The simple answer is: I'm afraid no. The longer answer is: Maybe, but it will not be easy or cheap! First,
make sure your heater turns off fully (see previous answer) which may help more than you think. You may
then decide that the following work is unnecessary and too expensive to justify.
There are two problem areas that have to be overcome to fit air conditioning. The lack of space in the
engine compartment, for the air conditioning compressor and the lack of space inside for the evaporator.
In the early years of the Murena, the chances of getting a compressor to fit were, I would say, zero. However,
the latest micro sports cars like the Cappacino have air conditioning thanks to some modern smaller units. It
may be possible to engineer one of these on to the engine, but it will certainly require making some special
brackets and using a different drive belt. Once the compressor can be fitted and driven, you are half way there.
Mounting a condenser in front of the radiator should present little difficulty, and plumbing it together should
also not be too taxing. So the remaining problem is the evaporator. If you are willing to lose some or all of the
'glove box' space then this also may be possible. Once you have a complete system, then I would suggest you
simply stick to an On/Off switch for simplicity, and away you go. Since the capacity will be small, a simple
On/Off should be adequate and save all the complication of a looped feedback to get it to maintain a set
temperature. Cars like TVR get away with this type system so I don't see a problem. If you do manage to
install an air conditioning system, be aware of two requirements: 1) you must use it regularly all year (say at
least every week); and 2) it will require a gas check and possible top up approximately every four years. The
reason it must be used regularly is to keep the seals supple and help prevent gas loss. Not everyone realises
that air conditioning can be used with a warm heater setting. You will find it gets rid of the moisture from
the windows very quickly and is a great help in winter. And once you have found this out, using it regularly
will be no problem!
Whilst we are talking about Murena improvements, one of the things that most annoyed me after I first
bought my 2.2 back in 1983 was the low top gear. The car was definitely under-geared. Some years ago I
pioneered fitting a high fifth gear to the 2.2 which suits it much better. The modification is quite straight
forward for any mechanic or competent person who looks after their own car. You will need a special kit
from Citroen: 2344CO (if it is still available) and I can supply full fitting details.
To remove the left hand drive shaft you should only need to put a lever between the CV joint and the
casing and give a quick pull, and it should come out. The shaft is held by a spring clip inside the drive
flange, which sits in a groove in the shaft and should open to allow the shaft to come out, but unfortunately
it often seizes up. (If it won't come out easily, with a quick pull on the lever, DON'T force it or use a longer
lever. You will simply end up breaking something!) This is a common problem, and stems from the fact
that a core plug was fitted to the inner end of the drive flange to stop the oil coming out when the
driveshaft is removed. However, this means the splines and retaining clip stay dry, corrode because they
are bare metal, and seize up after a while! If you are only trying to remove the driveshaft to remove the
transaxle, say to change a clutch, then I would suggest leaving it in. It is short enough not to be a problem,
and will save a lot of work.
If you really need to remove the shaft, say to change oil seals or carry out transaxle repairs, you will have to
strip the differential to get at the other end of the drive flange. Once you have access to the inner end, first
remove the core plug, and then you will need two small hardened pins. You tap these down two opposite
splines until they reach the clip, then tap them in further to open up the clip, at which point the shaft should
come out easily. Once out, you should grease the clip and splines to prevent them seizing up again, making
further removal a simple job as originally intended.
The right hand drive shaft is not held by a clip, since the long shaft is secured by the support bearing.
Back to top
First, have you checked that the H.R.W. relay is getting voltage and is working? The relay is mounted in the
engine compartment on the right of the bulkhead between the engine and cabin just below the window. It gets
it's main feed from the circuit board at the front, via a multi-plug just near and hidden under the windscreen
washer bottle. Check this connection carefully because the large red wire has usually corroded badly and there
will be no feed to the relay. If you can hear the relay click when the switch is operated, and there is voltage
at the red terminal and output to the window, then the next item to check is the earth on the left hand side.
The feed from the relay goes up the right hand rear glass strut and the earth goes down the left hand one. The
earth often breaks at the bottom of the left hand strut. Once you have a full circuit, you may find some of the
individual lines are broken. You can sometimes repair them with a special kit that is available from most motor
factors. You mask each side of the line and 'paint' it onto the glass to re-join the line.
There are a number of books still available but many are now out of print. A good place to start
may be the French Palmier website and go to Marques, Matra. Also check any good motoring specialist
bookshop as they occasionally have some out of print copies available. Current books and magazines
are listed on our website. Most will be in French but some are English.
There are not enough Matra on the road in the U.K. to give any company enough business to offer a club
discount, unlike say MG or Triumph. So I'm afraid it is down to the individual to obtain the best quote to
suit their particular criteria. As long as you want limited mileage, agreed value, classic insurance, you should
not have a problem. If you want unlimited mileage, you might find it more difficult, and you may not get an
agreed value, which could mean the value will be much lower than it is worth. For normal classic insurance,
try the usual ones listed in the magazines, like Footman James or Norton Heritage, but don't expect the person
answering the phone to recognise Matra if you call them. The companies do know the cars since other club
members insure with them, and they advertise in our club magazine, but the operators sometime do not know
every rare marque. Simply leave the details and ask them to ring back once they have a quote for you.
