806 air con sapping engine power

[Colston]

Hi there

I wonder if anyone can please help with a problem that I occasionally get on my 1998 806 Roland Garros 1.9TD? Now and again, when I switch the aircon on, the system appears to drain quite a lot of the engine's power. Now I know that operating the aircon is going to (just about noticeably) draw some power from the engine, but this manifests itself like a really bad flatspot when I try to accelerate, or like a cold petrol-driven engine can sometimes feel underpowered and hesitant whilst still warming up.
I've had the aircon routinely serviced and regassed, there are no strange noises, and it feels cold enough so I believe the actual aircon system is functioning OK. Any ideas would be very welcome...thanks!

[chopper1192]

Even on the meatiest cars, a loss of 10 or 15 BHO is noticeable, and when you only have 90 odd ponies to begin with I'd have thought you'd deffo feel it.

However, if it's suddenly got worse then suspect the clutch to the aircon compressor. This can seize, overhead until it glows cherry red and then start a fire, so if you've any suspicions at all keep the aircon switched off till you've had it checked out. I once lost them a Corsa at work that way...

[Colston]

Cheers for that, I'll get that checked out. Shame about the Corsa...

[chopper1192]

PS, that's a rare and interesting spec, guaranteed to give a boner to any diehard pug fan. You should pop up a few pics for our pleasure.

[Colston]

Thanks for that Chopper, you really are a big fan of the old Pugs eh? No bad thing in my book! I'll take some pics and upload them when I get a chance..
I've owned my 806 for about 3 years now, only swapping my '94 405GTX estate for it because I needed more load capacity, on occasions. In fact, the reliability of the 405 was what made me go for Peugeot again. And I haven't been disappointed with her- never fails to start or return the same mpg, irresepective of what I ask of her. Add to that the seating versatility and double side sliding doors, and it's a no-brainer to me why anybody would choose a comparable Galaxy/Sharan/Alhambra, given an objective look at 'em both. Just see how infinitely more Galaxy owners console each other on the net, compared with the 806...there's reams more of it! Plus, as I discovered this summer, its dimensions lend themselves very nicely to cheaper ferry crossings...not to mention leaving the roof intact in multi-storey car parks....I could go on...zzzz