Range Rover A/C

[matoxon]

I have a current model Range Rover which has developed a fault with the AC/Climate Control. No matter what I do with the controls, it only seems to want to blow air into the foot wells. Anone have any ideas?

[dsfloyd]

I had a similar issue with my chevy truck (I know its not a rover), only seemed to out the vent, anywhere else just seemed to blow in the dash. It turned out the control module went bad. It was a factory warranty fix so not really sure the procedure or cost. Most likely very expensive since yours is a rover.

[Disco Mike]

What year???????????????

[01001010]

You guys will have better luck getting answers i the Range Rover section, so I'm moving this thread over there.

[matoxon]

2004

[hermanpj]

i suppose that isnt under warranty anymore? this is going to suck.

there are flaps actuated by servo motors at certain junction points in the AC ducting, or perhaps all in one master junction box that all the ducting runs through. i think that's how it is on my 2000 4.6. Anyway... each servo motor is connected to 1 or more flaps by gears or some kind of linkage. if that linkage breaks or gears strip teeth, then they won't open and close the flaps successfully. this results in the flaps being stuck in one position - sending air only to the feet for instance, despite indication from the system that you have directed flow to the face. in my 2000 (gen II) range rover, when this problem occurs sometimes the system will be nice enough to display a little warning triangle in the HVAC display. do you have anything like that being displayed?

you may be able to hear the motor turning the gears or actuating the linkage unsucessfully. you would be listening for a clicking noise coming from back inside the dashboard (not sure exactly where on a gen iii range rover).

do this: change the system to heat, and direct the flow to the feet, make sure the fan speed is low so you can hear. do you hear any clicking noises? now change flow to the face. again do you hear clicking noises? try this with both cold air and hot air. i do not know how the 04 AC system valves work, but it might be significant if you discovered heat works fine blowing to both feet and face, but AC only will blow to the feet...

if you do have 1 or more of those bastards to fix, and its not under warranty, labor will be the issue. some portion or all of the dashboard will have to come out to get to them. you posted this on the sport/p-38/gen iii forum? maybe somebody knows about a recall or some other way to get this remedied without shelling out a ton of $$$.

[hermanpj]

I remembered the RAVE CD I have includes the gen III range rover. I confirmed there is an HEVAC Control Module, component D243. It is behind the center console, and you must remove fascia to access it. "Remove Fascia" is LR-speak for bend over, apparently. According to the manual you will have to drain the AC refrigerant, remove A pillar upper and lower trim, footwell trim, shifter, handbrake, center console, tons of switches, honestly its a very long list. Before you even get to removing the dash itself.

There is a hot/cold blend motor that only requires removing the Navigation system, and there is a fresh and recirculated air motor that only requires removing 1 center console panel and one under dash panel on the passenger side. So I'd try testing this problem with hot air and cold air and try testing it with fresh air vs recirculated air. Since you have dual zone, you shuold try to see if you can get face air on passenger side or not, on driver side or not, in the rear seating area or not. These things may help narrow down exactly which motor/flap is acting up. Theres a chance its one of these easy to get to motors. Any analysis or more sophisticated description of the problem you can explain to the shop could save you money, but if they do have to yank your dash out, the labor is going to be obscene.

To give you a hint of how bad, my wife has an 97 S420 mercedes which is known to be a model that will someday have a problem with the AC evap unit in the dash. the labor estimate is six thousand bucks at an Indie shop. The new evaporator is less than $500. I pulled the interior out of my 1991 Classic so I guess I could do this repair, but it will be a bit more complex, and anything I break along the way will be expensive to replace. I may have to cut my losses on the car at that point. Hopefully I can avoid this another couple years...

So - its just my opinion - but sounds like you may have an expensive problem to fix. I'd like to see what others say.

[amegbor]

1996