Disco 3 (LR3) D3 air con compressor

Just finished swapping the dead a/c pump for a new one, this has to be one of the most arseholy/fiddly jobs I have done on a Land Rover ever!
Amazing the amount of kit that has to come off just for access.
When it is on the car you can see the drive pulley and a tiny bit of the pump itself, does not matter where you look at it from, sideways/through the wheelarch/underneath, the kin thing is pretty much invisible.

So my advice would be, dont buy a D3 with dead a/c, and if it needs a new pump pay some poor sucker to do it for you.

lynall said:

Just finished swapping the dead a/c pump for a new one, this has to be one of the most arseholy/fiddly jobs I have done on a Land Rover ever!
Amazing the amount of kit that has to come off just for access.
When it is on the car you can see the drive pulley and a tiny bit of the pump itself, does not matter where you look at it from, sideways/through the wheelarch/underneath, the kin thing is pretty much invisible.

So my advice would be, dont buy a D3 with dead a/c, and if it needs a new pump pay some poor sucker to do it for you.

Click to expand...

oh mate, that’s sounds a complete job to do

thought replacing the rear upper wishbones were bad enough , did also hear replacing a mechatronic unit is another sod to do

out of curiosity how long did it take u to replace it plse, plus on the AC low side can u remember the readings plse, ie 35 Psi

Hope ur sitting down with a few beers buddy as u definitely deserve a big drink after that

i RECKON 10 HOURS I

gstuart said:

oh mate, that’s sounds a complete job to do

thought replacing the rear upper wishbones were bad enough , did also hear replacing a mechatronic unit is another sod to do

out of curiosity how long did it take u to replace it plse, plus on the AC low side can u remember the readings plse, ie 35 Psi

Hope ur sitting down with a few beers buddy as u definitely deserve a big drink after that[/QUOTE



I reckon 10 hrs incl a few mistakes, so could easily knock a couple of hours of it next time, though I hope there is not a next time!

Click to expand...

Just stripped old pump, was one of the pistons seized, did not seem like it had much Pag oil in the system either!

lynall said:

Just stripped old pump, was one of the pistons seized, did not seem like it had much Pag oil in the system either!

Click to expand...

Blimey mate , 10 x hours , plus of course the scrapped knuckles and the obscene large swearing jar, lol

must admit never seen inside an AC compressor

Apart from the rear upper wishbones think that’s got to be one of the worst jobs

good to got it sorted out mate , reminds me I had mine regassed last year and think it needs a top off as isn’t as cold

gstuart said:

Blimey mate , 10 x hours , plus of course the scrapped knuckles and the obscene large swearing jar, lol

must admit never seen inside an AC compressor

Apart from the rear upper wishbones think that’s got to be one of the worst jobs

good to got it sorted out mate , reminds me I had mine regassed last year and think it needs a top off as isn’t as cold

Click to expand...

I am sure once done a few times you could half that time with not to many dramas.

Finally got it regassed yesterday and have to say it has not been this cold in the 6 years I have owned it, I have had it gassed at least two other times due to leaks on the rear a/c pipework, so I have no idea how long it was low on gas, this all of course is no good for the compressor.

Of course the d3 does not have a standard on/off a/c pump, it has a variable displacement unit, adjusted by a pwm signal from the ecu.

It is dorth a look on youtube to see the guts as it is quite interesting.

Is this the same type plse

gstuart said:

Is this the same type plse

Click to expand...

No thats the old style on/off a/c pump.

Variable one is 1.00 min in,