Hi all,

Is there anything particularly unusual about the aircon system on the l322s (specifically the 4.4 tdv8)?

Mine wasn’t very effective so I got my normal tyre place to regas it while they had it to do a tyre. After about 2 hours, they came back and said it must have a fault - something about the high pressure not rising with operation and suggested I get LR to look at it, citing the fact that it was a really complicated system in Range Rovers.

Does it need a LR place to sort it or would this be something a normal Indy ought to be able to fix?

Anyone got any immediate thoughts as to the cause?
My list of to do’s is getting rather long on this car! 2010 4.4 TDV8 Vogue SE

I recently had an issue which I traced to the compressor. Specifically, the solenoid that controls the swash which essentially controls the flow of Freon.

It is not too complicated, although there are a few “go-no goes” which the HVAC ecu checks before allowing the compressor to clutch in.

I’m not sure if your system is the same as mine, but were it me, i’d switch the AC on (engine running) and lie underneath and see if you can see the clutch engaging. Get someone to switch the AC on and off repeatedly while you’re looking. The compressor is on the passenger side at the bottom of the engine under the PAS pump.

If it is cycling, meaning clutching in and out, (and you have confirmed the system has gas in it) then it is likely the compressor.

The workshop manual does a good job explaining how the system works

An IID tool is almost essential to rule out sensor issues.

This is all assuming you’ve had it leak tested and recharged 2007 3.6 TDV8

it most likely is -air conditioning compressor control valve .

Thank you for that. I will try and get that organised, although I might just have to book it in somewhere as spare time is only an occasional friend with a 2 yr old!

An IID tool was very high on my list when I bought the vehicle but my spare budget has become quickly depleted with unexpected issues. I’m still hoping a second hand one will appear at a sensible price, but I’ll have to bite the bullet sooner or later. 2010 4.4 TDV8 Vogue SE

Hey nino

Yeah, mine is mechanical solenoid and clutch system, wasn’t sure of the newer vehicles.

I replaced the compressor in the end. Massive pain in testes.

Your advice before was spot on and the video you posted replicated my exact issue 2007 3.6 TDV8

You may find the solenoid for your compressor here

Polarbearinc.com

Or shoot them an email, if not just to get the part number 2007 3.6 TDV8

Thanks all. Nino, would a fault in that component be picked up by a proper diagnostics device? 2010 4.4 TDV8 Vogue SE

,kooky_guy, IIDTool is not picking any faults on mine. i've taken car to two AC specialist here and both agree it is solenoid at fault. unfortunately they are not familiar with ffrr and don't wanna do the work. so it looks like I will have to roll up the sleeve and do the work myself.

,

Thanks Nino. That's annoying but good to know that it probably needs a LR specialist.

I'll just have to find one nearby. 2010 4.4 TDV8 Vogue SE

Hmm, just spoken to one indy who said that the only way it can't be holding pressure is if it's leaking and that the compressor won't run if there's no refrigerant in it. I would have thought that the tyre place would at least have been able to diagnose that (I thought a leak test was a legal requirement before even trying to put refrigerant in?)

The tyre place said the high pressure side wasn't rising. Is that just gibberish as the indy didn't seem to acknowledge it as a meaningful diagnosis. I took it to mean that they thought the compressor wasn't running because of a fault somewhere, which implies to me that it was holding pressure, just not working. 2010 4.4 TDV8 Vogue SE

Well this is a bit annoying. It's started working intermittently now. I'm wondering if it is a climate control problem as when it's working it seems to be on full cold regardless of what the temperature controls are set to.

Suggestions anyone? 2010 4.4 TDV8 Vogue SE

I've found that my system is quite sensitive and responsive to its solar sensor on the dash so going through cloudy and sunny sections like we get at this time of year with all the showers makes the air-con fluctuate its output temp quite a lot.

However, its as slow as a week in the jail to respond to the internal cabin temp sensor which I think is placed so that it holds too much residual heat from when its been parked.

For example, on a cold morning start, the whole car is cold including all the internals of the centre console. You start driving, and after a short while, the engine heats up and starts blasting the screen and your feet ... but that takes ages for that indirect cabin heat to reach and warm up the air going into the centre console area to make the temp sensor warm up. Result is you have about 30+ minutes or more of burnt feet.

Similarly, parked on a hot day, the cabin will have heated up a ton and the system will blast cold air for ages until the internal temp sensor cools. That being said, its better at this cause it blasts the cold air out the face vents, which reachs the sensor quicker than the hot air from the footwell.

Basically what I'm finding is that the driver feels the results of heat/cold by the system far quicker than the system itself ... as such driver get hot/cold for too long before it the system responds.

As a test, I made a bodge duct that took the air direct from a face vent and blew it into the sensor grill to test if the sensor was reading air temp changes as I changed the heat setting on the dial (monitored the readings of sensors using a Rovacom kit). I found that the cabin sensor reacted as you would expect as hot/cold air was passed over it.

What took ages to change was the air temp coming out of the vents in response to that changed sensor reading, and even then, the change was extremely gradual and slow. So even if you had selected 25°C on the dash, and the car was blowing full hot air out and making the sensor read 30°+... it was taking minutes for the system to gradually lower the heat output to get the temp sensor down to the selected 25°C.

Personally, I think climate control is pointless. I'd far rather just simply tell the car I want the air coming out the vents to be a set value, and leave it at that. V8 or else ...

Thanks for that Fisha.

My P38 had a little fan that encouraged air through the cabin sensor. Is the L322 not the same?

I think there must be something wrong as the aircon wasn't working at all for quite a while. Not sure why it's sprung into life now, but it still takes a while before it comes on - you can tell when it's started as it's preceded by that aircon smell!

I've got a couple of weeks before it's going into the Indy so hopefully I can work out what to tell them by then! 2010 4.4 TDV8 Vogue SE

Getting frustrated with this now. It's been into two garages to have the aircon fixed and neither have been able to fix it.

The latest indy specialist had it for 3 days and ended up just having it regassed (they failed to mention when I booked it in that they couldn't actually do this themselves) claiming that the previous regass had put the wrong amount in.

It 'worked' for 4 days. I say 'worked' as it was just chucking out freezing cold air regardless of the settings on the temperature dial. On Friday it was cold on the way out somewhere and not working again on the way back.

Am I going to be better off booking it into a vehicle air conditioning specialist or would (can't believe I'm even thinking this) a main dealer be a better bet? 2010 4.4 TDV8 Vogue SE

Did this ever get resolved?

I have a 2011 TDV8 4.4 and understand that thd aircon compressor doesn’t have a clutch or that it is an internal clutch.

Aircon is not working properly. Sometimes comes on in its own time, cools for a time period which is variable and then stops cooling. Revving the engine to about 2500rpm sometimes gets the air to go cool again for a short time.

I ran a JLR SDD Test on the evaporator which it failed.

Does anyone know how to use JLR SDD to diagnose aircon problems.

I think previous comments are right about aircon specialists not wanting to touch range rovers due to complexity.

My first thought was to get the system on a machine to ensure the correct weight of R134 is in it which I believe is 880 grams with rear seat climate control.

The compressor is a variable displacement unit and looks like it is a sealed unit.

Unfortunately, if the compressor requires replacement the system will require to be re-gassed.

Confused ...... as when it works, it works fine. Any advice would be welcome as we have just fried in 36 deg temperatures. RR L322 TDV8 4.4 SE 2019 to present
RR L322 TDV8 4.4 - 2016 to present
Discovery 2 TD5 - 2010 to 2016
Discovery 1 - 2000 to 2010