Thread: General Question - Defender Aircond

prior to '07 Defenders/110's were imported sans A/c and an aftermarket Australian developed (originally AMC until they went belly up) system was fitted here.

I think it was a cost thing, and as a consequence we suffer in the leg room dept on the passenger side.

And yes i have the original paper work for the AC (300Tdi) that came with the car when new

Originally Posted by rick130

prior to '07 Defenders/110's were imported sans A/c and an aftermarket Australian developed (originally AMC until they went belly up) system was fitted here.

I think it was a cost thing, and as a consequence we suffer in the leg room dept on the passenger side.

To be precise, I think it was an import duty avoidance thing.

Originally Posted by solmanic

To be precise, I think it was an import duty avoidance thing.

Yes spot on - AC was classed as a 'luxury item' and use to attract a higher import duty.

I have the wiring diagram for the AMC unit if anyone wants it.

I've seriously considered acquiring a UK system to retrofit. I really want to find out the fin pitch of the UK condenser, but no one on the UK boards seems able to help when I've asked. The Oz spec Sanden condenser uses a very fine fin pitch which appears to reduce airflow through the radiator, at least on Tdi's.

I was warned about this by an ex-JRA engineer who said they went through quite a few radiator fin pitches on the Isuzu's before they found one that worked, and it ended up being quite coarse. Anything too fine and the air would 'pack up' in front of i and not flow through. The Tdi radiator pitch is fairly coarse, too.
A coarse pitch is also an advantage off road. Dust and debris tends to flow through rather than being trapped.

Thanks for the info everyone, something I have always wondered.

I know what you mean about airflow Rick, when I got it, my 1996 condensor was full of all sorts of stuff up to and including the remains of a bird's wing. Took a lot of water / compressed air etc to see some daylight through it.

Interesting that anyone even thought about the two words 'Defender' and 'Luxury' in the same sentence!

By the way does anyone know of any good condition louvre vents anywhere for this system as fitted in the cab? I've got 2 cactus ones and thought I'd try to find some 2nd hand vents prior to trying for some new ones.

Cheers,

Mike.