Another heater/air-con question!!

i know there is alot of questions on this subject but really want to get this sorted, this heat is driving me insane without a decent bit of air in the car!

Right since ive had my 97 dse its never had good aircon, never gone round to looking at it until now! ive checked all the air conditioning parts and checked through the history and alot has been renewed by the previous owner, it was only until i looked at the compressor that i noticed there is no belt on it!!! My question for this is where does the belt connect to after its on the compressor? There is another pulley directly next too and inline to it, (thinks its the crank, forgive me if i sound a cock but first aircon car ive had!) does the belt simply attach to this one only?

My only only problem with the heater system is the air output in the cabin is very weak even when turned up to full, all distribution and temp works fine just doesnt come out very strong! Had a look on RAVE and im guessing its the blower motors, i had the bottom dash out and turned the fan speed right up and the drivers side is making quite a bit of a wineing noise. any advice would be great. Thanks.

May be useful to have a diagnostic check - find an independent rather than a main dealer, and get a full Testmate / Rovercom/ etc diagnostic check done and printed out for you if possible, so you have a good starting point as to whether all three blends are working properly or other faults in the system etc. Is the Open Book symbol showing on the head unit (HEVAC unit) in the car - ie the unit with the aircon controls?

Rangie aircons are really fantastic if they are working, so there is something wrong somewhere - I had a blower motor pack up, although this is apparently not that frequent. Blend motors are much more frequent and most Rangies this age have needed new blends. Is your system fully gassed?

havent been able to test system for gas but if there isnt a belt driving the compressor then surely the aircon wont work at all just the normal heater?. The open book symbol does come on but only after about 10-15 mins. Was thinking of getting it plugged in to see whats up but my indie charges £70 so just wondered if anyone has an idea before i go for that. Thanks for your input.

you can check the gas by simply undoing the plastic cap on the pipes that run along the bulk head and pressing the valve in...you will know when you press it if its under pressure or not....just a thought... or you could put a belt on it and take it to kwik fit as they only charge 45 quid for a re-gass..if it dont work they wont charge ya as that were i took our disco..just another thought....

I'll go with Mark....a) Pop the valve, if there s no pressure there, good chance you have a leak..maybe in the usual place..the Condenser. b) Replace the belt, your going to need the belt on to get it gassed. c) Remove the Pollen filters and check them, if they are filthy, won't hurt to leave them out for a couple of days until you fit new ones. d) locate the blower relays in the engine bay fuse box, pull them out and check for burning around the plug in contacts.

That should pass an hour or two..and let us know how you get on:behindsofa:

right have been out and had another look and tried your suggestions, this is what i have found, pressed the valves in on the two pipes by the bulk head and nothing! also went to take the pollen filters out and guess what...not a pollen filter to be found!! checked all fuses and relays and all are ok apart from a little melted bit on the fuse box from where one pin goes in, well its only very very slightly scorched and all the pins and contacts are fine, changed it to a new relay just in case.

I was actually quite ****ed off about the pollen filters not being changed from its last service just before i bought it that i went through all my history to see what i could find and have found the condenser has been changed 2 years ago to a new one, so im gonna take a stab in the dark and rule that out for the moment. Think the best plan forward is to go for a re-gas after the belts been fitted,got one on order this arvo, and take it from there, any other suggestions??

Oh and about the blower motor,am i right in guessing that if the pollen filters havent been in for quite a while this can cause stress on the blower motor. Its making quite a bit more noise than the passenger side one, prob worth changing???

thanks for your advice guys id be stuck otherwise!!!!

if there are no pollen filters fitted this will make it easier on the motors as the air does not have to go through the filter which in effect is a restrictor,albeit only slightly unless they are blocked.

Gemsdad is right...having no filter would allow the blower to work easier.
What I am wondering though is..why would someone have a new condenser fitted and then effectively "Disable" the aircon by removing the belt????
When you have the belt back on, take it to an aircon place that has Nitrogen, get the system vaccumed down and charged with Nitrogen (Lot cheaper than refrigerant), leave it in for a few days then get the system checked again to see if any pressure has been lost. If all is okay, then get it filled with refrigerant.
Noise from blower motor is probably a dry squeaky bearing..run it on high speed for a short while and see if it disappears. Any burning in the fuse box is not good, but if you are happy with the condition of the relay receptacle give it a go..but keep your eye on things.

before you take it to aircon fella, check the aircon condensor doesnt have the pitting on the tor left corner, take the slam panel off and rub the corner down a little, if you see tiny holes then repair with liquid metal rated for aircon or replace the condensor( i have repaired mine and it seems fine!!)

gavbriggs said:

before you take it to aircon fella, check the aircon condensor doesnt have the pitting on the tor left corner, take the slam panel off and rub the corner down a little, if you see tiny holes then repair with liquid metal rated for aircon or replace the condensor( i have repaired mine and it seems fine!!)

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Condensors generally only seem to have a 2 year lifespan unless you jet wash them regularly as recommended by Irish, so check the condensor and don't just assume its ok as changed 2 years ago.....

thanks guys for your help will be getting it looked at in the next couple of weeks, will let you all know how it gets on!

oh just one other question, my mates given me a free can of the r-134a gas, oil and sealer jobbies, think ive seen them in halfords before, was going to give that a try first, so i connect it to the low side, which pipe is the low side? The thick or thin pipe, (its a dse not petrol, if that makes any difference???!!) Thanks guys!

tommo138 said:

oh just one other question, my mates given me a free can of the r-134a gas, oil and sealer jobbies, think ive seen them in halfords before, was going to give that a try first, so i connect it to the low side, which pipe is the low side? The thick or thin pipe, (its a dse not petrol, if that makes any difference???!!) Thanks guys!

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It's the large diameter pipe on the drivers side. Make sure you sart with a cold system, start the engine and let it idle, set aircon to max cool (LO) on the display,shake the can well attach and press watching the guage. If your system was completely empty, 1 can should just get you up to the blue segment, not full but enough to work, at least it was on mine. All that was written on the can, I had EZchill.

thanks for that, didnt fancy putting it in the wrong one!!!