Ok first serious post after getting my FFRR in June...

The AC system has a mind of its own, turn the fan speed up one click and it goes full on, click it back one and it turns off completely... after much faffing around with the speed knob I get it to where I want it and leave it.

I know what your thinking... FSR... I thought that also after much research and reading within the forum, so whilst back in the UK last weekend, I purchased one from my local friendly dealer (along with a load of other parts).

Fitted it this afternoon, definitely a more complex job on the LHD cars than the RHD it seems, had to remove loads of stuff to get at it.

Anyway, to cut to the chase... new FSR fitted, dash back together, try the speed controls, same as before... bummer!

So now that I have ruled out the FSR, I am thinking the control panel in the dash may be goosed... anybody had any experiences with this failing or is there another electrickery box that might need a look at?

Don't really fancy another afternoon upside down in my footwell in 45 degree heat... I have lost about a stone in my own sweat today.

Any help will be much appreciated.

What happens if you just set to auto, air con on, dials at 22, with thumbwheel on one blue?

I find that is all I need in the summer, just moving the thumbwheel to one red in the winter. .
Experience is the only genuine knowledge, but as time passes, I have forgotten more than I can remember
Volvo V70 P2 2006 2.4 Petrol 170bhp Estate SE
MG Midget Mk1 1962

Previous: L322 Range Rover TDV8 3.6 2008; L322 Range Rover TD6 3.0 2002; P38A Range Rover V8 1999

If I set the system to fully AUTO, then the fan goes full speed and even after driving for 10 minutes the speed never decreases.

If I turn the temperature up to maximum then the fan slows down by 1 light on the dial.

I am thinking the sunlight sensor, or the internal car temperature sensor might be the culprit.

Looking at the wiring diagram the blower motor is only connected through the FSR (I presume thats the Control Unit Blower Motor Front (D258)) which feeds its way back to the Automatic Temperature Control Module (D243) which I am guessing is the main control panel on the dash which all the sensors appear to connect into.

I wonder if it isn't just trying to reduce the interior temperature? Pretty hot where you are so, at start up, the interior temperature will be high.

Here when the ambient temperature is around 30C mine does the same and stays on for quite a while until the interior temperature is down. John
2008 Stornoway Grey 3.6 Tdv8 Vogue
2005 TD6 Java Black Vogue - Written off!!
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With the settings I indicated earlier on a warm day here (25 degrees) the car will take a good 20 minutes on full cooling before it gets the internal temperature to where it wants, then starts to slow down a bit (often this can be too soon when driving West into the sun!)

Might also try taking a vacuum cleaner to the internal temperature sensor intake in the centre dash, to the left, in case this is struggling to collect air. .
Experience is the only genuine knowledge, but as time passes, I have forgotten more than I can remember
Volvo V70 P2 2006 2.4 Petrol 170bhp Estate SE
MG Midget Mk1 1962

Previous: L322 Range Rover TDV8 3.6 2008; L322 Range Rover TD6 3.0 2002; P38A Range Rover V8 1999

Thanks for the info... I will monitor it for a while and see what happens on a long drive... taking her off road in a couple of weeks to the desert now I have had the mechanical niggles fixed so that will be a long run.

I will add any further diagnostics to my winter work list once the temperature is back to something more normal...
This is what i have been clocking recently...

Click image to enlarge

Had the same problem. Turned out to be the controlpanel in the dash as you suggested! L322 Vogue 2003

If you are experiencing air temperatures of 50C + I think you will be at the limit of what the ac is capable of handling bearing in mind the highest air temperature ever recorded was about 57C. No wonder the ac is running flat out. I presume you intend to run it in recirculation mode in order to gradually reduce the cooling load as the cabin cools down.

Further testing and diagnostics this morning... Was out early taking my boy to his summer camp before work, outside temp 38 degrees. Car parked under the car shelter overnight so it was not baking inside like usual. Driven for about an hour with internal temp on 22 and full auto. Fans running flat out all the time. I even left the car running when I dropped him off to maintain the chilling. No difference at all so I am thinking/starting to convince myself that its the control unit as Starberg has had similar issues.

Checked the WSM on TOPIx, nothing exciting in there really, all fairly generic details and how the system works. There are only a few things it could be, but as the air is cool and dry (sunglasses fogged up straight away when I got out this morning, and when I got back in the interior felt lovely and cool), had the gas checked yesterday, all ok, and the fan is working, its looking more and more like the controller. I am sure that's not a cheap part (if ever there is such a thing).

