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Defender 110 V8 - A/C Receiver Drier

T

Tokyo V8

Accelerating Away
Any advice please?

The saga of my air conditioning continues...

It turns out that replacing the condenser was not enough and I need a new receiver drier too. I've checked with the local stealer and they say they can no longer supply this part because it's a 1994 vehicle...:(

Photo attached, 35C in Tokyo already :eek: so any ideas highly appreciated!
Oh, forgot to mention, it's the in-dash A/C model, not under the dash.

Cheers,

Gareth
 

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Hmm, the "pipey bits" could be a problem. On my Disco the receiver drier was like the on in that eBay link, just two pipe unions on the top - meaning that it's an off-the-shelf item for any decent size A/C distributor and should be easily available. it's not too clear from the picture, but I'd have thought a good A/C engineer (not a garage tech, but someone who actually understands them) might be able to make up some adapters to fit a standard unit.

It's the sort of thing I get the impression would be no problem in parts of Africa where people can make anything out of anything - but possibly a problem in modern parts of the world where life starts and ends with swapping standard bits.
 
Thanks oneten110, seems that's a used item, prefer something new (and therefore guaranteed) because of a previous bad experience with Ebay shopping.
 
Simon, thanks for your advive, the pipey bits do indeed seem to be the problem but (as you guessed) Japan is unfortunately not a place that deviates from standard much.... Off the shelf or nothing is a frequent issue :(

Am I right in thinking that any standard receiver drier will do, and then just get the pipes to fit somehow?
 
Tokyo V8 said:
... seems that's a used item ...
Click to expand...
Good point, and something I didn't pick up on earlier - they need to be kept sealed to prevent them absorbing moisture from the air. The drier bit is simply some hygroscopic material that will (for a short time) absorb moisture. Of course, in a sealed system, there shouldn't be a fresh supply of new moisture so the limited capacity shouldn't matter.
Tokyo V8 said:
Am I right in thinking that any standard receiver drier will do, and then just get the pipes to fit somehow?
Click to expand...
Correct, and in fact some systems don't even have one fitted. I'd not be comfortable taking one out of a system as it would reduce the liquid capacity and you'd have to be very much more careful over refrigerant charge quantity if you don't want to be hydraulicing the system and blowing hoses off. Another downside would be that you have to be much more careful vacuuming moisture out of the system or it will freeze in the expansion valve and affect performance.

As an aside, when I had the A/C on my Disco commissioned, I had a new filter-drier fitted but it had a different thread to the old one for the pressure switch. They got me a new switch, but I took the opportunity to have a triple switch. These have three operating pressures - low which will cut out the system if there's no gas in it, high which trips the system if the pressure is too high (excessive condenser temperature), and medium. The diagrams show two switches - high and low in series. The medium will effectively work as an indicator of condenser temperature and I used it to switch the assister fans, I figured if you're driving along and/or the engine fan is pulling enough air through, then you don't need to waste 20A running fans that aren't needed.
 
The part you need is: RTC7426 and if you go to www.thepart.com there are 2 dealers showing as having one on the shelf. One in UK the other in Holland. Given the price variation between them I am guessing the one in UK is a pattern part
 
Oneten110, thank very much for the part number, mails sent just now but to be prudent I asked them for a photo of the item too (my local stealer used the same part number but showed a completely different unit!). Thanks for your help, Gareth
 
Hi Simon,

Seems you're an expert on A/C - I just read all of your other posts :) Wish you lived a bit closer :) Or maybe I lived a bit closer :)
I'm not experienced in A/C at all so will just try to replace the current receiver/drier with the part that oneten110 suggested, I semt mails to the suppliers just now.
But I'm interested in your 3-way switch set up and figure that would be good here too, I only really use the A/C in summer when it would definately need the fan and in winter when the engine itself is probably enough. Have you got a diagram for your set-up at all?

Gareth
 
You are welcome.

The trouble with Land Rover is they keep changing part numbers for items and in order to find the part, at the website I sent you, one has to have the current part number.

If the part number I gave you is not the part you need, let me know and I will get in touch with my mate (who just happens to be parts manager at a dealer) and he can track down the current part number.

Tokyo V8 said:
Oneten110, thank very much for the part number, mails sent just now but to be prudent I asked them for a photo of the item too (my local stealer used the same part number but showed a completely different unit!). Thanks for your help, Gareth
Click to expand...
 
Tokyo V8 said:
Seems you're an expert on A/C - I just read all of your other posts :)
Click to expand...
Not an expert, not by any stretch - but it's the sort of technical detail I've picked up over the years and absorbed like a sponge (pity the spong seems to be drying up a bit these days :()
But I'm interested in your 3-way switch set up and figure that would be good here too, I only really use the A/C in summer when it would definately need the fan and in winter when the engine itself is probably enough. Have you got a diagram for your set-up at all?
Click to expand...
See this post where I've posted the complete diagram for the early Disco system, with my mods annotated in pencil. In a later post I've stripped out all the superfluous stuff for someone only interested in the cooling side.

The pencilled in coil labelled bypass is for the heater. One issue I noticed with the Disco setup is that the same lever controls A/C and heater temperatures - with the result that if you don't have the A/C on full cold, the heater is also working. I spotted in the LR parts book that they have a bypass valve (vacuum operated with a separate solenoid valve) which can make the coolant bypass the heater and let the matrix go cold. It made quite a difference.
 
Your best chance for supply will be Australia, as a lot more 110 had aircon in OZ , it should be possible to get a new (not old stock) pattern part IIRC I saw one in aircon catalogue when I was retrofitting aircon to my 110 , but I ended up fitting a Red Dot system. HTSH
 
mowog said:
Your best chance for supply will be Australia, as a lot more 110 had aircon in OZ , it should be possible to get a new (not old stock) pattern part IIRC I saw one in aircon catalogue when I was retrofitting aircon to my 110 , but I ended up fitting a Red Dot system. HTSH
Click to expand...
Depends how many had factory fit, and how many had aftermarket.
From the photo, it looks like that is a very LR specific part - so unless factory fit was common, most will have used more generic parts which wouldn't be much use to the OP unless he goes to the trouble of having custom pipework made to suit.
 
I agree there was a mix , but not many aftermarket , as landrovers are quite problematic to fit aftermarket successfully , which goes someway to explain the poor performance of OE systems . Aircon was a service i offered when operating a garage business in OZ and there is a large non gen parts supply business due to large ( although small population comparatively speaking) number of aircon vehicles due climate. That is why I thought it might be worth the OP enquiring in that direction . JMHO
 
Simon, Mowog, Oneten110, thanks for the additional info. I've joined the Australian Forum too so I'll be asking for advice there too if need be! For the time being, I've ordered the receiver/drier from the UK supplier that Oneten110 advised and let's hope that's enough to get the system working! Will keep you all informed of my progress.

Gareth
 
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