Air Con issues

Hi everyone. I'm new to this group as having become the proud owner of a Citroen C3.

I was wondering if anyone could help me regarding my air conditioning issue.
A few months ago the air con was working fine with nice cool air and slowly it has become warm. I have tried re-gassing it and having no luck as I believe the pressure is right.
The fan to the engine comes on then switches off after a few seconds, as does the compressor and there are no sign of any leaks. Today when I tried again to see if it would run, The air con came on and went slightly cool again (still not right temp) and the compressor kicked in and started to make grinding noises. Could this be a faulty compressor or some other issue perhaps? If it is the compressor, does anyone have any idea as to how much it would cost to get it replaced?
I have a Haynes manual but this isn't much use on air con other than saying get someone to look at it

Any ideas would be grateful.

Cheers
Neil.

Petrol c3 with a 1.4 engine. 2006 registered. No mods and 55000 on the clock.

Hi nc1983

nc1983 wrote:Hi everyone. I'm new to this group as having become the proud owner of a Citroen C3.

Welcome to the forum!

nc1983 wrote:A few months ago the air con was working fine with nice cool air and slowly it has become warm.

Sounds like the refrigerant is leaking out slowly.

nc1983 wrote:I have tried re-gassing it and having no luck as I believe the pressure is right.

If it had leaked you loose the pressure in the system which disables the compressor.

What pressure do you read?

nc1983 wrote:The fan to the engine comes on then switches off after a few seconds, as does the compressor and there are no sign of any leaks.

Oh, the computer will 'load shed' the a/c along with other systems if the engine is not producing enough power. You can see all the load shedding in lexia/diagbox.

nc1983 wrote:The air con came on and went slightly cool again (still not right temp) and the compressor kicked in and started to make grinding noises.

Ooh, not good. There is an electronic clutch and the compressor, either could be making a grinding noise, but they come as a complete unit.

nc1983 wrote:If it is the compressor, does anyone have any idea as to how much it would cost to get it replaced?

A second hand one is about £35 from here on ebay up to over £200 for a brand new one here and here on euro car parts. Plus the cost of draining and storing the refrigerant and then refilling it again. Consider replacing the drying unit (like one of these) and any suspect flexible pipes while its depressurised.

Thanks Arfur Dent.

The pressure is reading between 65 and 70 on the gauge. I thought at first I was running out of refrigerant however it appears that due to this issue, its just not getting the chance to get cool. It looks like it will have to go to the garage so they can plug the computer in and tell me whats going off.

Cheers

Neil.

Update: https://citroenc3owners.com/petrol-citro ... t1629.html