Nicedayforit, I noticed on TOPIx when you search for the VIN number it is listed as having a "HIGH OUTPUT AIR CONDITIONER" so I presume this is a beefier compressor for the Middle East market. Its usually only that hot for a couple of weeks in the year so maybe its just bad timing that I am trying to solve this problem during the hottest month.

Joe90, cleaning the little senor grille was the first job as it had much fluff in there from previous owners. Vacuumed and even a delicate tickle with a new soft paintbrush just to make sure its clear.

I have a Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7L V8 HEMI that the wife uses and the climate control in there seems to manage to regulate the temperature. It blows full for a while but gradually slows down, and if you set the temp between 22 and 26 you can hear the fan speeds change.

It's not just the compressor that may be bigger all the heat transfer surfaces ie the evaporator and condenser surfaces will be too. I still think it will be at the upper end of its performance at the temperatures you are experiencing.
After it has been running for a while with 38C outside and still blowing full what sort of temperature do you have in the cabin? What sort of temperature is the incoming air?
Even here on hot days mine runs on full initially for quite a while when I set it on auto and just ignores me if I turn it down manually. It does eventually settle though and works normally after that.
I presume you have checked the cabin air filter is clean? As you know sand gets everywhere and chokes things.
Although you can clean the internal air sensor grille with a vacuum and a brush you can't clean the actual air sensor that way. You need to take the panel off to get at it.
Could do with a bit of 38C round here it the moment.

My fans would not slow down here when I first brought the car over from the UK , it just needed a re gassing . The first place I took it to to have the gas put back after it had been taken out for shipping hadn't turned the rear HEVAC on so it didn't receive a full fill . It's also quite common to have micro holes somewhere in the system so after a long while you just get too low .A properly functioning Full Fat air con will cope well with 40+ because from memory it's something like an 11kw or 12kw system , plenty good enough . 2008 MY Supercharged
Rimini Red / Jet
four zone climate
remote park heater
and no ugly kid windows.
magnus satis quod turpis satis

OK... so the plot thickens... last week it was very hot and humid here in Doha, and after a midday meeting with work in town, driving back to the office was not nice. A/C blowing mildly cool if that. Took it to the local Land Rover Dealer on Saturday who checked the gas as a first port of call.

They said its supposed to have 750 thingies (can't remember the measure, grams maybe) of gas and all he managed to suck out of it was 230 thingies. So it seems there is a leak somewhere in the system and they have said its the evaporator which needs changing.

They have re-gassed it in the short term to get it working again and as far as temperature goes, its now where it should be... cold. In fact I think I saw a small family of eskimos living in the boot it gets that cold in the car now... and non of that annoying hissing noise I used to hear even with the radio turned up.

So my next questions are...

a) How likely is it that the evaporator is leaking?
b) Is it more likely to be the thermostatic mixing valve?
c) Anyone had a go at this as it appears to be in the worst possible place for a replacement. (I did check the wiki and can only find condenser replacement and a search for evaporator turns up lots of chat but nothing for changing one).

Dealer wants 10.5k Qatari Riyals (about 2k GBP) to change it and 3 days but as I am good with the tools I fancy doing it myself. (in the winter if the re-gas holds that long). The service manual makes it look easy but I know it won't be.

I guess while I am back there I might as well change both the Evaporator and the Mixing Valve but the prices here are unbelievable (double the UK it appears, and I'm sure its not all in the shipping!). Last trip to the UK I managed to bring back a front left half shaft which was 1k GBP here in Qatar and picked it up from my local dealer for 470 quid. It did weigh 10.5 kilos so trying to drag my case through customs without drawing any attention to myself was interesting but worth it for the saving .

Any advice on the evaporator would be appreciated, its going on my winter list of jobs...

Very unlikely to be the evaporator, they don't tend to leak... how do they know it is that....??

Usually the condenser and you can usually see a dark patch on it where the oil has escaped and attracted dirt....  Pete
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Thanks Haylands, I will give the condenser a good visual going over and see if I can spot anything along with the other pipe work and connections.

Not sure how he managed to diagnose the evaporator so quickly, not sure I trust the diagnosis fully yet.

However... I have recently had the dash vents out to change the centre vents bulbs and wire in the outer ones and during the process I noticed a lot of oil in the outer vent ducting which I thought might have been the previous owner going mad with the cleaning spray. Maybe it's oil escaping from the evaporator... Also managed to ruin a pair of shorts as the sponges on the back of the vents were soaked in it too and didn't realise.

For your parts use Duckworth Dan from this site , I use him whenever I can due to a similar pricing policy to yours here in WA. Most prices are between a third to half local charges and he can ship to me in about four days . 2008 MY Supercharged
Rimini Red / Jet
four zone climate
remote park heater
and no ugly kid windows.
magnus satis quod turpis satis