Air-con and wheels!

[adaturfman]

I have a Megane CC '06, 1.6 petrol with 41,000 miles. I've had the car for about six months and it has just passed its MOT with no problems, service showed up nothing irregular so happy days! A couple of things:-

1- The mechanics couldn't get the hub cap screw out to take off the o/s front tyre as they said it was well welded it and they didn't want to break the hub key or the cap. Is there an easy way for me to remove this without damaging the cap or should I just break it off and replace?

2- The air con was re-charged with gas and oil but is no working, as I expected. The light on the air-con switch turns on when i press the button but there is no change in the engine revs. I will check the fuses but where can i go after this without going down the route of a new compressor.

Thanks in advance for all your answers.

[ChrisM]

Wheel caps - They are renowed for this, someone has over tightend it last time and not put a slip of grease on the thread, before you break off the cap try a hammer and punch and see if you can get it moving by tapping it anti clockwise a lot of the time you can get it moving like this, the other way is a pair of long nose pliers and a screwdriver push the pliers into two of the locating holes and use the screwdriver as a lever to exert more turning force again once it is moving you sohuld be fine.
Air Con - I have a 1.9DCi my engine revs don't change with the air con on, have you tried it set low 15 and fell if it is warm or cold, after the regass I would have thought the garage would have tested it if only to try and screw more cash out of you with the usual Oh by the way your thingy bobs is not working and needs replacing.

[adaturfman]

Thanks for the reply. Will try that with the hub screw.
The garage, Kwik Fit, filled up the gas and oil for the air-con, they said it was quite low. After thirty minutes of waiting, the air coming out of the vents wasn't cold so they are assuming something is wrong with it, they didn't even charge me for doing this. I am just trying to narrow down the options before I get one of those mobile air-con companies in to have a closer look. Don't feel air-con is essential in a convertable but would like the option of using it. If the timing belt didn't need doing I would probably fix the air-con but needs must.

[lee00069]

hi , i agree with using the long nose pliers to undo the wheel cap . i use that or diagonal cutter pliers .
Had a couple meganes that didnt come with the key for the wheels.

[davelowe]

Yes - a punch and a hammer as worked for me before.

A/C will forever remain mystical. Your best bet is to have dye injected that shows up under a black light. I'm a bit concerned about Kwik Fit - their machine should produce a report on how much gas it removes, the vacuum phase, and what got put in. If the vacuum phase is missed, you could have problems with a leak or the drier module being full of moisture. Sounds suspicious - take it to another 'big name' and insist on watching.

[adaturfman]

Thanks again for your replies.

Kwik-fit assured me they done all they could regarding the air-con. They said it was empty and needed re-filling and showed sign of no leaks. I tried to change the fuse in the engine fuse box this weekend for the compressor clutch but got as far as removing the battery tray, or not, as the three screws holding it in place were welded tight, just like the one on the wheel! I have someone a bit more handy than me coming tomorrow to try and get these out as well as the one on the wheel which still won't move with hammer and punch!

Will keep you posted.

[pwilliams]

Good morning,I have a 07 magan cc tried yesterday to recharge the aircon 134a got all the gear vac down system unable to
get any gas in,only one system valve found HP does the gas have to be pumped in gas bottle only providing 70 psi.

[davelowe]

Someone will provide you with some advice - it will be in the manuals at the top of this forum.

My hazy recollection from years back is that the A/C system is not normal, but that is from my own bad memory. Have a search, I remember this being a hot topic a few years back. It was resolved.