switch with power to see if that would work to them both, or take off the slam panel with the 4 bolts and try and gain access that way.

stevebrookman · Jun 17, 2022

I did a search and it said relays 13 and 14.

From the great (and sorely missed) Wammers

Relay 13 fan 1 relay 14 fan 2. Looking over the wing the two green relays at top left of fuse box. Below the line of yellow ones.

and from the great Datatek

Pull the blue/black wire off the dual pressure switch and ground it, that will give you a full function test of the relays and fans, it will also ensure that there is no break in the loom as there was on mine preventing the fans from ever working

For ease of access remove the small (fog light location for some models) grill under the bumper in front of the auto gearbox oil cooler. Locate the Blue/black wire on the receiver/dryer dual pressure switch.

Datatek · Jun 17, 2022

J L Carr said:
I can easily bridge the relays but will need to know what 1 as all it shows on the fuse box lid is 3 snowflake signs and 2 fans I know the bottom ones are my cab blower but what 1 for the air con fans is a guess. Looks like it will be easier to drill out the dome head screws to get my grill off and replace them, then I could rig up a switch with power to see if that would work to them both, or take off the slam panel with the 4 bolts and try and gain access that way.

The fans can run a full or half speed and will only run when called for by the tri state switch.
Check fuses F31 & 37 and relays 13, 14 & 18 on the diesel, it's all in RAVE

J L Carr · Jun 17, 2022

Getting power to the fuses and relays used my relay checker to see if they were OK and also swapped relays around to see if I had a faulty one but all ok, so it must be no power to the fans. Took the relays out to see if I was getting power to them and yes, so still nothing cannot find the wiring from the fans that runs in the engine bay or Iwould use these to check to see if there is power coming though to them.

Datatek · Jun 17, 2022

J L Carr said:
Getting power to the fuses and relays used my relay checker to see if they were OK and also swapped relays around to see if I had a faulty one but all ok, so it must be no power to the fans. Took the relays out to see if I was getting power to them and yes, so still nothing cannot find the wiring from the fans that runs in the engine bay or Iwould use these to check to see if there is power coming though to them.

Pull the blue/black wire off the dual pressure switch and ground it, that will give you a full function test of the relays and fans,

J L Carr · Jun 17, 2022

Datatek said:
Pull the blue/black wire off the dual pressure switch and ground it, that will give you a full function test of the relays and fans,

Where is that as it shows it on the list of components but not on my work shop manual diagram pages or there's a page missing that shows this switch.

Datatek · Jun 17, 2022

J L Carr said:
Where is that as it shows it on the list of components but not on my work shop manual diagram pages or there's a page missing that shows this switch.

For ease of access remove the small (fog light location for some models) grill under the bumper nearside in front of the diesel auto gearbox oil cooler. Locate the Blue/black wire on the receiver/dryer dual pressure switch, disconnect it and ground the wire

J L Carr · Jun 17, 2022

Datatek said:
For ease of access remove the small (fog light location for some models) grill under the bumper nearside in front of the diesel auto gearbox oil cooler. Locate the Blue/black wire on the receiver/dryer dual pressure switch, disconnect it and ground the wire

I'll give that a try tomorrow and let you know what happens, plugged the Hawkeye in and it showed a few faults, both fans not working and a switch not working so cleared them but to no avail. So back to square one.

Gord Wedman · Jun 18, 2022

When the AC in my 98 didn't run it turned out to be a corroded connector behind right side kick panel. You don't need the fans to run to get cold air. If you hot wire the compressor or bridge the relay the clutch should engage and you will get cold air. If you don't you need gas.

tomcat59alan · Jun 18, 2022

Flossie said:
I was out yesterday in her at 26 deg and it was very unpleasant in traffic, acceptable on the open road doing 50+ with all windows and the sun roof open. It's what spurred me on to book her in at kwikfit. Dropping down to 14 deg from Monday

Are they still doing the no cold air no cost option? They regassed mine years ago and there was no cod air,I said check the system, sorry we're not qualified for that so no charge.i got home and checked the connectors on the pressure valves ,on and off a couple of times and hey presto it worked

of course I went back and payed NOT.

kermit_rr · Jun 18, 2022

My dad took his van to Halfrauds earlier in the year, they said it needed topping up and all was good.
Free minutes down the road, ac not working.. got home and had a nosey, one of the puppies the the condenser had completely sheared off.
Needless to say he got his money back, but i thought they were supposed to check the basics!?

Flossie · Jun 18, 2022

kermit_rr said:
My dad took his van to Halfrauds earlier in the year, they said it needed topping up and all was good.
Free minutes down the road, ac not working.. got home and had a nosey, one of the puppies the the condenser had completely sheared off.
Needless to say he got his money back, but i thought they were supposed to check the basics!?

What?

Flossie · Jun 18, 2022

tomcat59alan said:
Are they still doing the no cold air no cost option? They regassed mine years ago and there was no cod air,I said check the system, sorry we're not qualified for that so no charge.i got home and checked the connectors on the pressure valves ,on and off a couple of times and hey presto it worked of course I went back and payed NOT.

Yes I believe so.

J L Carr · Jun 18, 2022

Gord Wedman said:
When the AC in my 98 didn't run it turned out to be a corroded connector behind right side kick panel. You don't need the fans to run to get cold air. If you hot wire the compressor or bridge the relay the clutch should engage and you will get cold air. If you don't you need gas.

The clutch is kicking in as normal and my AC pipes are getting hot,getting very little cold air out of the vents, so are you talking about the panel where the bonnet catch is, is the connections behind that one or passenger side.

tomcat59alan · Jun 18, 2022

J L Carr said:
The clutch is kicking in as normal and my AC pipes are getting hot,getting very little cold air out of the vents, so are you talking about the panel where the bonnet catch is, is the connections behind that one or passenger side.

He could be talking about the connectors behind the A post kick panels both sides inside the car in the footwell. They cause all sorts of problems, they're only there for use during assembly,cut them out and solder and heat shrink the wires together.

dubbleRR · Jun 18, 2022

The cooling fans on the p38 very rarely come on ,but the air con should be cold ,if the temp control is turned to low ,both sides and you should hear the compressor kick and out about 3 to 4 times a minute,if not could be lack of gas in the system

..

Datatek · Jun 18, 2022

dubbleRR said:
The cooling fans on the p38 very rarely come on ,but the air con should be cold ,if the temp control is turned to low ,both sides and you should hear the compressor kick and out about 3 to 4 times a minute,if not could be lack of gas in the system ..

You assume the viscous fan is not on it's last legs.

kermit_rr · Jun 18, 2022

Datatek said:
You assume the viscous fan is not on it's last legs.

I've noticed the engine temp normal average rises a couple of degrees when it starts to go. You might notice the nut is damp with oil

P38A Air con thoughts.

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