[shankar.balan]

correct - as per my memory the gypsy always had to get its AC fitted in the after market scenario
my old 1998 gyp had a nice sanden AC - with a 507 compressor. the radiator was lifted from a 118NE and the fan etc from an Amby.
It used to work quite well but since this gyp only had a 970cc engine, there was significant loss of power when the ac was turned on.

even without the ac the old gyp cannot be compared with the new King 1.3 and now the new 1.3 Mpfi.

Originally Posted by KSM-Vtec

it comes only with the blower not the compressor, condenser and related attachments.

[wanderhermit]

My ac guy is telling me that army gypsy gets factory fitted heater. And if I want to install the heater, I will not be install superking blower as the original heating kit works with regular blower.

Is it true?

[Jeepster 4x4]

Glad to discover this thread. AM contemplating an A/C unit for my new Soft top Gypsy King. Going through this post, Sanden 507 seems to be the best recommended compressor to use, but a subros 80cc compressor was suggested to me as a more efficient alternative. Has anyone used this compressor? Is this compressor displacement sufficient (assuming I have a superking cooling coil & blower).

[COUGAR]

Bumping up this thread with an update of my own.

I paid a visit to an ac installation fellow earlier today and he gave me 2 options: 18k with "duplicate" SuperKing blower and 22.5K with original SuperKing blower. He tells me the original superking blower unit will cost 9k and the duplicate Chinese made one cost 4.5k! Does this sound right? I had no idea blower units were this expensive! As per him, the chinese one is just fine and i should save the money and opt for it. These costs apply if i do the installation in January. In december i will have to pay 4k extra because of some Australia connection which i didnt quite follow!

His mounting technique as explained to me: Condensor unit in front of Radiator and an Electric fan mounted in FRONT of condensor but behind the grill (is there so much space there?). The compressor will be bolted onto the engine on preexisting bolts and connected to engine via belt. The electric fan will come on with the AC and will stay on throughout.

The blower unit will be changed to a SuperKing as per choice and routed through existing vents in the Gypsy dashboard. He also mentioned upgrading the standard 80W "condenser motor" to a 120W motor: i presume he meant blower motor? This is his standard installation method for the Gypsy.

Further: as per him Sanden 507 and 508 are both equal in performance at cruise speeds with the 508 being better at idle speeds. His recomendation was to stick to the 507.

is this fellow right overall?

In my specific case: I am considering blanking out one of the 4 vents on the dashboard along with blank one in the center for a custom made touchscreen mount. The dashboard is going to be cut this weekend for this purpose. Instead of blanking out the vent, how difficult would it be to route a 1"/2" or so pipe through the floor to provide a vent in the rear cabin?

Also How does the heating work? Will i have to get a separate heating element installed? Heater would be useful when touring up north!

Originally Posted by gotzuk

next thing i did was take out the stock thermoclutch unit and plonk in a electric fan and since then i have had no issues with cooling.

i did not connect the fan to a off-on switch but to the thermostat. i has been working perfect ever since without a glitch. the fan can also be wired to run continuously as soon as the a/c is switched on. however, if you have wired it up to thermostat, even this is not needed.

@Gotzuk:what does the thermoclutch do? Do u have to disconnect it to connect the electric fan?

[gotzuk]

Originally Posted by COUGAR

@Gotzuk:what does the thermoclutch do? Do u have to disconnect it to connect the electric fan?

The stock fan is connected to the water pump pulley by a thermoclutch unit.
This is how it works;

Thermal fan clutches have a temperature-sensitive bimetal coil spring on the front that reacts to temperature changes. When the air coming through the radiator is hot, the spring expands and opens an internal valve that reduces clutch slippage. This causes the fan to spin faster for increased cooling. As the air cools, the spring contracts and closes the valve. This increases the amount of clutch slippage, allowing the fan to slow down and decrease cooling.
The clutch consists of a fluid coupling filled with a silicone based oil. In the cutaway view at the left, the area between the teeth on the clutch plates is filled with silicone fluid. An internal valve opens and closes a passage between the main fluid cavity and a fluid reservoir. When the passage is open, fluid enters the clutch and makes the fan to turn faster. When the valve is shut, fluid flows back to the reservoir but doesn't return, causing the clutch to slip and the fan to turn more slowly.

Info from Troubleshoot Cooling Fan Clutch


To install an electric fan you would need to remove the thrmoclutch and fan assembly.
Look here for a pic with the electric fan installed.

Cheers

[KSM-Vtec]

Hey, i have done a similar install. Have put up all the details with pics on my thread.

http://www.google.co.in/url?q=http:/...lBrWbOdK5kS0Rg

[ntomer]

Hi,

I am based in Delhi and have recently bought a 2002 model MPFI Gypsy.

In Delhi, for at least 9 months in a year, it's impossible to drive without an AC. Till 26th Jan, Delhi was very cold and then suddenly God Almighty flicked his heater on and from 27th onwards, I have been using the air-con. And it's still JANUARY!!!

So now I have realized that if I really want to use my King, I will have to get an air-con fitted. I searched a lot on t-bhp and other sites and found that I will have to go for a bigger radiator (3-line copper one - whatever that means), a Sanden 507 compressor which will be fitted ahead of radiator, will have to replace the radiator fan with a Wagon-R electric one and also put an electric fan in front of radiator and fit superking cooling coil and blower.

But I also came to know that when AC is on, the idling speed needs to be increased to keep it working. Most of the people say that it's fairly easy to do in card vehicles but requires extensive work (ECM remap and what not) in MPFI ones. And I could not find a single person who had done it.

So guys, please let your suggestions pour in and help me out on this.

Cheers

Nitin

[gotzuk]

Nitin,

First of all, congratulations on your purchase!!

For the air conditioning, there are two ways you can go about it.

