Thread: Defender Air Con

Hi All, I recently became the owner of a 1997 LR Defender 130. Great machine, never had a Landy but have had a few Land Cruisers. Gotta say I really like the quirky nature of the Defender, had a few trips now off road and impressed with the ability of the beast.
However, the aftermarket air-con is really there for looks only. It does seem to pump out cold air, albeit at a low volume, but on a hot day say above 25 deg, the cabin heats up really easily and the air cond seems to have minimal impact. The air con blows cold air initially but then seems to loose some of its sting, still blows out cold but not as cold as I would like. Has anyone tried tinting windows to help the air con ? Not sure this actually does alot ? ANyone ever tried to tweak the after market air cond to perform better ? I have fitted a 12v fan to blow the air round the cabin but does not make a great deal of difference.
I have seen some threads advising to remove the air con of the dash and clear any dust/dirt off the back of it, is removing the air con a big job as I dont want to do this unless there are real benefits ?
Perhaps the air con is just what it is, there is not alot that can be done if its under-rated for the job ?

The AC was perhaps somewhat underrated for the job to start with (especially for the wagon body), but it tends to deteriorate further over time due to bad seals on doors, windows and around air vents (perhaps even roof itself).

The fact that the car is white helps reduce heat load. Tinted windows help, but by how much I'm not certain. Making the cabin as aitrtight as you can will help, as will insulating the roof, firewall and floorpan, especially around the gearbox. These all radiate heat into the cabin. Check the AC as suggested to make sure it's functioning as intended.

The alternative is to install an aftermarket A/C unit. Reddot R-6100 evaporator/condenser unit is a reasonably popular "upgrade", especially on the earlier counties, which came with an even worse AC system. Apart from the compressor, the unit is self contained, so you just need to drill a hole on the roof to mount it and connect refrigirant lines from the AC. I also recall a thread where someone installed an evaporator from a Toyota Tarago in the back of the 110. Search is your friend.

Good luck

Bojan

PS - Use the "custom google search" box at the bottom left hand of the page rather than the obvious one on top - much more relevant results come up IME.