Freelander 1 Air-con A/C - Is it worth it?

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Bife

Bife

Active Member
Posts
181
Location
Lisbon Portugal
Hi
I have a LHD 2001 Td4 down here in Portugal

The air-con has never worked and I have never refilled it since I bought the car 5 years ago
I guess the first step is to go for a recharge and see what happens, but I have a few questions, please:

1. I have looked at the pipes and some of the rubber bits seem perished
Are the rubber bits on the pipes just on top of metal pipes for insulation, or are they fully rubber?

2. What are the 'common culprits' for any leaks on these?

3. I found this link for pipes - Is this really what I would be looking at in terms of prices if I had to replace any! :scream:

Also, if I do try to get it working, does it lead to more troubles - best leave well alone?

Gonna get the rear seat windows to work - could be my 'aircon' :D
 
When I had my fl1, the ac didnt work so I took it for a regas. The garage did the regas and then told me the compresser wasnt working, probably through lack of use by previous owner. They quoted me £700 to replace it, they based that on the cost of parts and Landrovers estimate of hours of labour. Needless to say I never got it fixed. The moral of the story is dont fork out £100± for a regas unless you know the system is in good order

Col
 
I might give it a go tho, or its a bit Catch22 - I'll only know if it isnt good if I fill it up
And its only about 40 quid here (€50)

so the A/C is a use it or loose it thingy then?
If it is, then it hasnt been used for at least 5 years
 
Bife said:
I might give it a go tho, or its a bit Catch22 - I'll only know if it isnt good if I fill it up
And its only about 40 quid here (€50)

so the A/C is a use it or loose it thingy then?
If it is, then it hasnt been used for at least 5 years
Click to expand...
Hi, you could ask them to do a pressure check to see if it holds pressure before filling it. Halfords over here do this for free so you might get lucky where you are.
 
Bife said:
I might give it a go tho, or its a bit Catch22 - I'll only know if it isnt good if I fill it up
And its only about 40 quid here (€50)

so the A/C is a use it or loose it thingy then?
If it is, then it hasnt been used for at least 5 years
Click to expand...
£40 is pretty good, you cant even buy the gas to do it your self here for that. Generally, the ac should be used for at least a few minutes once a week, even in the winter to keep the compresser in good order.

Col
 
Right, I will ask about a pressure test then if ok go for a recharge
If it doesnt all work I think I will then stop there :D
Are the pipes really that expensive?
 
Colthebrummie said:
£40 is pretty good, you cant even buy the gas to do it your self here for that. Generally, the ac should be used for at least a few minutes once a week, even in the winter to keep the compresser in good order.

Col
Click to expand...
Do you know why that is to use? Usually things die when being used. Just a money maker? I am not really fond of using those things, but it would be good to have it if needed. Said that I keep forgetting it to use it just because I don‘t really like it maybe.
 
Bife said:
so the A/C is a use it or loose it thingy then?
Click to expand...
AC is use it or loose it. The oil in the gas contains a special seal protector, which settles out over a period of inactivity.
So with a well used AC system, it stays working correctly for years.
But leave it off for months at a time, and the seals shrink and leal, so the AC stops working.
Modern cars with climate control hardly ever have AC gas loss issues, simply because the default settings puts the AC on, keeping it working correctly.
 
Have got a very very slow leak still on my Tangiers 1.8.
Got the gas sucked out and system vacuumed then isolated the compressor from operating and had it filled with 80 psi air.
Brought it home to remove bumper and spray bubble liquid to find leak.
 
andyfreelandy said:
Have got a very very slow leak still on my Tangiers 1.8.
Got the gas sucked out and system vacuumed then isolated the compressor from operating and had it filled with 80 psi air.
Brought it home to remove bumper and spray bubble liquid to find leak.
Click to expand...
Did same with my P38 a few years ago using my garage compressor. Had to fudge the valve connection with a bit of rubber hose & jubilee clip, but it worked to put 50psi in there. Took about 5-10mins to find the condenser leaking. Fixed that & got local AC peeps to vacuum the system several times before filling. Been working well for last 4 years, except had to re-shim the compressor clutch once.
 
Fun fact - FL1 control logic automatically starts the AC under certain configurations of the vents, demister. Fan at full speed + vents to windscreen = AC on IIRC, the logic is your demisting the windscreen, so you don't want to be putting moist air there, so the car starts the AC to cool the air to draw the moisture/humidity out of the air so that any moistures in the air condenses on the evaporator rather than the windscreen.
 
kernowsvenski said:
I believe that AC is on (regardless of the AC switch) if the distibution is set to either of the two windscreen positions, with the fan on at any of the three speeds.
Click to expand...

That's correct.
The AC active light doesn't come on though, as there's no way to turn it off with the vents on a windscreen setting.
I used to always have mine on the combined windscreen/cabin setting, so the AC was on permanently.

The FL2 is fully automatic, so I've no idea where it defaults the air to, but the windscreen doesn't fog up.
 
Another fun fact.
There was an electronic climate control option available for the later FL1 facelift models. It's a rare, but I would have considered it pretty desirable myself, and it made the centre console look a more modern.
 
Nice to have :
upload_2022-9-15_16-47-33.jpeg
 
Last edited:
I had my '04 TD4 re-gassed and it worked for a few weeks but then stopped, I got a speacilst aircon mobile guy out and he pumped it full of nitrogen and had a sniffer wand that found a tiny hole in the condensor, I fitted a new one and again it worked for a while and then stopped, I got the AC guy back out, he filld the system with dye and found a leak in one of the alloy pipes underneath right inside where it was held with a clamp, the pipe had rotted due to the clamp, I managed to find a good 2nd hand pipe and fitted that, it's now been good all hrough summer and works really well.
 
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