County AC System

[isuzurover]

Is it just me, or was it designed by a team of blind, sadistic monkeys???

Generally the county/110 is well made and engineered, but the (Australian Designed) AC system is an abomination. The comically oversized fan/heater unit is bad enough, but last night I had the pleasure of removing the AC rad. Now who in their right mind would design something whith screw heads butting up against a panel - with no access to the screws. You almost need to dismantle the whole front of the car around the AC system...

I had to cut through about 10 (factory) cable ties before I could disconnect the fan electrics... The system was obviously never designed for dissassembly or maintenance.

So - my question is:
Do the defenders have an AC rad etc that is better designed/easier to remove???

[JDNSW]

As far as I am aware the 110 County airconditioning is usually the factory unit - I have never heard of one being fitted from new with an Australian designed unit, but I suppose it could happen. (But I won't dispute any criticisms of the usual A/C system on them!)

John

[isuzurover]

As far as I am aware the 110 County airconditioning is usually the factory unit - I have never heard of one being fitted from new with an Australian designed unit, but I suppose it could happen. (But I won't dispute any criticisms of the usual A/C system on them!)

John

I always thought it was an Australian designed unit, as the wiring diagram etc is contained in the "Australian Supplement". It certainly seems to have a lower level of design/engineering than the rest of the vehicle...

[JDNSW]

I always thought it was an Australian designed unit, as the wiring diagram etc is contained in the "Australian Supplement". It certainly seems to have a lower level of design/engineering than the rest of the vehicle...

Full details are given in the English workshop manual. I assume the wiring diagram had to be in the Australian supplement because of changes to accommodate the Isuzu compared to the 2.5 diesel covered in the workshop manual.

I would assume the lower design/engineering reflects the fact that it is the first aircon ever fitted to a traditional Landrover, it had low takeup in the home market, and quite likely was outsourced.

John

[DeeJay]

I made up a perspex screen to go behind the seat in my old county to try to keep the cooler air in a smaller area.
Only a marginal difference.
Suggest you dont put a screwdriver thru the core like I did

[jerryd]

My air - con has stopped working, so am I right in thinking the compressor for it is mounted below the alternator ???

If so, mine is covered in an oily substance and is probably the reason it's stopped working. This has only recently happened, any ideas ??? It obviously has a leak somewhere nearby ??

[Michael2]

I'm selling an A/C system off a 300Tdi that also includes a seperate rear A/C powered off the same pump. Includes everything from the pump to the vents (and the pipes in between).

It's currently on ebay and descriptive photos of the whole disassembly are posted at

http://s197.photobucket.com/albums/aa258/konstantinoufamily/Defender%20AC/

It might give you some ideas for improving the County.

[clean32]

i spent a lot of time looking at Air for the county. have a look at units for truck cabs, everything from cooled seat covers to 12V aircon boxs. and a lot cheeper than what you see else were. i could say the same about fridges, Waco etc thay all seem a bit cheeper from the truck places than the camping 4X4 places

[isuzubob]

I would assume the lower design/engineering reflects the fact that it is the first aircon ever fitted to a traditional Landrover, it had low takeup in the home market, and quite likely was outsourced.

John

What John said is correct. This system (while maybe not the first) was available as an option on all One Tens from 1983. As it was fully integrated and used a different bulkhead to non-a/c LRs it had to be fitted at the Solihull factory line or overseas assembly line as the car was being built. This is probably why it is such a pain to remove; it is quite easy to install when half the car is missing as it comes down the line.

As an aside, this exact system was fitted as late as 1992 to the first limited edition MY93 NAS Defender 110s that the US got. Interestingly, the lhd version of this air-con system came with a four speed fan and five face level vents compared to rhd three speed & four vents.
The best thing I ever did to my Isuzu County was remove the whole system and most of the guts behind the fascia.

Rob W

[taff]

I'm selling an A/C system off a 300Tdi that also includes a seperate rear A/C powered off the same pump. Includes everything from the pump to the vents (and the pipes in between).
It's currently on ebay and descriptive photos of the whole disassembly are posted at

http://s197.photobucket.com/albums/aa258/konstantinoufamily/Defender%20AC/

It might give you some ideas for improving the County.

hi mate do you have a link for this as i can't find it, i'm also after a heater box if you have one.