A) Use an esteem compressor and use the OEM compressor mounting and dual crank pulley along with it.
B) Use a Sanden 507/other compressor. The downside is you have to use aftermarket pulley and mounting with it. Upside is that it is more powerful albeit at the cost of slightly more strain on the engine. It is cheaper too.

Rest of the components more or less remain the same.
Get a multiflow condensor unit to suit the R134a refrigerant gas and make sure you use original DuPont refrigerant. There are various cooling coils available in the market to suit any budget, most popular ( in terms of performance) amongst them being the Superking series. IMO you don't need to change the radiator, just an electric fan will suffice.

The idle control in the Esteem is done by the ECM as you correctly stated and I could not not find anybody here in Delhi who could get it working in my Gypsy.

You are welcome to check the A/C installed in my Gypsy if you wish to anytime.

Cheers
Vaibhav

[ntomer]

Originally Posted by gotzuk

Nitin,

First of all, congratulations on your purchase!!

Thanks Vaibhav.

Originally Posted by gotzuk

For the air conditioning, there are two ways you can go about it.

A) Use an esteem compressor and use the OEM compressor mounting and dual crank pulley along with it.
B) Use a Sanden 507/other compressor. The downside is you have to use aftermarket pulley and mounting with it. Upside is that it is more powerful albeit at the cost of slightly more strain on the engine. It is cheaper too.

I guess, I'll go for Esteem compressor; since I like to keep things as stock as possible, and it will also put less strain on engine. But will it be sufficient for cooling a Gypsy cabin?

Originally Posted by gotzuk

Rest of the components more or less remain the same.
Get a multiflow condensor unit to suit the R134a refrigerant gas and make sure you use original DuPont refrigerant. There are various cooling coils available in the market to suit any budget, most popular ( in terms of performance) amongst them being the Superking series. IMO you don't need to change the radiator, just an electric fan will suffice.

Any suggestions on which condensor should I go for? Any particular brand?

People on t-bhp have very strongly recommended upsizing the radiator; are you sure that the stock radiator will work in all conditions - extreme summers of Delhi, winters of Leh and everything in between?

Originally Posted by gotzuk

The idle control in the Esteem is done by the ECM as you correctly stated and I could not not find anybody here in Delhi who could get it working in my Gypsy.

Did this cause any problem? How does your Gypsy behave, when AC is on and it's in neutral? Have you taken any extra measure? Or take some precautions to preempt problems?

Originally Posted by gotzuk

You are welcome to check the A/C installed in my Gypsy if you wish to anytime.

Thanks for your offer buddy. It will be a great help for everybody, if you can post pics of your AC install; and also the contact details of person/workshop, who installed your AC; and the cost :-)

Originally Posted by gotzuk

Cheers
Vaibhav

Cheers

Nitin

[ntomer]

Bump...

Please help.

\N

[scooby05]

Is a 120 watt electric fan good enough over the heat exchanger? Or do we need 2x80 watts? I doubt there is space for 2 though?

[ntomer]

Hi,

Please suggest a competent workshop near Okhla, where I can get the AC fitted in my MPFI Gypsy. I need to do it asap, since Delhi already is too hot to drive without AC :-(

Thanks

Nitin

[shankar.balan]

esteem compressor is a good idea - you' ll have to change the fan too - to a slightly bigger size - do please check out this aspect.

the sanden 507 compressor is what i used to have in my old 1 litre (970 cc) gypsy. that was an after market ac too. but the fan was changed to one from an old fiat / premier car.

the gypsy tends to leak out the air on account of its inadequate insulation even in a hard top, so you'll tend to push the AC blower to a higher level most of the time. and of course the FE will give you the shivers! my old gyp, with the AC on, used to return about 6-7 Kmpl in city and even on highways with the AC on. terrible - you could almost feel the cash leaking out of your wallet every time you took an outstation trip. absolute murder on account of petrol cost especially in bangalore. Delhi should be slightly better on account of cheaper gas.

however, since yours is an MPFI 1.3 litre Gypsy I dont think you will lose out on power delivery and performance or even FE all that much - in comparison to the "dead duck" feeling I used to get in my old carb 1 litre (970 cc) gyp when the AC was on!

[ladak.imran]

@Ntomer:

Hi,

I recently (2 weeks ago) got my AC unit fitted by Israr Bhai in Bandra (Bombay)...

He's done a pretty good job, although his charges are on the higher side - I've paid him 25,000 for the complete set up - and this is with a secondhand Superking Blower (although it looks BRAND new to me), Subros compressor (again, he said its secondhand, but it looks totally new to me), and a condenser, which he makes in his own workshop.

The condenser is in front of the radiator.
The mechanical fan has been removed, and an electric fan has been put in its place.
The compressor is mounted next to the engine, using existing bolt-holes, and a bracket (of good quality)..
The blower is fitted behind the dashboard. I cant point the blower to my feet though. It only blows through the four vents on the dash.

The blower on lowest setting, is more powerful than the blower in my Optra on the highest setting.
The AC is so chilling even in the afternoon heat, that I just cannot keep the thermostat on full. Its almost always on 3/4th.
The gypsy, used to heat up, till just above the half mark on temp gauge - before AC installation.
Now, It rarely goes higher than the quarter mark!

Last time I was returning from an OTR, I got stuck in traffic for over an hour, with the AC on, but the temp didnt even reach the half mark.

I'm definitely pleased with the performance - check out the photos - you may get some ideas for your installation!


The first 5 photos are of my engine bay, with the AC parts.
The Last 2 photos, are of another gypsy I had seen, with an AC installed.
Check out the difference between my stuff, and his!

[ntomer]

Thanks Imran, for the pics. This really is a clean installation.

Yours is an MPFI, no?

\N