PUMA air-con issues

[mickygee]

my air-con will only blow cold for about 30mins then it starts to loose coldness. iv'e taken it to the dealer 3 times and they seem to be at a loss as to what is wrong. now i know i am not the only one with this issue, so if any one has actually had the problem resolved i would be grateful for some guidance and suggestions to the dealer.
BTW it all started when the condenser(or coil?) not sure, froze up and they changed valves.

regards, Michael

[nugge t]

my air-con will only blow cold for about 30mins then it starts to loose coldness. iv'e taken it to the dealer 3 times and they seem to be at a loss as to what is wrong. now i know i am not the only one with this issue, so if any one has actually had the problem resolved i would be grateful for some guidance and suggestions to the dealer.
BTW it all started when the condenser(or coil?) not sure, froze up and they changed valves.

regards, Michael

I had exactly the saem problem and when I took it to the the dealer they siad they had had "a few" of these recently and fixed it without any fuss.

That seems to be fixed but they damaged the dash taking it out and buggered one of the A/C control switches in the process. Still trying to get a fix answer from them.

[Ratel10mm]

It could be a number of things: Short of refrigerant, excess refrigerant, control issue, clogged heat exchanger, incorrect refrigerant, moisture, air or non-condensibles to name a few.
Why did they change the valve? Was it the expansion valve? Has it got the original refrigerant & oil types in it? Other than this issue & the frozen coil, have you had any other problems?
Car A/C is not my speciality, but frankly I don't trust garages to even know the condenser from the evaporator. I'd take it to a refrigeration/Air con. technician or a vehicle A/C specialist.

[mickygee]

It could be a number of things: Short of refrigerant, excess refrigerant, control issue, clogged heat exchanger, incorrect refrigerant, moisture, air or non-condensibles to name a few.
Why did they change the valve? Was it the expansion valve? Has it got the original refrigerant & oil types in it? Other than this issue & the frozen coil, have you had any other problems?
Car A/C is not my speciality, but frankly I don't trust garages to even know the condenser from the evaporator. I'd take it to a refrigeration/Air con. technician or a vehicle A/C specialist.

thanks for the suggestions, i didnt realise so many thing could effect it. they changed the valves because they were allowing the system to freeze and that would in turn stop the cold air and it would blow ambient temp. i am hesitant to take it to anyone else. it is a warranty issue and i dont want them to look for excuses to claim someone has tampered with it, so for now it will go back to the dealer. unfortunately for me they may not know as much as a specialist so this is why i am needing the help.

regards, Michael

[sav07]

Mick,
I currently have the same issue. The dealer has a temp sensor on order from LR UK and is looking to fit it in the next couple of weeks. If your dealer is having issues tell them to speak to Hunter Land Rover they appear to know what the problem and solution is.

Regards
Sav

[mickygee]

Mick,
I currently have the same issue. The dealer has a temp sensor on order from LR UK and is looking to fit it in the next couple of weeks. If your dealer is having issues tell them to speak to Hunter Land Rover they appear to know what the problem and solution is.

Regards
Sav

thanks for the tip, it has also been suggested it could be the TX valve (involves removal of dash). would the temp sensor be the same thing? dealer wants to email Land Rover HQ for an answer but i'm sure there are enough cases of the same happening that it should be common knowledge for them by now

[sav07]

Yeah it could be, they also said they would need it for 2 days to remove the dash etc...

[solmanic]

thanks for the tip, it has also been suggested it could be the TX valve (involves removal of dash). would the temp sensor be the same thing? dealer wants to email Land Rover HQ for an answer but i'm sure there are enough cases of the same happening that it should be common knowledge for them by now

Had this same problem with mine when new. The heat exchanger was icing up and blocking the airflow so it just stopped blowing cool air after ten minutes or so. TX valve replaced but it took the dealer two goes.

[Ratel10mm]

The TX valve & the sensor are not the same thing, although depending on the type of TX valve it may have a sensor fitted.
Good to hear there may be a solution around the corner.

[Gidget]

Any one got any more information here ?
After 3000km we took our new puma to the doctor as the a/c was playing up.

We told them what was happening Which was .....
After 15 minutes or so, the a/c would go from cold & start getting warmer until the air coming out was warm.
If I turn the a/c button off for 10- 20 minutes & turn it back on, then it would work for another short period until it all started again.

So we took it in, they replaced the thermistor & things worked well...... for a couple of days & then it started all over again. Same symptoms.
So I tried a few things over the next couple of days before it went in again.
If I had the fan on flat out & on fresh air, it would last longer before it started not working, but not as cold. But then the next problem was the air wasn't as cold & not cold enough after a an hour or so on a very hot day. Then on a trip of over an hour, the actual amount of air coming out of the vents actually reduces until flat out with the fan is barely any air at all.

So on the way home I tried the opposite, I tried recirculating air.
Well air is initially icy cold, 15-20 minutes in to the drive & the air is getting warmer until it become useless again. Turning it off worked, but when turning it back on was only good for a short period.

So once it was back to the dealer again, I get it back, needs another thermistor I asked what is causing it, the new thermistor they just installed would not have been in there for 1000km

So it now goes in for thermistor number 3 on Friday, but I suspect this isn't the problem.

Can anyone shed light on this at all please ??

Thanks in advance