Thread: Aftermarket A/C in 300tdi Defender with remote mounted condensor

Originally Posted by DoubleChevron

Dumb question time ....................... Can you bolt up to the bottom of the dash ? The later Range Rover classic A/C system is very, very effective. It has a huge evaporator and effortlessly cools the range rover ...... If you have a parts car there ... you could ***EASILY*** modify the evaporator unit to fit. All you need is the two lower mounts (easily fabricated) and to chop up the top half/vents/output to match the defender dash.

I like this as it would be free ... it would be cheap .. it would be free and it would be very effective For some reason the range rover classic has a completely separated A/C system (ie: isn't a part of the heater box/etc). So is just like an aftermarket system. ie: you could move it sideways to another vehicle.

seeya,
shane L.

The Rangie system - at least in the earlier aircon ones - is just an "underdash" unit from (as I recall) A.R.A. in Texas. You can still get that sort of thing. Land Rover simply bought them in. It makes me laugh when you see experts on this site going on about how the aircon couldn't be any good because it's meant for Britain blah blah blah, when really these units were used all around the world.

I've disconnected my original aircon in my Rangie because the condensor and evaporator are both too old and meant for R12 anyway. I've got all new parts and will put a new evaporator up at the top of the load area, behind the cargo barrier I built. Like the OP, I've got to thank Goingbush and Rainman for the idea.

I quite like the idea of putting the condensor in a box with two fans on the roof but I think I'll just take the conventional route. Let us know how you go, SavingTheDefender!

Originally Posted by Davo

The Rangie system - at least in the earlier aircon ones - is just an "underdash" unit from (as I recall) A.R.A. in Texas. You can still get that sort of thing. Land Rover simply bought them in. It makes me laugh when you see experts on this site going on about how the aircon couldn't be any good because it's meant for Britain blah blah blah, when really these units were used all around the world.

I've disconnected my original aircon in my Rangie because the condensor and evaporator are both too old and meant for R12 anyway. I've got all new parts and will put a new evaporator up at the top of the load area, behind the cargo barrier I built. Like the OP, I've got to thank Goingbush and Rainman for the idea.

I quite like the idea of putting the condensor in a box with two fans on the roof but I think I'll just take the conventional route. Let us know how you go, SavingTheDefender!

If there has been dodgy fridgies at it for years .... I found I had to pull the entire system down to find all the leaks.... Bloody hell it gave me the run-around (there was a leak in the receiver drier would you believe ... which allowed the refrigerant to leak away with no traces of oil/dye leakage. must have been a pin hole in it's weld around the middle). I found damaged hoses in hidden spots, munched replacement 'O'rings and original compressed black rubber 'O'rings.

It'll cost you about $100 bucks to get it all up and working if the compressor, evaporator and condenser aren't buggered. Pocket change to replace all the 'O'rings, new drier and a shot of bang gas (about $15 worth).

seeya,
Shane L.

Well . . . anything this old is likely to be buggered. So the condensor had corroded fins, some hoses were damaged, including the one with a fitting ruined by a leaking battery and held together with a hose clip instead, (no wonder it leaked!), the evaporator was packed with dust and various unmentionables, all the fans were old and on their way out, the wiring in these systems is beyond understanding since none of the four diagrams matched what I had, the York compressor seemed to take half the engine horsepower and clonked like a tap-dancing donkey down wooden stairs, (it's now a great air compressor), and the whole system isn't meant for 134a anyhow - you know, serpentine design v. parallel and all that.

I don't know what I've spent but it hasn't been too bad, including a hose-crimping tool, and it's taken a year to get everything anyway. Aircon is used up here every time you so much as go to the shops, so it's got to be good. Hopefully this will be!

So the rack is off and I've started prepping the brackets and other bits to be cleaned and welded. In addition to adding two extra antenna/light mounting tabs, there are a few pin holes to be welded and tidied up.

The rack itself is pretty bloody heavy so I also think I'm going to get a little creative and carve out some of the mesh floor.

Wiring for the condenser fans (x2) and evaporator need to be brought to the rear. So I've started roughing this out. I'll also be adding 240v power into the rear thanks to my inverter.

This will also provide the basis for a few planned later additions.

Another Defender air-con thread... sweet. The missus is keen to have air con in ours (but no so keen on spending the $ LOL )

So in news just in, sandblasting using an attachment via a pressure washer sucks, as does using a hand held sandblasting gun from SuperCrap...

3 hours later and not much was achieved. In fact I'm sure that using hot water run via my Gerni achieved more than the blasting media did.

But I got to mock up mounting the condensor and looking at how to mount the legs. The simple way would be to just bolt it through the mesh into a plate. But I'm looking at cutting out as much mesh as possible to reduce the weight.

I took the cover off for the first time and found the expected red dirt from its former life. As expected it's just a bloody big condensor with two fans, pressure switch and drier.

The drier will be replaced for a new one and a few of the aluminum fins need combing straight, but everything else is good to go.

I planned to do more but then decided I should investigate the new ticking noise from the 300tdi first.

Apologies for the delay in updating this build. The ticking noise ended up being pulled threads for the rocker shaft so that fix took priority.

The rack has now been stripped and I've moved/added a few tabs for antennas and lights. Multiple coats later of cold gal and gloss black and it's ready to go back on the D'Fer.

IMG_3146.jpg

While the rack is off I've decided to replace the rubbers on the alpine windows and tint them too. Plus the roof needs a bloody good cut and polish while I'm up there on the ladder. There is more than enough room to do this while the rack is in place, but access will be easier now rather than later.

I've also taken the opportunity to paint the mounting brackets for the condenser in a contrasting colour. With a little luck the rack and condenser will be on the roof this weekend.

Looking forward to seeing the end result.......I just dropped mine off to have. Red Dot unit fitted between the front seats.......