air conditioning system install

So I decided to install the aircon system that is offered by Chen on http://www.suonama.com.cn All the parts seem to be there. I ordered the double fan pully and the double crack haft pully. For the setup the alternator would need to be moved and the compressor needed to go in its place. When the items arrived I realized that the besides the compressor mound I would also need the mount for the alternator in its new location. For this I thought I needed the mount 500357890. Locally this was not available so I ordered again with Chen and this arrived a week later. During that wait I mounted the condenser underneath the chassis below the sliding door (right hand drive). Having the condenser and the fan there on a 2WD would be fine. But on a 4WD its quite vulnerable. In first instants I made a mockup of a protection frame to give it some more protection.

Looking at my friends aftermarket install on his Landcruiser I started looking at placing the condenser in front of the radiator like most vehicles have. The height between my winch mount and the intercooler was 31.5 cm. Unfortunately the condenser in the set was 34cm high. Possibly I could have lifted the intercooler a bit to make room. But after a quick search I found a condenser that would fit. Accidently this was one made for the Iveco daily III and IV (504022601) and for less than 50 euro this seemed to be a good solution. The main difference is that the connection of the dryer to the condenser is a 15mm connection instead of a 10mm so a custom hose will need to be made. After all the parts were in I started

Draining the coolant

Draining steering oil

Removing radiator and intercooler

Mounting the double fan pully

Removing alternator

The fan pully from china had a bit of a problem. On the original the fan mounted with 4 bolts where the Chinese version had 3 studs. Luckily the top section would still fit the new pully assembly.

After removing the alternator I quickly found that is would not fit the new mount send by Chen. A quick search showed the mound needed a different alternator. This would have the hole for the tensioner at 120 deg instead of 180 on the old one. I could have modified the mount and made a custom tensioner. But this was the original alternator and had already seen 200000 km and a bit of extra Amps wouldn’t hurt. A local supplier was able to source the alternator the next day. To be able to fit the alternator the whole assembly with the steering fluid tank and the fuel filter had to be moved. This might be different on an LHD version. A piece of 120x60 beam would do the trick. The only thing then was that the hose from the steering tank to the block would be to short. The oil fume canaster also needed to be move. And yes more hoses where needed. I ordered 1m 22mm (7/8 inch) hose for the steering tank and 30mm (1.3/16) and 12mm (1/2inch) for the fume canaster. I removed the 4 bolts that would hold the alternator mount. Stupid me these are to short for the mount as this is about 20mm thick. The 2 top bolt were M8x150 and the bottom 2 where M12x150. The Iveco parts catalog stated m8x170 and m12x177. Don’t know why the M12 needs to be much longer. After sourcing the bolts I realized that the M12 where fine thread. This turned out to be impossible to find in 170 or 180mm. The only option was to get m12x1,5 threaded bar and double nuts. While I was ad it I ordered 2x M10x1.25x70 and 1x M10x1.25x60 for bolting the compressor mount to the block. I picked up the alternator and it indeed fitted nicely on the mount. The only problem was that the alternator pully would now line up with the inner ring in the water pomp pully. This is fine for a 2wd with belt distribution but on a chain the cover would hit the belt to the alternator. The difference is 15mm. So after getting a new alternator I still had to modify the mount by cutting 15mm of the rear and adding a 15mm bush in the front.

The tension plate I ordered with the mounting set is also meant for a 2wd. Even after some attempts to modify this was far from ideal. I bended a piece of 30mm flat bar. The supplied tensioner just needed its bush removed so it could be mounted flat to the bend strip. Mounting the compressor seemed to be trait forward. I did quickly try this before but without the hoses attached. The couplings on the hoses kept hitting the engine mounts or the exhaust. Chen was very helpful in explaining that I had mounted the compressor wrong on the adaptor plates. It indeed gave me a lot more room when the plates mere mounted differently. The alignment of the compressor pully was now sitting just past the inner ring of the water pomp pully. I was hoping to avoid swapping the crack shaft pully but is all seemed to confirm the information I had found before where you end up with 3 belts. One from water to crank. One from crank to compressor and one from water to alternator. There is a logic to this as both the alternator and the compressor belts can go without losing cooling from the water pump Removing the crank shaft pully was easy enough. Only to find out that the Chinese version requires an bush for mounting it. I did not have time to put the project on hold. So I reattached the original crankshaft pully and remounted the plates on the compressor the “wrong”  way. After some fiddling I found a position where the hose would not fit the exhaust. It is still close and ill put some heat wrap around the pipe to limit the heat transfer. The pully now lines up like the original alternator so only two belts are needed. The good thing is that it is easier to tension the belt if needed.

