air conditioning retro fit

[tvron]

Has anybody retro fitted aircon to a chimaera and if so was it worth it ?

[Andy JB]

FWIW I've got it fitted - never used it - as a £2k option its probably uneconomical to retro fit plus I gather is not very efficient either

[pikey]

tvron said:

Has anybody retro fitted aircon to a chimaera and if so was it worth it ?

Factory fitted it was rubbish from new. It's possible to make it better by putting a much larger compressor on (I know someone who did this), but it'll cost lots (about £2k).

[gfmtvr4]

my chimaera air cond never works keeps just blowing air people tell me it ices up, or gets to hot but i am in malaysia and it is like a sauna anyone know best thing to do

[mongoose]

tvron said:

Has anybody retro fitted aircon to a chimaera and if so was it worth it ?

I had it retro fitted to my first griff.Budget for 3-3.5k for a pukka job.The factory a/c woks well is set up correctly,if not then you just a/c warm air,and this is where i think the misconception that it isn't much good comes from.
Simply fitting a bigger compressor would not be the correct way to improve,and would be a waste of money imho.

[gf350]

I've got the factory aircon and although its not as effective as the aircon in my other cars it does cool the air down enough for it to be comfortable with the roof on on a very hot day.
I think the problem is the temperature of the air coming in normally is very hot and it cools it as much as can be expected. I've just worked out how the recirculate works so that might make quite a differnce.

[Cider Andy]

Mine works very effectively when it has gas in it. It uses the same compressor as the P38 Range Rover which, of course, has a much larger cabin, so why the compressor would need upgrading is a mystery.

It's quite a job to retrofit though. Best place would be to buy all the components from a breaker, but there's a lot of them and a lot of wiring involved, including back to the ECU. Not something I'd look forward to tackling.

[lordgrover]

Apparently, A/C can add a couple of hundred quid to the cost of several regular jobs; the compressor has to be removed to access some things like the exhaust manifold so the system has to be de-gassed, removed, refitted and charged up again.
Is anyone able to confirm this or is it something that's not worth worrying about?

[gf350]

lordgrover said:

Apparently, A/C can add a couple of hundred quid to the cost of several regular jobs; the compressor has to be removed to access some things like the exhaust manifold so the system has to be de-gassed, removed, refitted and charged up again.
Is anyone able to confirm this or is it something that's not worth worrying about?

I've had the exhaust manifold gaskets done and it didn't need re charging.
I've not been charged anymore for anything else because of the aircon as far as I'm aware.
The pipes do run over the drivers side rocker covers so thet might be a bit trickier to get at.
The factory aircon also includes a fuel cooler.
I honestly think the advantages outweigh any potential problems.

[the dodger]

If the car had it from new there's no reason why it shouldn't work effectively. I have only known a couple of cars with it fitted, and it worked very well.

It's definitely NOT worth getting it retro-fitted. The cost is prohibitive + time etc. Much better to change the car to one with a/c already working.

All IMHO of course.

[Cider Andy]

lordgrover said:

...the compressor has to be removed to access some things like the exhaust manifold...

It would certainly be easier to get the offside manifold off if the compressor wasn't there, but it is still quite straightforward with it in-situ.