It'll be a higher pressure on the low side due to the RCV creating a bottleneck, what's actually happening is the aircon is working as a 'reverse cycle' unit - i.e. heating where it should be cooling. It's possible the extra PAG oil dose loosened up the valve temporarily. As I mentioned above, the high side pressure only tells half the story. It'd be interesting to see the readings from a manifold set with the issue coming and going, I did wonder if there would be a resurgence of the problem as you had an 83% charge, usually aircon systems on vehicle will function pretty well down to 50% charge with a not-too-high ambient.

Good plan. You already know who I would recommend taking it to in Hampshire..
Now a site sponsor too  2011 4.4 TDV8 Vogue SE Buckingham Blue with Ivory and clear glass = "Rory"
New Defender D300 90 on order so "Rory" will be going to a new home....!
1974 Series 3 Lightweight = "Millie"
My preferred specialist: www.glenrands.co.uk
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JayGee wrote:

Not fixed......
Aircon on max and 16 deg and it's heating up the car to over 30 deg with an 18 deg ambient temp. After about 5 mins the system started working and the evap temp started to drop and I could feel cold air but it then went back trying to cook me alive.
Going to ring round a few places tomorrow for quotes to get the compressor replaced.

Just had my spreadsheet out pricing up my next car..... 2012 TDV8 Vogue (L322)

An L405 SDV8? 2015 Range Rover Autobiography 4.4 SDV8

Just looked at Autotrader and there are a lot of late L322's on there for prices that are down quite a bit from this time last year but also mine is now worth so little it's not worth selling / trading in so may still get the compressor and alternator done and hang on to it for a while longer. 2012 TDV8 Vogue (L322)

Booked in at Glenrands for new compressor and alternator. Don't fancy gambling on a cool summer or an alternator on 140k. 2012 TDV8 Vogue (L322)

Had a run out today but wasn't particularly testing the IC but when I got back I plugged in the gap tool and with the window open and the heater set to 22 I got this

Click image to enlarge

Click image to enlarge

Evaporator temperatures should be below 7 deg. C. Clearly the compressor and system are capable of achieving that, but not all the time. The current lower ambient will help as it will keep the low side pressure down which is possibly what causes the RCV to (mostly) work again.

Back to not working this morning....... 2012 TDV8 Vogue (L322)

Not long to wait until your compressor change JayGee!

Mine is now fixed.

But do have a little go at this - set the temperature at 16, ensure AC is on but no cool air is coming through when driving along. Give it a boot full, ensuring the engine goes to 2,000‐2,500 RPM then carry on driving normally. See if in 0-60s it bursts into life and cool air starts coming through. Not all the time but most of the time for me, it started giving me cool air. 2015 Range Rover Autobiography 4.4 SDV8

@JayGee

You got me thinking on alternator, as when I bought the car I checked all the things like auxiliary belt and pulleys, oil cooler etc had been done but not the alternator.

I've been looking at my car's history today and mine had a new genuine alternator fitted by Rimmer Bros in March 2020 at 127,000 miles so, probably a wise step getting yours replaced. The part was £285 - difficult to tell the labour charge as the previous owner had the coolant and lower arms done at the same time so, was all wrapped up into one cost.

If you're unsure of history - might be able to get a phone camera to take a photo of the label on your alternator and if not stamped with a production date, the manufacturer may be able to give you a clue based on serial number (I.e if it was manufactured 2013 then clearly its already been changed). Just an idea.

Hope that helps. 2015 Range Rover Autobiography 4.4 SDV8

Should have had the alternator done when I had the belts, pulleys and tensioner done last year. Not letting another opportunity slip by to have some peace of mind….. 2012 TDV8 Vogue (L322)

I'd get the alternator done at the same time as the compressor. I had my compressor replaced a couple of years ago (probably 9k miles) and the alternator went recently. It's expensive to replace it on its own.
Currently on 129k miles. 2010 4.4 TDV8 Vogue SE

New compressor fitted yesterday at Glenrands so have working AC at last! They advised against replacing the alternator so I took their advice. 2012 TDV8 Vogue (L322)