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Retro-fitting A/C into 1996 HDJ80 1HD-FT

Colin Montgomery

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Aug 8, 2018
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great_britain
Hi all,

I've stupidly spent a load of money on an admittedly really impressive and sound 80 Series for a trip from London (UK) to Cape Town (Africa), and discovered that the dealer lied about it having A/C. Not happy, Africa is hot and we leave in about a month...

I need to know how feasible it is to retro-fit A/C into it, using either used or new parts (or a mix). Doing it myself is out of the question, but I'd like to know if this is a job for an LC specialist or something any good mechanic could do for me? Ideally I can persuade the dealer (a Land Rover specialist) to do the work for me for free, but I'm sure I'll have to stump up for the parts myself (and I've contacted some UK breakers).

Things I'd find immensely helpful if any of you can provide info are:
1. LC specialist needed?
2. How much work/time will it take? From that I can figure out rough prices for the work.
3. A full list of parts which are needed
4. Which parts are reliable and which break (so I can figure out which to buy new)

Many thanks in advance,
Col
 
Hi all,

I've stupidly spent a load of money on an admittedly really impressive and sound 80 Series for a trip from London (UK) to Cape Town (Africa), and discovered that the dealer lied about it having A/C. Not happy, Africa is hot and we leave in about a month...

I need to know how feasible it is to retro-fit A/C into it, using either used or new parts (or a mix). Doing it myself is out of the question, but I'd like to know if this is a job for an LC specialist or something any good mechanic could do for me? Ideally I can persuade the dealer (a Land Rover specialist) to do the work for me for free, but I'm sure I'll have to stump up for the parts myself (and I've contacted some UK breakers).

Things I'd find immensely helpful if any of you can provide info are:
1. LC specialist needed?
2. How much work/time will it take? From that I can figure out rough prices for the work.
3. A full list of parts which are needed
4. Which parts are reliable and which break (so I can figure out which to buy new)

Many thanks in advance,
Col
Try Garry 80 breaker. I know they have transplanted a.c. into trucks that are without it. Find him easily on eBay.
 
New pipe work .....it's prone to corrode
New receiver /dryer ......it's a filter and again prone to fail with age and it's best practice to change every few years or when the system has been open to atmosphere for any length of time.
New Condenser .....the small rad infont of your radiator .......most are getting old now so not worth the risk given your trip and the need for reliability .
Probably OK to use S/H evaporator and fan housing from inside vehicle .
New Compressor ....again reliability .
You may even find UK based company's that will supply and fit .
AVOID any new parts made in China
 
The main components are:
Engine bay:
Compressor, Dryer unit, Condenser and associated pipe work.

Interior:
Heat exchanger, dash controls and associated pipe work and wiring. Not sure if there may also be an ECU in there somewhere.

All 80’s have a generic base wiring loom so some of the wiring may exist on you truck. Certainly do-able but neither quick or easy. A LC specialist will obviously know the vehicle and probably do a slicker job.
I would guess, with all parts available, 2-3 days for a working install.

The condenser and dryer unit generally have the shortest life in service as they get the worst of the weather/elements.
 
As an aside ....who or how did a 96 Landcruiser end up with no A/C ?
Even the GS of that period had A/C from memory .
Is it a non UK car ? Jap imports are normally better speced and have a fridge even .
 
I think AC was an option on the GS until the last 1997 Amazon badged 80 VX and GX models when it became standard.
 
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thanks everyone - Gav, Grimbo, Towpack.

So yeah, the (non-Toyota) dealer did think it was a Japanese import - mainly due to the almost complete lack of corrosion and something about the dash layout he mentioned. I haven't been able to confirm it - says first registered in '96 on the DVLA site.

It is a GX so appears to have not had the A/C option chosen - even more weird if it did come from Japan.

So the most expensive part by far appears to be the compressor/pump - a Dasis unit is about £240. But from what you guys are saying this part is actually pretty solid so I should be able to go with the used part? Someone on the TLOCUK Facebook group who's done this retro-fitting advised me to get a new pump but get a used bracket.

I'll ensure I get new pipework. Would these be direct from Toyota? I'm wondering how I find them all?

The guy from TLOCUK reckoned he had all the parts bolted on in about 4 hours, then took it to an A/C specialist to flush, dry, re-gas and fit a new dryer.

Thanks again for the help - I really appreciate it.
 
thanks everyone - Gav, Grimbo, Towpack.

So yeah, the (non-Toyota) dealer did think it was a Japanese import - mainly due to the almost complete lack of corrosion and something about the dash layout he mentioned. I haven't been able to confirm it - says first registered in '96 on the DVLA site.

