My air conditioning stopped working today but if i'm honest it hasnt been working great for a while, I cant hear any issues from the engine bay.

Are there any checks I can do before I take it in for repairs as I do like to do as much maintainance as I can myself?

Last edited by Kit on Wed Jun 23 2021 8:54pm. Edited 1 time in total

Good chance if it hasn't been working right for a while,,ie, not cooling down properly, is that you have a slow leak and it has finally got to the stage where there is no gas left in the system. Quite common for the condenser to get damaged as it's open to the elements, get on your hands and knees and look through the lower part of the grill and see if you can spot any damp patches,,, or look under the front bumper. The condenser sits in front of the engine radiator. 2010 RRS, TDV8
bali Blue / colour coded
side steps / flappy paddles
black perforated leather
22" overfinch
heated everything, TV,fridge ...... now with gold calipers and mud flaps !( black mud flaps that is) !!
Many years ago,,,,, 1955 series 1 landie , sometimes wish I had kept it

Thanks for the quick reply, i'll have a look in the morning to see if I can find any damage

physical damage is not always apparent, a leaking condenser will leave a trail of refrigerant,, a thin oily stain, but a very slow leak might not be as obvious. There are O rings in the pipe connection in the engine bay,,, down the right hand side of the radiator,, 2 small pipes on a manifold. Not much else on the system,, the compressor is quite robust and lives right under the engine. I have recently changed the condenser on mine as I had problems. Best option might be to get some gas into it,, see if it works and keep an eyesore leaks. There are a couple of pics in my gallery. 2010 RRS, TDV8
bali Blue / colour coded
side steps / flappy paddles
black perforated leather
22" overfinch
heated everything, TV,fridge ...... now with gold calipers and mud flaps !( black mud flaps that is) !!
Many years ago,,,,, 1955 series 1 landie , sometimes wish I had kept it

Thanks for the tips, if the condensor and O rings look good, is this a good price for a regas? https://autoregasac.wixsite.com/mysite/services

Guessing the RRS will be 800g which is £99?

Hope that it is not the condenser unit.

To replace the unit is a total removal of the front end of the car. Labour time in excess of 5 hours and the parts and gas on top of that.

Not a cheap job.........I know as I am about to have it done!! "Every Day is a School Day"

Now 2014MY RRS SDV6 AB
Now 2018MY Ford Fiesta ST Line 140bhp
Gone 2006MY BMW X5 3.0d Le Mans
Gone 2001MY BMW 530d Estate

Easiest option is to get a mobile AC guy out,, I got someone to come to the house, £70 I think it cost,, or you can always visit a specialist if you have the time. If you drop some gas in you will see within a day or so if you have a leak. I did mine last year, got a Nissens condenser for less than £80, it's more fiddly than difficult to change,,,, front grill, lights and bumper off, slam panel to move forward and a couple of other bits just to make life easier. If you know what your doing its possible in 3 or 4 hours. Got the mobile guy back to recharge the system and he only charged £20 for his gas. 2010 RRS, TDV8
bali Blue / colour coded
side steps / flappy paddles
black perforated leather
22" overfinch
heated everything, TV,fridge ...... now with gold calipers and mud flaps !( black mud flaps that is) !!
Many years ago,,,,, 1955 series 1 landie , sometimes wish I had kept it

Good evening,

I had my system nitrogen tested and result is my condenser is corroded at bottom so I have bought a replacement. I had seen instructions on another forum which said it was 2 hours and all looked very easy 8 bolts on each side and lights and front grill off so I compared my 2008 TDV8 and to my dismay it's totally different. Now does anyone have a complete process in order of what to remove and any pictures would be great otherwise I'm paying local specialist £270+VAT to fit the new one which includes the gas.

Cheers,

Adrian

Adrian, I think 2 hours is a little ambitious,, I looked at a couple of videos before doing mine but found that they referred to disco's or full fats,, I'm sure the V8 has an extra radiator which makes life difficult. I don't think the price you got is too bad considering it includes gas as long as it's fixed and not an estimate. I had plenty of time to do mine so didn't really rush, some bits I had to fathom out but now I know how it all goes together I could do it reasonably quickly.
If you are still determined to do it yourself I could put together the pictures I took and add an explanation To go with it,,, but you would have to give me a day or two to put things together,,,,, this is one of the reasons I've not posted a "how to" on the forum,, never seem to have 5 mins these days. 2010 RRS, TDV8
bali Blue / colour coded
side steps / flappy paddles
black perforated leather
22" overfinch
heated everything, TV,fridge ...... now with gold calipers and mud flaps !( black mud flaps that is) !!
Many years ago,,,,, 1955 series 1 landie , sometimes wish I had kept it

To be honest I wussed out and decided to pay the specialist the cash having also realised that the V8 is a lot more extra work. I can't risk a half finished job and also think the 270 plus vat is reasonable.

Thanks for coming back though. Now on to fix my gps antenna, bloody car is costing a small fortune 😂

Cheers,

Adrian

The price you had was quite reasonable so not much to complain about.

Do a search on here for " shark fin aerial ",,,, you will find lots of fixes. 2010 RRS, TDV8
bali Blue / colour coded
side steps / flappy paddles
black perforated leather
22" overfinch
heated everything, TV,fridge ...... now with gold calipers and mud flaps !( black mud flaps that is) !!
Many years ago,,,,, 1955 series 1 landie , sometimes wish I had kept it

gogsy1956 wrote:

Easiest option is to get a mobile AC guy out,, I got someone to come to the house, £70 I think it cost,, or you can always visit a specialist if you have the time. If you drop some gas in you will see within a day or so if you have a leak. I did mine last year, got a Nissens condenser for less than £80, it's more fiddly than difficult to change,,,, front grill, lights and bumper off, slam panel to move forward and a couple of other bits just to make life easier. If you know what your doing its possible in 3 or 4 hours. Got the mobile guy back to recharge the system and he only charged £20 for his gas.

I've got a guy coming to regas it on Wednesday, the condenser looks fine, so hopefully it's an easy fix

adriansj wrote:

To be honest I wussed out and decided to pay the specialist the cash having also realised that the V8 is a lot more extra work. I can't risk a half finished job and also think the 270 plus vat is reasonable.

Thanks for coming back though. Now on to fix my gps antenna, bloody car is costing a small fortune 😂

Cheers,

Adrian

Kit wrote:

gogsy1956 wrote:

Easiest option is to get a mobile AC guy out,, I got someone to come to the house, £70 I think it cost,, or you can always visit a specialist if you have the time. If you drop some gas in you will see within a day or so if you have a leak. I did mine last year, got a Nissens condenser for less than £80, it's more fiddly than difficult to change,,,, front grill, lights and bumper off, slam panel to move forward and a couple of other bits just to make life easier. If you know what your doing its possible in 3 or 4 hours. Got the mobile guy back to recharge the system and he only charged £20 for his gas.

I've got a guy coming to regas it on Wednesday, the condenser looks fine, so hopefully it's an easy fix

Don't forget to post your results  2010 RRS, TDV8
bali Blue / colour coded
side steps / flappy paddles
black perforated leather
22" overfinch
heated everything, TV,fridge ...... now with gold calipers and mud flaps !( black mud flaps that is) !!
Many years ago,,,,, 1955 series 1 landie , sometimes wish I had kept it

Just a final update, I got the system refilled and it had 115g of gas still in it. He leak tested it and didn't find anything amiss, which was a relief! Although he did put 5g of UV dye in the system just incase there is a slow leak somewhere.

The AC is back to ice cold again, ready for the rest of summer