Air con condenser x308

X300
1

Hello all, it’s been a long time but I’m back!
After 19 years of blowing ice cold air my a/c finally stopped being cold a year ago. I took it to a specialist last year who found no leaks so regassed it with oil and dye. However in the recent hot weather I discovered it wasn’t working again so I took it back to him. He discovered the condenser had a slight leak and showed it to me, a long cylinder at the bottom of the radiator, with fins on, and could see a slight yellow dye under the UV light along it. He reckoned it may have had the tiniest pin hole leak last time that the machine couldn’t detect. His price was fair, £255 all in, including a quality part with a discount on that, and reduction of £40 of the £60 I paid last time as it’s been a year. I’m taking it tomorrow afternoon.

My question is what does the job involve doing. Removing the front bumper, removing the radiator? I ask because JTIS looks very complicated involving removing the radiator but on there the condenser looks like a mini radiator attached to the radiator, not a tube at the bottom like mine. I’ve googled it and can also only see what look like mini radiators and I’m confused why my condenser looks like a tube. It looks like you just have to remove the bumper and detach the tube from the bottom without having to do anything to the radiator. It’s a 1998 X308. Any thoughts would be much appreciated.
Thanks, Simon

2

I think what I was looking at was the power steering cooler. So why was dye on that? Maybe the oil had dripped down onto it from the condenser above?

3

If I remember correctly the A/C condenser sits in front of the main radiator. This may require the radiator to be removed in order to change the condenser.:slightly_smiling_face:

4

yeah tubes are for steering. (or oil on high end models)

Non supercharged cars don’t require bumper removal.

As you say its bolted to the coolant rad.
So fans out.
Drain coolant. (drain at the bottom of the rad pointing towards engine)
Disconnect gearbox cooler lines, (top first)
remove hoses
remove the plastic panel across the top of the radiator (torx bolts)
Disconnect a/c lines
hopefully the 2 rads can then be removed as a pair.

sounds a good price. condenser must be £100

Maybe you would like to have new coolant used?