It is a GX so appears to have not had the A/C option chosen - even more weird if it did come from Japan.

So the most expensive part by far appears to be the compressor/pump - a Dasis unit is about £240. But from what you guys are saying this part is actually pretty solid so I should be able to go with the used part? Someone on the TLOCUK Facebook group who's done this retro-fitting advised me to get a new pump but get a used bracket.

I'll ensure I get new pipework. Would these be direct from Toyota? I'm wondering how I find them all?

The guy from TLOCUK reckoned he had all the parts bolted on in about 4 hours, then took it to an A/C specialist to flush, dry, re-gas and fit a new dryer.

Thanks again for the help - I really appreciate it.


I've never had a JDM 80 series which didn't have air con. If its a GX and not a GS then it defiantly should have air con fitted as standard. I presume its a manual gearbox?
I'd be interested how this unfolds as I have a nice low mileage 95 GS without air con and a 97 GX I bought for spares with air con with the view to swapping it over.
 
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I’d look at options from Webasto and Eberspacher. Both do modern retro fit systems.
 
The pipework will have to be Toyota and will be in the region of £1500. Fitting in 4 hours !! More like 4 days to do it neatly and properly. It's all the little brackets etc that will be a challenge to identify and order. I would not use any 2nd hand parts. Once they have been removed and not properly protected dirt will get in and you cant clean out easily. It's guesswork as whether or not your car has the correct wiring already there.
 
Look for a single wire grey connector around or above the alternator. There is an ECU or ‘Amplifier’ there is also the idle up solenoid and vacuum servo for the injection pump and cut out thermostat to stop it boiling the engine in high ambients.

As Frank says, anything reused must be free of the slightest bit of dirt so will need sealing immediately it is removed so plan on removing parts yourself if you reuse.

Also the gas is now very expensive.
 
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Driving through Africa?
Forget the a/c, open the windows and smell the smells and hear the sounds.....
B.T.W. My 95/96 N reg UK spec GS does not have a/c.
 
Fitted the center console fridge recently to the existing A/c line and that took me 5 days to install Colin. Issues that delay things are having to dismantle parts to install across the vehicle and interior. Not a easy job TBH but doable. 4 hours is laughable in all honesty but take your time and do it right. Having a donor car abide yours will help you see where everything goes and when you do get it working it really does blow ice cold. lol

Good luck
 
just realised I quoted it as a GX - it's actually a GS, so that's probably what some of you were confused about. The GX will have had A/C as standard, I guess, and on the GS is was optional.

I've gotten Julian at Overland Cruisers on the case, waiting to hear the damage...

Andy, I hear you about opening the windows and getting the senses going - I'll definitely be doing a load of that. But 4 months in a car without A/C in Africa seems unbearable to me! At least it will increase the value of the car (or I won't have to lie like the seller did to me) as the next buyer will definitely be looking to do a similar trip (it's 2 seat only with fridge etc).
 
The part of the heater containing the A/C evaporator is the easiest part of the heater to get out, on a RHD, it's the part you have to slide out first to get to all the rest of the stuff. Does the car have Climate Control already or is it the sliding controls type? I would think if it had climate control a lot of the sensors and hopefully the wiring would already be in.

I think I would clean out 2nd hand pipework and compressor, and fit new reciever dryer (reasonable from Opie Oils £25 ish), and a new condenser.

I don't think you will have much luck buying the parts individually, I think you will need a donor car to swap it from. There will be loads of control boxes, special brackets and bolts etc etc that you need. Tensioner etc for the compressor belt, possibly crank pulley. Possibly an idle up control for the engine although I don't know if diesels have that.

Sounds like a worthwhile project though.
 
Julian is a good bet. He will know all the odd bits you will need. I dread to think of the cost and would be interested to know.
 
I installed a ac unit from a hzj78 into my hzj75. Dismantling from the donor vehicle took about 2 hours.
Installing was a days work. The 78/75 land cruisers are simpler built than the 80, so it could take longer to swap the ac in the 80.
All the wiring was already in place as mentioned already.
So it's certainly doable.
 
thought I'd update the thread as I've had a good outcome. The seller has offered to pay for the retro-fitting of the A/C and I've agreed with Julian at Overland Cruisers to do the work with his A/C specialist. I'll be dropping it off tomorrow and when I pick it up next weekend it should have an (almost) brand new A/C system.
 
Well that's amazing. I was going to suggest you take them to small claims court if they had that a/c in written advert.
 
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