Well, I'm feelin like I just gave the Land "Robber" dealer a free $434 in cash for nothing and I could really use some advice before I dig into my center console and dash....!!

Here's the problem:

I have a 2006 LR3 SE with the V8 w/67k miles. Ac system is all checked out and "should" be working fine.. I am not getting "any" cold air blowing out of the vents it's only blazing hot even if it's cold outside. I also can not shuffle the air movement between defrost front or floor vents it's simply locked at the front vents.. The rear ac/heat is dead. I brought the truck into the dealer for a diagnosis from them. They spent 3 hours with it and called me and said that they put power the rear blower motor its good but not getting communication to turnin from either control unit. Front blower turns on and will run at all speeds,They ran a full diagnostic and everything checked out fine, they even flashed the system and sent it to Land Rover UK to see if they saw something that my dealer missed but it came back "fine".. They said there must be a short in the Lin bus line?or the blend door actuators one of 6? But if I buy a new heater box that it would include all 6 new blend door actuators? They wanted to pull off the center console and dash and start tracing wires to find either the shorted out wire or the actuator/s that failed but currently have no idea what's wrong with the ac system?.. Another 4 hours was recommended So I said stop and I'll investigate myself.. My question to you all is...has this ever happened to anyone in our community and does anyone have some ideas on where to start? I'm not afraid the start dismantling if I know where the blend actuators are located to check on their operation.. I'm hoping their burnt out themselves? Which would explain why the blower will only blow out full heat?

I'm in dire need of opinions!
Thanks so much in advance!
Jeremy

 

I used to work in an automotive shop that specialized in AC repair. I've never worked on an LR3's system before. But I can tell you that blend door actuators on other models are pretty common. Most of the time you have to remove the entire box to actually change the unit. Sometimes you can get lucky and its accessible with minimal work.

Personally I would turn the key on and listen under the dash when you switch from hot to cold temps on the climate control. You can usually locate the faulty door that way. Sometimes they get jammed or bent. Or the gears (plastic) strip so all they do is click.

Replacing the entire box for one problem is like swapping engines if it doesn't run right. Run away from the dealership.

 

Thanks so much for the tips I'll start there and I had to smile with your analogy of replacing the engine if it's not running right..! I did run away! Lol thanks I'll report back
@Shiftonthefly1

 

land rover splices wires and wraps them in blue tape,splices break often in these, i have repaired several things that simply had broken splices in our lr3, sounds like your system has a short and the blend door is stuck in hot, hopefully someone here has had a similar issue or can at least direct you to a competant rover shop

did they say the climate control is communicationg with the body control module? were there codes stored in that module? if the blend doors are not working and the rear a/c unit is inop there should have been codes to reflect this

my heated seats do not work, button lights up, bcm has codes saying seat heaters inop so...

 

@Tom R

Hi thanks for the info.
Here's what I have on my receipt from the tech..hopefully it makes more sense to you guys?!
Thanks again! Ill be diving into this this weekend and report back my findings!

"The center vents have good airflow but the warm air is increasing in temperature while the engine temp is increasing. I found there is airflow from the center rear vents but not from the roof vents or the third row vents. I pulled codes from the CCM and found there are several codes stored. Multiple LIN bus codes and failure codes for all of the actuators. I performed a reflash of the CCM and found the problem is still present. I performed a hard reset and found the problem is still present. I found I do not have communication with the climate control module only the automatic temperature control module. Further diagnostics of the CCM is required I performed a network integrity test and filed the tech case with Land Rover they monitor the data and found the network okay. The thought is that one or more of the wires or components in the Lin bus for the HVAC has failed. Will need to follow the LI bus to all actuators and inspect for failure."

 

HE HAS NO COMMUNICATION WITH THE CLIMATE CONTROL COMPUTER?

looks like they think there is a wiring issue, thats why they want to pull apart the dash,guess component failure can stop communication if theres a short but just buying a set of actuators will not fix it, thats throwing parts at the problem, unless something shortet and burned them all out but i doubt that

see rover just rapes you on diagnosis i have a feeling they were not charging by the hour but charging by what they did like

reflash ccm $175 ( for 5 minutes work)
hard reset 175 ( for 5 minutes work
contact rover uk $100
hook up computer to see no communication $100
let engine run and touch vents $50 lol

total time spent probly 1-1.5 hours

where as they should charge a flat rate for the diagnosis beginning to end

would have been nice if they provided codes found

this is why people get pissed at the dealer, the tech did work but the dealer raped you and you in turn got realy nothing for that money but a piece of paper not a solution

i am guessing that the system reverts to a limp mode of hot/defroster incase it craps out in cold weather so you do not freeze to death or crash cause the windshield is fogged

 

do you get water in from the front sunroof onto console? is the pass front carpet wet?

those drains clogg , or break, water gets in , goes right to the harness and reeks havoc

 

I did notice the driver side carpet is soaked but I assumed it was from the detail job at the dealer before I bought the truck.. Where is that wiring harness other than where it connects to the temp control unit in the center console? I took apart the center console last night and looked at the wires and so far I can't find much, I will check the passenger side floor later today and see if that is also wet. Does the wiring run under the passenger side floor?..
Thanks!!!

 

@Tom r
Do you have any other tips on places to check on the wiring under carpet or paneling ?
I'm tearing into the LR tonight..
Thanks!!

 

After spending 2 hours researching and writing a nice test plan for you
then closing out the forum when I closed the thumbnail I added....
Here's the short version.
Check fuse f51 p in the BCU make sure it is good and there is power to it.
Then remove the l/f kick panel, you'll need a t25 torx to remove the hood release lever "iirc".
look for the green 22 pin connector c1168 and check it for corrosion. repair the circuits in the connector as needed.
then fix the water leaking on to it from the rotten sunroof drain above the connector so it does not happen again.
Good Luck!