Poor airflow through heating /cooling vents ? - best way to clean ?

Joe_H · May 31, 2016

Hi all you good people.
my 99 FL L series 4 door seems to have a problem with fairly poor airflow through the heating . cooling system.
The fan motor is working great - no issues there that I can see. There does not appear to be a pollen filter fitted.
It simply seems generally bad.
The centre vents are fine on the inner ones and poor on the outer. up or down - screen and floor are also pretty poor. Normally - in other vehicles, I can feel the air directed down to the floor, on the FL, I can feel it - just !.
I don't want to dismantle the dash assembly to clean everything out as this is a major job ! - if this is a common issue that can be rectified fairly easily or is a common problem then hopefully there will be some less drastic approaches

..

I have not yet removed the cover under the wipers to check for blockages, and also, it would appear from the RAVE images that the access to the intake plenum would be limited so that would appear to be not too productive.

The vehicle is also equipped with A/C which I suppose adds another potential source of the blockage in the evaporator matrix....

Any ideas on the best way to approach this issue would be appreciated.

As for pollen filter - I went for this first but cannot see one at all on this vehicle - rave says one is fitted - but.....

Many thanks
Joe

Skinny Mike · May 31, 2016

The blower on my td4 is like a dead aardvarks last breath

New pollen filter and fan works fine, all noise no action.
Mike

Joe_H · May 31, 2016

Skinny Mike said:
The blower on my td4 is like a dead aardvarks last breath
New pollen filter and fan works fine, all noise no action.
Mike

lmao Mike ! - what a picture that conjures up

- and an excellent description ! - all noise and no action !

Surely they can't all be like this ?

Skinny Mike · May 31, 2016

Most landrover heater/blowers are naff. Never known anything like them, slow to warm up and like an asthmatic cough.
All the other makes I've owned have been fine, especially Fords, they're like a blast furnace.
If you can work out a practical fix, you'll be a very popular peep

Mike

Zejmjien · May 31, 2016

Try switching between 'Air recycle' and 'Fresh Air' and see if it makes a difference. if it does it might be something clogged in the inlet

Joe_H · May 31, 2016

Zejmjien said:
Try switching between 'Air recycle' and 'Fresh Air' and see if it makes a difference. if it does it might be something clogged in the inlet

Hi, it doesn't make any difference unfortunately.

Has anyone actually got GOOD performance out of their ventilation system ???? - like strong airflow both down and up (obviously depending on control settings......)

hd3 · May 31, 2016

Has anyone actually got GOOD performance out of their ventilation system ????

well .. no complaints

The centre vents are fine on the inner ones and poor on the outer.

same here .. be just the design i rekon
to get a stronger flow thru one .. close one or two of the others ( dash vents )

i've a commercial .. and i don't think there are floor vents in mine to the rear space
( although haven't checked thoroughly )

also .. normally just me in cab .. 'n dog in load space ..
so i can close some dash vents if needed ..
( temp difference at moment .. between human space and dog space
( be 2 deg. c .. either heating or cooling via a.c.)
keep meaning to figure some extra floor air conduit
to get more cooling / heating to loadspace
but so far dog hasn't complained ..

comfort levels for me ..
fresh intake 'open' .. fan on '1' ..
or if really hot outside .. slow traffic .. fan on '2'
quick screen de-mist .. fan on '3'
or
fresh intake closed (re-circulate) ..
fan on '2' .. sometimes '1'

then again .. i be in yorkshire .. not portugal ..
must be quite a difference in average temps ..
especially in summer

if it's a uk 'heatwave' .. AC might get used on fan '3'
be rare in anycase that i've used fan '3' ..
and never had use for '4' ..

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As for pollen filter - I went for this first but cannot see one at all on this vehicle

be in passenger side footwell .. i.e. rhd / uk vehicles
sits vertically .. 4 small bolts / screws hold it in ..
installed from bottom of housing

although maybe different on early models ???
( as in .. i don't know )

i guess .. if there's no pollen filter .. the system could get bunged up
dust / small dead insects .. and similar ..

maybe a vacuum cleaner .. with long slim hose .. might clean the system out

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

come to think of it .. compared to other vehicles driven ..
the hippo1 fan airflow-system be somewhat weak

i've never really liked dash vents anyway ..
prefer to use the footwell vents 'n open a roof panel
to let the air be drawn up ..
only time i use the dash vents is on really hot days with the AC 'on'
even then i'll maybe have a roof panel open .. or window cracked open
( roof panel be less noisy wind-wise )

Joe_H · May 31, 2016

Hi HD3
Good to here one works ok

.
Cannot locate a pollen filter on this - enclosed is a shot of the vent box unit in the passenger compartment (it is LHD of course)
The main box in the image must contain the a/c evap unit as there is a drain from it. The 'filter' mesh I presume is for the recirculation ??
As for temps, well, it is a tad different here

.. 28 - 30 C today... (I was born in Beverley so can just about notice the difference

)

I need to get the a/c re-gassed as well as it doesn't seem to be getting as cool as it used to.. mind you, the large expanse of glass on the FL makes for a hot interior here. When you first get in on a day like today it takes your breath away it is so damn hot inside. !

Here is a pic if it makes any sense ?

Hello to Yorkshire too ! - long time no see.

