Assuming you're not driving a couple hours then distilled water has always worked for me. Even then it should be fine but given how sensitive these trucks are to overheating it's worth having actual coolant blended in for anything beyond a single jaunt like that.

Both my trucks came to me empty and I was able to replace my condenser with a used one I bought here. The first truck I was able to fill myself with a scale and a set of gauges but I had the second one professionally charged. I'm not sure it's worth the headache of doing it yourself on these trucks. I'm going through some A/C problems myself and bought two driers last night for $36 shipped from AutohausAZ. Interested to hear if you pursue replacing your expansion valve, it's a big job.

 

The A/C was working so I will leave the expansion valve alone. We'll see if it is the right decision.

I hate the waste, but I will likely mix coolant. Way too much time invested to take chances.

 

There's nothing wrong with reusing the coolant as long as you get it out cleanly. I've done that plenty of times, with the Rover even.

 

@ahab is there a new seal for the drier, or just the drier?

 

The fittings at the drier are funky but yes they use a standard seal. You can get an assortment kit like this at the parts store for a couple bucks and one of the green ones will fit. Make sure they are R134a rated.

 

Thank you! There is a new LR dealer near me, and I want to peak at the Defender.

 

Just to clarify: definitely don't buy these O-rings from the dealer. Any O'Reilly's/AutoZone/AdvanceAuto/Napa will have them for a few bucks.

 

Cool. Will these for the pipe into the Condenser in your opinion?

 

Yeah, I did a bunch of AC work earlier this year. You get a big pack of all different sized o-rings and it has various sizes that will fit all of the (standard) fittings.

They also have a pack of generic ones on RockAuto, which is what I got. Probably the same thing that you’d get at a parts store.

 

Any further tips? I am going to cover any connection I open to avoid anything getting in.