HVAC is out and the dealer wants big $$$

[ROVERSUCKER]

The HVAC is out on my 98 Range Rover 4.0 SE. This includes the A/C and Heating. The dealer said everything has to be replaced including the both blower motors, HVAC controler, and the blend motors. Totoal 3500.00

I find it hard to believ that all of this is bad. Where should I start? I check the usually fuses with no luck. Any help would be great.

 

[joey]

Check to make sure that it is full of R134a.... this may cause the system to shutdown.

 

[ROVERSUCKER]

I had the freon level check and is ok. Another thing I noticed is the fuse block under the hood is hot. I mean the relays are so hot you can't even touch them. Is this normal?

 

[joey]

I would say no... normally the fuse block under the hood (after a few years) will start to corrode at the connections, may be time to start repairing things there first.

Corrosion will cause heat and other issues as well.

 

[18YearRoverGuy]

start with fuse box and blower motors, what happens is that the blower motors
draw too much amperage, causing the relays in the fuse box to get hot and melt the
fuse box.
blend door motors are just to move the air around to the various vents.

 

[roverdoc]

The cause of the your amperage draw is almost always caused by clogged pollen filters. Just replacing pollen filters won't fix the problem now though. Check the engine compartment fuse box for burned relays as said by 18year rover guy. Pull the burned relays out and check for melted fuse block. Very common. Replacing the relays may fix the problem temperarily but a fuse box and pollen filters will be needed. Your blower motors should work after you fix these problems. I find it hard to believe that blend motors and hvac control unit is bad also but it is possible. Your first step would be to fix the blower motor problem and see if faults come back for blend door motors.

 

[josephs97rr]

you should shop for a reliable repair shop...i use British Car Service in west LA, a shop that quoted me about $1,000 to do what your stealership is charging $3500 for.

the trick with small shops is getting someone to stand behind their work. a dealership has a ton of money behind them...if they screw up your truck, they can afford to fix it. small shops generally don't.

the one time i had a problem with the work done on my truck at the shop in west LA, they fixed it again and replaced additional parts--at no charge.