A/C in a Defender

Twas Fri, 06 Feb 2004 15:27:05 +0000 when Geoff put finger to keyboard producing:

well, you'd get your wifes slim legs into the footwell, but if she had a larger-than-tiny handbag as well then it'll be staying on her lap.

-- Regards. Mark.(AKA, Mr.Nice.) ___________________________________________________________ "To know the character of a man, give him anonymity" - Mr.Nice.

mrniceATmrnice.me.uk 110 CSW 2.5(na)D___________________________________________________________

In message , Mr. Nice. writes

I'll measure it tomorrow on my 90.

->>>How much of the footwell do you loose ?

->>>

->I'll measure it tomorrow on my 90.

Thanks for that, I've heard it takes up a lot of space and doesn't work that well ?

It's 7 cms thick at he top and runs right across to the drivers side. The space is 31 cms (12.5 inches) measured horizontally at the top of the seat box. It doesn't go right to the floor. I'll try to get a decent photo of it and e-mail it to you if you like.

It certainly works OK even though all the vents are at knee level and only point upwards. I used mine a lot last summer.

Twas Wed, 11 Feb 2004 23:13:10 +0000 when hugh put finger to keyboard producing:

There's a photo in the current LRe magazine, I can scan that....

-- Regards. Mark.(AKA, Mr.Nice.) ___________________________________________________________ "To know the character of a man, give him anonymity" - Mr.Nice.

mrniceATmrnice.me.uk 110 CSW 2.5(na)D___________________________________________________________

->In message , Geoff

-> writes

->>->>

->>->>>How much of the footwell do you loose ?

->>->>>

->>->I'll measure it tomorrow on my 90.

->>

->>Thanks for that, I've heard it takes up a lot of space and doesn't work that

->>well ?

->>

->It's 7 cms thick at he top and runs right across to the drivers side.

->The space is 31 cms (12.5 inches) measured horizontally at the top of

->the seat box. It doesn't go right to the floor. I'll try to get a decent

->photo of it and e-mail it to you if you like.

Thanks for that, need to poke about in the footwell with a tape measure.

->It certainly works OK even though all the vents are at knee level and

->only point upwards. I used mine a lot last summer.

Sounds even better, the Defender is hardly air tight ;-) where did you get the kit from ?

| Sounds even better, the Defender is hardly air tight ;-) where did | you get the kit from ?

Geoff, sorry but missed the beginning of this thread.

I had air-con fitted by the dealer when I bought my second-hand Defender from them - I was assured that it would be a Genuine Parts item.

I was ok with this because the older fitment (pre Sept 2000) pretty much fills up the passenger footwell in a vertical line from the dash cubby hole to the floor. From Sep 2000 it is much smaller, allowing room for feet to go underneath - seems to only go down half way.

I was extremely hacked off when the vehicle was delivered (dealer in Exeter, I'm in Sheffield) to find it was an after-market fitment by an outfit called Cool-air, and was of the pre-Sept 2000 design.

Not only did it fill the footwell, but it also does not include the extra cooling fan in the grill that Land Rover fits. I figured the extra fan might come in handy while towing on hot days - engine gets hot, turn on the air-con, on the basis that the extra air-flow has a greater benefit than the downside of any additional load on the engine.

Despite that, it does work very well, although as another poster said the outlets are at knee level (same as the Genuine item), and I find that by the time the rear passengers have cooled down a little the front people are frozen up! Still worth having though.

When I had it serviced the Cool-air technician advised that they now fitted the new design, but still without the fan.

There is an outfit advertising in Land Rover Owner International called Motor Climate (in Birmingham) which state that they supply OEM equipment, and the price is competitive with Cool-air. In fact, if the dealer had been honest with me I would have gone there instead.

Hope this helps

Mark

It's the bloody fan in the footwell that's the problem. Crap !

Peter R.

Didn't. It was standard fit in the 50yh Anniversary 90.

In message , Mark Pewsey writes

Mine's a 98 but it doesn't go down to the floor. There's room for feet underneath.

->>Sounds even better, the Defender is hardly air tight ;-) where did you get the

->>kit from ?

->>

->Didn't. It was standard fit in the 50yh Anniversary 90.

Fair enough, I'm looking for a good aftermarket kit.

->Not only did it fill the footwell, but it also does not include the

->extra cooling fan in the grill that Land Rover fits. I figured the extra

->fan might come in handy while towing on hot days - engine gets hot, turn

->on the air-con, on the basis that the extra air-flow has a greater

->benefit than the downside of any additional load on the engine.

No reason I guess why you can't fit a extra fan (tho I don't like the extra TD5 nose look)

->Despite that, it does work very well, although as another poster said

->the outlets are at knee level (same as the Genuine item), and I find

->that by the time the rear passengers have cooled down a little the front

->people are frozen up! Still worth having though.

So the front seat passanger has no leg room and gets frozen ;-)

->There is an outfit advertising in Land Rover Owner International called

->Motor Climate (in Birmingham) which state that they supply OEM

->equipment, and the price is competitive with Cool-air. In fact, if the

->dealer had been honest with me I would have gone there instead.

Thanks for that, I don't get LRO as a general rule but a quick Google turns up

Thanks for your help.

It sounds like the same AC as on the NAS D90s. I believe the AC was not installed at the factory but was added on in North America. It is a Land Rover part, though, and doesn't take up that much of the footwell.

Pantelis Giamarellos wrote: (snip)

(snip) This airconditioner got a very bad reputation here, and was eventually dropped and replaced by one with vents at knee level - locally sourced I believe. The vents are essential in a hot climate as they allow the vehicle to get some ventilation when in the sun without compromising security (unless you follow the middle east practice of leaving it idling all day), and are also necessary when the air conditioning (inevitably) fails. However, the unsatisfactory airconditioning is one of the prime reasons for Landrover's poor sales here in the last twenty years or so. The problem is that the basic layout is unchanged since 1948, and there simply is not room for a decent airconditioning system. JD (my 110 has an after market system fitted in the cubby box)

May I also suggest fitting a roof mounted unit? Those also have versions that work both ways (hot and cold) and are far better because they provide cold or hot air to all passengers, work both ways (and we all know that the Defender's heater is not impressive in performance) and take absolutely no space from the front passengers footwell. Not to mention that their BTU rating is far better than that of any incar installed unit.

But LR also had an AC with its air outlets positioned in the middle dash area. You would lose the under windsscreen vents though but with a nice AC who cares about them anyway. If I remember well this type of AC was also fitted to the Saudi Arabia and/or North American specs D110s.

Take care Pantelis

I've had air con on 2 Jeeps, Vectra, 2 Polos and a VW Transporter based motorhome and as far as I am concerned the LR one in my 90 is perfectly adequate. The vents are knee level but point upwards and can be directed on to the upper body and face which is where you want cold air.

Temperature here yeaterday was 46C....... JD

I take your point. Mind you the Jeep Cherokee aircon ran out of steam at temps over 35+

->May I also suggest fitting a roof mounted unit?

So I can knock it of on a low tree branch ;-)