How cold is your Air Con

[Longranger1]

That's awesome!

[Longranger1]

What bypass valve did you use RHK?

This sounds like an excellent mod, especially for those in North Queensland.
I've seen a few valves on the 'bay I guess it would be one that best lines up with the hose entries at the firewall.

[RHKTriton]

The one I used is spec'd for VN Commodore from memory. Vacuum operated.

As I don't use the flappy valve in the inlet manifold, I use the solenoid valve for this to control the vacuum, with a seperate switch. Works a treat.

My AC hasn't been touched since built, 08.

As I run a thermo fan, the condenser is dependant on the condenser fan. I can manually fire up the radiator fan on demand.

[Longranger1]

I just received the new condensor fan to install in my son's ML (did my MN ages ago). It will be slaved via a relay off the a/c clutch as the wiring that is plug and play on the MN doesn't exist.
The heater bypass valve set up you have done is elegant. I haven't yet done the cleaning of the manifolds on his ml but let's just say that the manifolds wont deteriorate any further.

[RHKTriton]

Slaving the condenser fan using the compressor feed as the control works perfectly fine and meets the KISS principle.

[Vikingshippy2]

I always found system on my ML struggled compared to previous vehicles.

Fitting a fan on the condenser helped to a degree ( no pun intended ), however still not optimum.

Then I considered that having a hot heater core in the same enclosure as the evaporator can't be good design.

I ended up installing a bypass valve in the heater water circuit and problem solved. I can stop any hot water getting past the firewall.

The result is painfully cold air at the vents and quicker cooling after having parked at shopping, etc.

Can you elaborate on the bypass...?shut off or true bypass in a loop?



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[RHKTriton]

Hi Shippy

I chopped into the heater hoses just before the plumbing into the cab.

The valve either allows normal flow or loops the water circuit, keeping the hot water out of the cab.

I have a switch on the dash to allow normal or bypass operation, have been caught out a couple of times where I've accidentally knocked the switch and been left wondering why my cab isn't warming up on a cold morning, lol.

Normally I just let the water circulate as normal, keeping coolant mixed throughout system.

The difference I've found is that the air out of the vents is painfully cold if you keep your hands in front.

I reckon proper cab insulation and painting the roof silver would offer further improvement.