Thread: Defender Air con cost/avalbility ??

Originally Posted by Sly

Has anyone resently put a genuine aircon unit in to a Tdi 300 defender ?.
I have a mate who whants a defender but the one he is looking at has no aircon. Any one solved this problem ?.

Got to be honest - if you have one without air con in, I would not be putting a 'genuine' air con kit in - they are not all that effective. and very expensive unless you get a good 2nd hand one

I personally think you would find that an aftermarket type would be a better bet, and much more effective.

And if you really wanted to do it properly - (so it actually cools really well) I would suggest you get a mini bus type evaporator that is ceiling mounted - okay it's a bit more complicated to fit, but it will work much much better.

Some things to consider if installing an air conditioner to a 300Tdi Defender: I had mine degassed and removed the condensor before changing the timing belt. Replacing the condensor has not yet been my top priority as heat doesn't worry me much as some other people. Also, Defender cabs with near vertical windows do not get as hot inside from the sun as many modern cars where the windscreens especially are at angles somewhat suited to solar panels.

However, I bought a new condensor to go in. It is narrower, thicker and has has wider spaces between the pipes and fins than the original Australian installed one. It will only go in front of the radiator, NOT the intercooler, which does not need a reduced flow of hotter air. The radiator generally has plenty of spare cooling capacity and less air/more heat from the condensor just causes the thermostat to open more and water temperature to remain about the same.

Thicker would somewhat compensate for not being as wide. Having wider spaces means it would have less heat transfer area than a finer one but in dirty conditions would still be more efficient as it would not block up as readily and be easier to clean.

Another point to consider is being able to get good access for changing the timing belt without degassing the aircon or blowing dirt out of the radiator. A good idea to have flexible hoses connecting the condensor. Then it can be moved or leaned forward a bit, which would considerably help regarding access at times.

Hi all

I removed my original air con from my defer to create more foot well space for the passenger. I bought a minibus air con and mounted it in the rear up against the roof (behind cargo barrier). Should have done it ages ago! This sucker cools the car so well, to well actually near, arctic most of the time. If I was going to do it again, I would put flexiable hoses to the condensor so it could be moved out of the way of the radiator. This would also allow access to the fasteners for the electric fans to enable replacement.

Cheers

Originally Posted by bent

Hi all

I removed my original air con from my defer to create more foot well space for the passenger. I bought a minibus air con and mounted it in the rear up against the roof (behind cargo barrier). Should have done it ages ago! This sucker cools the car so well, to well actually near, arctic most of the time. If I was going to do it again, I would put flexiable hoses to the condensor so it could be moved out of the way of the radiator. This would also allow access to the fasteners for the electric fans to enable replacement.

Cheers

Where did you get it from and how much if you dont mind me asking?

You should be able to pick up a mini bus type evaporator from Repco, Ingrams / OEX

Repco most probably wont have it in stock but would be able to get it in

From memory $500 would be about the mark. I have a catalogue somewhere - I will try and find it and post a picture

A mate who lives in Malaysia fitted his with two small condensers in the wheel arches and small condenser fans that were staged through a split pressure switch - nice set up

I remembered that I had posted it before

http://www.aulro.com/afvb/attachment...vaporators.pdf

or this one


http://www.aulro.com/afvb/attachment...r-scan0004.pdf

Originally Posted by bent

Hi all

I removed my original air con from my defer to create more foot well space for the passenger. I bought a minibus air con and mounted it in the rear up against the roof (behind cargo barrier). Should have done it ages ago! This sucker cools the car so well, to well actually near, arctic most of the time. If I was going to do it again, I would put flexiable hoses to the condensor so it could be moved out of the way of the radiator. This would also allow access to the fasteners for the electric fans to enable replacement.

Cheers

do you have any pics of the finished install or anyone else have anything similar?

jason

Obviously the price is a turnoff, but does this style of A/C

WAECO mobile solutions

offer any solutions to a fender. I like that I wont need a second engine driven compressor (orig is used for air) and my alternator is already upgraded. The specs say initial current draw of 720W on 240VAC so relatively under control power requirements. They also stock a flash inverted to run from 12V. I expect the biggest drawback will be physical size on roof but it may be an option.

Steve