Disco 2 Air con issues.

Hi all, with the air con on auto, 16 degrees both sides, the air coming from the drivers side vents is 3 to 4 degrees warmer than the passenger side. My multi meter has a temp. probe on it & the ext. temp. on both the meter & truck read the same (21 degrees) so with the probe in the passenger side vent(s) I get 19 degrees but the drivers side vent(s) the reading is 22-23, at the same time the rear air con vents are reading 16 degrees. I have removed & cleaned all the dust/fluff from the int. temp. sensor (the little fan runs fine but I realise it could still be faulty). So is it down to a faulty ATC unit, although there are no fault codes showing on it, or would the int. temp sensor be at fault (or both) ? Any advice much appreciated.

First port of call would be to see if there is enough gas in the system
Iirc you can do a reset of the Atc panel?

lynall said:

First port of call would be to see if there is enough gas in the system
Iirc you can do a reset of the Atc panel?

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It was regassed a week ago after I fitted a new dryer, (genuine) the compressor clutch kicks in as it should & as I say the 5 rear air con vents kick out nice cold air it's just the front vents which are noticeable warmer even when you set it to LO.
I wondered if the int. temp sensor has anything to do with the rear air con or the ATC was playing up. I've still got to disconnect the outside temp. sensor so the cooling (condenser) fan will kick in.

Andy Warren said:

It was regassed a week ago after I fitted a new dryer, (genuine) the compressor clutch kicks in as it should & as I say the 5 rear air con vents kick out nice cold air it's just the front vents which are noticeable warmer even when you set it to LO.
I wondered if the int. temp sensor has anything to do with the rear air con or the ATC was playing up. I've still got to disconnect the outside temp. sensor so the cooling (condenser) fan will kick in.

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10 yrs since I owned my td5, though it did have rear a/c which is pretty rare.
I cannot remember if rear follows the front temp setting or if it is independent? d3 you can do either.

Did a/c guys know it had rear a/c? as gas quantity is different.

Hi, IMO the interior temp sensor or ATC unit has definitely nothing to do with that, as long as the rear is OK the problem might be that the evaporator or the flaps at the front are not working well cos you should get 16 degress like at the rear all over the place with LO setting

lynall said:

10 yrs since I owned my td5, though it did have rear a/c which is pretty rare.
I cannot remember if rear follows the front temp setting or if it is independent? d3 you can do either.

Did a/c guys know it had rear a/c? as gas quantity is different.

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Yeah made sure of that & the print out from the machine he gave me shows 900g.
The internal temp. sensor obviously takes a reading from the whole car but I presume the rear a/c just continues to pump out cold air regardless of what the ATC unit is set to in the front.

I found the problem this afternoon, the dreaded leak where the pipe runs through the P clip behind the grill. After a run today the rear stopped getting cold so I removed the grill to disconnect the o/s temp. sensor & saw the leak. I certainly didn't notice it a couple of weeks ago when I changed the dryer & repaired the cooling (condenser) fan & I'm surprised they didn't notice it as I had the system pressure checked with nitrogen before I had it gassed just in case. More money !
Thanks for all the reply's.

Andy Warren said:

I found the problem this afternoon, the dreaded leak where the pipe runs through the P clip behind the grill. After a run today the rear stopped getting cold so I removed the grill to disconnect the o/s temp. sensor & saw the leak. I certainly didn't notice it a couple of weeks ago when I changed the dryer & repaired the cooling (condenser) fan & I'm surprised they didn't notice it as I had the system pressure checked with nitrogen before I had it gassed just in case. More money !
Thanks for all the reply's.

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The important thing is you found it, get it fixed just in time for summer, if we have one of course!

I have seen many vehicles pass vac and pressure tests only to leak some time later, I had mine pressure tested/regasssed the other day, and am quite surprised it is still okay 3/4 weeks later.

lynall said:

The important thing is you found it, get it fixed just in time for summer, if we have one of course!

I have seen many vehicles pass vac and pressure tests only to leak some time later, I had mine pressure tested/regasssed the other day, and am quite surprised it is still okay 3/4 weeks later.

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Yeah I'm going to order a new pipe. The £70 I spent just having the pressure test would have been better spent on a pipe in the first place but it leaked into that foam where the horn is embedded & wasn't immediately obvious. At least I know my glued together condenser fan magnet is still working a treat after disconnecting the o/s temp. sensor.

I got my pipe from advanced motor factors, did the job. Remove the air box and grill and its not too tricky. I ended up cutting a bigger hole to feed the pipe through as it was a right pain.

ronsealdeath said:

I got my pipe from advanced motor factors, did the job. Remove the air box and grill and its not too tricky. I ended up cutting a bigger hole to feed the pipe through as it was a right pain.

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Thanks for that, I've just ordered one & it was cheaper, even with p+p, than the one I'd been looking at.
What was in the way to stop you fitting it without drilling bigger holes if you don't mind me asking ?

The pipe is an awkward shape and not bendable, so getting it orientated into the engine bay is quite tricky. Remove the air box and inlet pipe to the turbo and then just try and thread it through. Its a bit like a rubics puzzle. I gave up and got busy with a rat tail file and within about 10 mins got it through.

ronsealdeath said:

The pipe is an awkward shape and not bendable, so getting it orientated into the engine bay is quite tricky. Remove the air box and inlet pipe to the turbo and then just try and thread it through. Its a bit like a rubics puzzle. I gave up and got busy with a rat tail file and within about 10 mins got it through.

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Hi, I removed the bits you mentioned & like you say is bloody awkward but I did manage to fit it w/o having to file anything & then got it re-gassed but I'd managed to 'nic' the o-ring where it connected to the dryer so they had to pull the gas out again I then had to drive home, change the o-ring for a new one I had (which I got as I didn't realise the new pipe comes with them fitted) then gassed again & now all working fine.

Glad its all cool now. Pun intended