Joe

hd3 · May 31, 2016

Cannot locate a pollen filter on this - enclosed is a shot of the vent box unit in the passenger compartment

:-( .. looks totally different to mine ..
some vehicles have the pollen filter in the engine bay ..

methinks a google search is on the cards

( i'm preparing dinner at mo. 'n catching up on tele news )

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

hd3 · May 31, 2016

maybe this site has it ?

http://topix.landrover.jlrext.com/topix/vehicle/lookupForm

i searched (pollen filter 1999 ) on that site but .. one needs to log-in / register to view most documents
( though .. owners manual for mine was viewable without log-in )

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Joe_H · May 31, 2016

Thanks HD3,
Will have a nose through that site - I also just got hold of the Land Rover Microcat EPC (Electronic parts catalogue) - runs great on Virtual win XP Machine under win 8.1! -
Will also start poking about under the wiper grill for the intake and try the vacuum as you suggest.
Might also try blocking the rear compartment vents as we never really use the back seats...... that should increase flow slightly.

Have definitely seen pollen filters for sale for my model year, but mine certainly does not appear to have one.

Thanks for the help mate.
Joe

Zejmjien · May 31, 2016

Check this out maybe it can help

http://www.roverparts.com/resources/videos/pollen-filter-replacement-freelander/

Zejmjien · May 31, 2016

hd3 said:
i've a commercial .. and i don't think there are floor vents in mine to the rear space
( although haven't checked thoroughly )

also .. normally just me in cab .. 'n dog in load space ..
so i can close some dash vents if needed ..
( temp difference at moment .. between human space and dog space
( be 2 deg. c .. either heating or cooling via a.c.)
keep meaning to figure some extra floor air conduit
to get more cooling / heating to loadspace
but so far dog hasn't complained

As far as i know the only difference between a commercial and a private hippo is less seats on the back so the ventilation system is the same. I have closed mine with rags and improved the flow on the front parts. I have left them closed with a temporary fix since I plan to put a self amplified sub under the seat so will need to use the vents as cooling for the amps

Joe_H · May 31, 2016

Zejmjien said:
Check this out maybe it can help

http://www.roverparts.com/resources/videos/pollen-filter-replacement-freelander/

Hi , unfortunately that looks nothing like mine

Joe_H · May 31, 2016

Hmm, looking at RAVE under the A/C there is a picture of my unit - no pollen filter - but, it starts to make a bit of sense as to what may be going on.
It would appear that ALL air entering the vent system goes THROUGH the evap matrix !!!.
The air intake comes from under the passenger side wiper grill (LHD) - then through the matrix - then into the system
So, with no filtering on the intake - all sorts of crap could be - and probably is - on the 'back' side of the evap matrix.

The image above is my exact vent box in the passenger foot-well, the image on the right shows the intake duct (from the back) from the wiper grill to the matrix rear.

Here is another pic of the matrix (which is large !) angled inside the box - Air in at the back via the duct to the under wiper grill - through the angled matrix then via the large round corrugated tube to the main blower and distribution box.
The next bit explains the operation of the recirc (this had me baffled) - the 'filter' (non removable) that can be seen at the end of my passenger footwell vent 'box' is the recirc intake - below that is a cover with a motorised flap for the recirc control as can be seen below in the page from RAVE..
So, it would certainly appear that a partially blocked evap matrix would certainly explain poor performance as ALL air passes through the matrix - outside or recirculated !.
I definitely think it is worth removing the large corrugated tube and using compressed air to back blow the matrix fins - at the same time sticking a vaccum hose down the under wiper grill intake to clean it all out - I have just ordered an endoscope camera from china (to hook up to an android device) so when this comes I can have a good nose around prior to delving deeper - it will probably be 3 or 4 weeks for it to arrive though....
So, with a/c and no real filtering at all on the intake I am sure the matrix must be partially blocked after 18 years - hence the whole system suffers.
I would expect a small mesh filter on the wiper grill intake - but nothing more... will investigate more..

Joe

Joe_H · May 31, 2016

Hmm, to add - I can see a quick test for the theory - If I remove the corrugated ducting to the air box from the evap / intake / recirc chamber then any big improvement in flow would support the blockage hypothesis..... hmmmmm... will test tomorrow if I get chance.

GrumpyGel · May 31, 2016

We get a decent amount of air out of the vents on our L Series when the volume button is on '4' (very loud)! But it could probably be quite a bit better - will be interesting to see what you find. Ours gets parked under a tree and at some points in the year there's always dried leaves that crumble and flake to clog things up!

What we do notice is that it can take ages for any hot air to come through from cold start. It means the expansion bottle is empty so needs a fill and air cleared from the drain plug going into/out of the heater! I believe most of this lost coolant is residing in the passenger footwell!

hd3 · May 31, 2016

think i'll have to get a windows-pc so i can read all these JLR documents ..
rave discs 'n whatnot ..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Joe_H · May 31, 2016

hd3 said:
think i'll have to get a windows-pc so i can read all these JLR documents ..
rave discs 'n whatnot ..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well worth it HD3 ! rave alone is worth it. - the EPC - electronic parts catalogue is also excellent.

If you have a mac or linux you could run VMWARE and a virtual win xp machine ? - I have an XP vm image if you need one ?
Joe

hd3 · May 31, 2016

If you have a mac or linux you could run VMWARE and a virtual win xp machine ?

oh yeah .. i forgot about virtual windows apps

be the only time i think about 'windows' when i've tried to access the rave-discs and the like

think i'll look for a less-expensive stand apart windows computer
so i can keep my mac free of windows malware 'n other pc oriented nasties ..

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Poor airflow through heating /cooling vents ? - best way to clean ?

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