Climate Control

[ELO]

Hi our daughter has just brought a 2005 C3 1.4 sx with climate control can anyone tell us do we need to keep it on auto all of the time to stop the inside from misting up, i know on my Picasso which only has manual air con that if i do not switch off the air recycling then the inside will mistup but on the C3 it mists up if its on or off any help would be appreciated.

[iannez]

sounds like the recycle flap has seized or the stepper motor which works the flap has gone down.

[raveydavey]

My 2003 C3 has manual air-con and has always suffered from misting up in wet weather if the a/c isn't switched on, even with the blower on high.

 

The dealer reckons "they're all like that". Apparently the ventilation isn't brilliantly set up on them.

 

Have a look at my thread on air con for a worst case scenario (although I think you're still covered by warranty)

[iannez]

if your car has a pollen filter as most citroens with a/c do it will mist up unless the a/c is switched on. it restricts the flow of air to the cabin. when you put the a/c on it removes moisture from the air entering the cabin. thats why you get water dripping from under the car when its turned on.

[stimulator]

My 2003 C3 has manual air-con and has always suffered from misting up in wet weather if the a/c isn't switched on, even with the blower on high.

 

The dealer reckons "they're all like that". Apparently the ventilation isn't brilliantly set up on them.

 

Have a look at my thread on air con for a worst case scenario (although I think you're still covered by warranty)

Don't you just love these sweeping statements from 'dealers'.

 

i own a C3 1.4HDi SX 92 54 reg, with automatic climate control. It has a fantastic heating system and is left on AUTO all the time. No misting up in wet weather as some seem to suffer. We also own a Picasso 20HDi 90 BHP 51 reg, that too has auto climate on it. It does suffer from a slow warm up of the heater and the screen does mist on very cold days until the system has sorted itself out.

 

The pollen filter on Picassos has been the cause of burnt out ignition switches due to the extra load imparted on the electrics by the aircon blower when the air flow is low due to a dirty filter, solution to this is change the filter yearly.

Another cause of misting is the result of the water trapped in the evaporator when the car is shut off. The aircon works by removing moisture from the incoming air by passing it across the very cold near freezing evaporator in the air con box. This causes the moisture in the air to condense and if you like rain out of the air. this water is drained away from the evaporator thru a drain line to under the car, that pool of water underneath when you park. When the engine is shut off and the aircon is OFF the evaporator will retain some of this water. when you first turn the engine back on the initial air passing thru the aircon will infact get wetter which will mist up the screen. The same happens if you turn off the aircon when you are travelling in the car, more so on rainy days.

 

So how do you fix this, well you can't completely but you can reduce the amount of misting, if it's a problem, by turning off the aircon and running the last mile or so home with out it as this will tend to dry out the evaporator.

[stimulator]

Well now last week my C3 1.4HDi 92BHP with auti climate control had to go for its 2nd service. Earlier in the week it started to make a loud clicking noise under the following conditions.

 

A/C in auto first start of the day, after about 10 minutes a loud clicking noise coming from the heater box.

 

Select RECIRC and then after 5 minutes deselect RECIRC and loud clicking noise again. Could be made to do this everytime.

 

Took car in and they changed the flap stepper motor under warranty, result no more noise. apparently this is a common problem.