Compressor in its final place

 difference in crank pully

needed parts for crank pully

Compressor in its final place

 difference in crank pully

needed parts for crank pully

Removing the old heater assembly was easy. The dash was a bit more work. I removed all the switches and gauges. Removed the 5 screws near the front windshield. Screws above the fuse box. Bolt in the corner under the fuse box, the bolt near the steering wheel and the 2 bolts in the glove box. The steering wheel I rested on the seat after removing the top clamp. It would have been better to remove the whole steering column for moving about the cabin.  

The four nuts of the air duct assembly can be reached even without removing the whole dash. So I ended up just moving the dash forward far enough to remove the duct. When installing the new duct I found that it would not sit flush with the firewall. There is a small difference between the old and the new duct where the new one splits the inlet in 3 sections. The walls dividing these sections clash with the bottom plate of the firewall entry. The only option is to cut a section out of the firewall.  

Old duct                                                 New duct

Before                                                       After

The new control panel needs some modification of the dash. Where the rotary switch is for the old fan speed there is a plate molded into the dash. This needs to be cut away. The mounting holes in the dash don’t line op with the ones on the new control. I managed to drill and file out the dash so I could fit two of the 4 screws.

The wiring loom is strait forward. the new one only needs one 2 pin connector connected under the dash. The connectors for the heater unit use the same hole in the firewall as the old wires. For the wires going to the compressor, dryer and fan I needed to cut a extra hole of 50mm plus an extra 19mm hole for a grommet to get the 12V power cable direct to the battery. The new heater assembly turned out to be a challenge as the M8 studs on the firewall that hold the unit were to short for the new unit.. I didn’t want to remove them and place new studs or threaded rivets. I ended up buying M8 sleeve nuts. The holes on the new unit do not need to be drilled out as there is a metal sleeve inside them that can be removed with some pliers. A few M10 washers are needed to compensate the few mm that the thread of the studs we sticking out.

The connections of the heater hoses are in a different place then the original. The longest hose will fit the bottom connection but the shorter hose will need to be replaced. I luckily had some left over from another project. I used a LEMA 5063.00 hose. This one is far from ideal but it worked for me.

Connections for hoses     New unit installed

So nearly there.  I measured the v-belts for the alternator I used AVX10 x 1075. The alternator sits against the double nuts on those M12 threaded bars. This one in my case is quite tight to put on. If you have the proper bolts this wont be a problem. For the compressor belt I used      AVX10 x 1000. This is tight again but because I wanted to get as much clearance from my exhaust pipe this was fine for me. The fuse box for the new system needs to be placed somewhere in the cabin. There is a little inset on the passenger side where the box nearly fits. I cut away the top section of the lid to make it fit. All the access cable can be pushed behind the glove box.

As the condenser would not get much airflow when driving slow I wired the positive wire for the electrical fan to the fan mag coupling so it will always be on when aircon is on. Later I will add a switch that will switch the system off when driving faster then 40km/h or so.  

There are no real point to mount the condenser so I made some from 80x40 angle. Its all a bit tight.

Should have gotten 100x50 but I was not going to get more steel. I used some 10mm thick rings to

compensate  for  the  mounting  height.  M6  silent  blocks  will  replace  these  to  overcome  the  flex  and

vibrations. For mounting the dryer I used the bracket that came with the set and drilled 2 holes in the plate

the bumper is mounted to.

Only thing to be done is get the hose made between the condenser and the dryer and get is topped up

with R134A. Some of the other hoses are a bit too long because I moved the condenser. Ill see if this can

be shortened.  

Needed parts:

Aircon set Link

Condenser (optional) 504022601 / Nissens 940004 Link

Alternator 500314723 Link ( sold with and without air intake. Make sure you get one without.)

Water pump pully 97300368 Link

Bracket alternator 500358390 Link there might be a better option

Tension assembly 99460547 Link

2x bolt M8 x170 500339962

2x M12x1.5x177 99481696 (170 will do)

2x M10x1.25x70

1x M10x1.25x60

80cm 30mm oil hose

100cm 12mm oil hose

100cm 22mm oil hose

50cm 16mm coolant hose

AVX10 x 1075  

AVX10 x 1000

Recommended:

Crankshaft pully Link

Crankshaft adaptor Link

DISCLAIMER: I made this report as a guide only. I wave any liability for incorrect information

Thanks for  hugo vet installation information

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