AC / heat in rear seat

[travelerBT]

Less than 500 miles on my trialmaster. Driving today and it got warm so flipped the aC on… not very cold air in front and vents in back seat were blowing hot (really hot) air. Is there a chance that the AC wasn’t charged before I picked it up? My dealership is 2 hours away so I can’t just drop it off…. Any advice would be much appreciated!

 

[anand]

Less than 500 miles on my trialmaster. Driving today and it got warm so flipped the aC on… not very cold air in front and vents in back seat were blowing hot (really hot) air. Is there a chance that the AC wasn’t charged before I picked it up? My dealership is 2 hours away so I can’t just drop it off…. Any advice would be much appreciated!

They don't charge it at the dealer before delivery, the refrigerant is filled at the factory; with that being said, it is a possibility that it wasn't filled, however, a more likely scenario would be that a leak is present somewhere in the system.

Only 2 hours away from the dealer is actually a pretty short distance for much of the country, and if you'd like it handled under warranty, that's the route you'll have to take

 

[AMD66]

I believe a few have been delivered not fully filled from the factory and as anand said some have had leaks. Mine was not filled fully from factory. Worth a trip back to dealer either way as needs sorting. Hopefully just a refill.

 

[Rok_Dr]

Less than 500 miles on my trialmaster. Driving today and it got warm so flipped the aC on… not very cold air in front and vents in back seat were blowing hot (really hot) air. Is there a chance that the AC wasn’t charged before I picked it up? My dealership is 2 hours away so I can’t just drop it off…. Any advice would be much appreciated!

I had the same problem earlier in the year. Switching the car off for a few minutes solved the problem. Subsequent to this, we have been having very hot weather, greater than 40° for over a week and the air conditioning has worked perfectly. I suspect the issue is not so much gas levels, but a random software bug turning the heater on to full heat. I have flagged it with the dealer and the feedback from Ineos Australia is they have seen something similar and it may be software related.

Cheers
Steve

 

[travelerBT]

Thx

 

[anand]

I should add to this thread, to anyone having issues (of any kind), as inconvenient is it may be, let your dealer know about any issues you may observe. The dealer can then let Ineos know, and fixes can be made. I'm a person that is all about fixing it myself instead of dealing with a dealership. But on a vehicle like this (being a new company), if the feedback doesn't get back to Ineos the fixes are never implemented; and as convenient as it would be if there was a way to turn a post (or a search) into direct feedback to Ineos Automotive, that isn't the route.

 

[Rupert]

I found that the diagprgms were more functional at speed to open and close the doros for the definition of heat and cool. Once I got it up to about 50 (the very first time) I could hear the doors release and then all was well and has been since. Mine did not require any additional charge.

 

[IGL]

Less than 500 miles on my trialmaster. Driving today and it got warm so flipped the aC on… not very cold air in front and vents in back seat were blowing hot (really hot) air. Is there a chance that the AC wasn’t charged before I picked it up? My dealership is 2 hours away so I can’t just drop it off…. Any advice would be much appreciated!

Hi Gui, today with about 550km/340mi on the ODO the same in my Gren. After a short lunch break and continuing the tour everything seems fine, cool air in the back. Very odd. I'll definitely report this to my agent. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this was a one-off experience...

 

[Dr. John]

Amongst a myriad of trivial problems, the heating on my Trialmaster would blow hot, then cool, every few minutes, regardless of settings. The air con was totally ineffective. To correct other faults my car has had three software upgrades in as many months. I think the dealer didn’t know what else to do and this did correct spurious warning lights. I finally lost patience and wrote a strong, reasoned letter to the dealer. They forwarded it to Ineos UK who sent a very knowledgeable boffin to have a look.
1. The air con needed recharging (most aren’t full when leaving the factory).
2. There was a massive airlock in the water circuit which hadn’t been completely filled (again a common problem).
3. In addition I’d had a failure of both front and back diff locks when I really needed them in Scottish mud. The consensus was user error, although I disagree. The Ineos man was very polite, went through the operating sequence, and the problem hasn’t recurred.

 

[AMD66]

………
1. The air con needed recharging (most aren’t full when leaving the factory).
2. There was a massive airlock in the water circuit which hadn’t been completely filled (again a common problem)……..

My air con was poor when I collected my vehicle……..this is exactly what I was told and was the fix. Air con works now, in its own Grenadier sort of way….

 

[travelerBT]

Update: it just fixed itself. Donno what happened but it hasn’t happened since.

 

[camshaft6au]

Had our Grenadier 4 months now, air con has now failed 42 times now with exact same problem.
It randomly decides to open heat flap resulting in piping hot air to back vents and a mix of aircon and hot air to the front. No adjustments resolve it. The only resolution in to stop the car , switch off, lock walk away for 20 minutes and come back. Mostly it works, but sometimes it stays the same.
Brisbane dealer says waiting on new aircon hose., so far 2 months---
Seems more like a software issue applying heat flap.
Has anyone had the same issue? If so, has it been rectified.
With ambient temps in Queensland 27 to 35 deg the vehicle is sometimes undrivable.

.

 

[gkhaldi]

Had our Grenadier 4 months now, air con has now failed 42 times now with exact same problem.
It randomly decides to open heat flap resulting in piping hot air to back vents and a mix of aircon and hot air to the front. No adjustments resolve it. The only resolution in to stop the car , switch off, lock walk away for 20 minutes and come back. Mostly it works, but sometimes it stays the same.
Brisbane dealer says waiting on new aircon hose., so far 2 months---
Seems more like a software issue applying heat flap.
Has anyone had the same issue? If so, has it been rectified.
With ambient temps in Queensland 27 to 35 deg the vehicle is sometimes undrivable.

.

Exact same problem here for the last 6 months. Before the last software update in December’23, the airco worked fine (if not leaking gas ). After the update; heating doesn’t make sense, it’s all over the place like heating in the back and not in the front, and now with better weather out, cooling behaves very similar, no cold out of front vents but cold in the back.

For me it’s clearly a software issue but it seems Ineos is unable to reprogram it. Got a new appointment at the dealer beginning May….so we will see

 

[rovie]

Had our Grenadier 4 months now, air con has now failed 42 times now with exact same problem.
It randomly decides to open heat flap resulting in piping hot air to back vents and a mix of aircon and hot air to the front. No adjustments resolve it. The only resolution in to stop the car , switch off, lock walk away for 20 minutes and come back. Mostly it works, but sometimes it stays the same.
Brisbane dealer says waiting on new aircon hose., so far 2 months---
Seems more like a software issue applying heat flap.
Has anyone had the same issue? If so, has it been rectified.
With ambient temps in Queensland 27 to 35 deg the vehicle is sometimes undrivable.

.

Hi @camshaft6au Yes, this is a software issue. Turning off the ignition, waiting a little and restarting usually helps. Ineos is aware of the issue and is supposedly working on it.

 

[explorersoverland]

During our visit to the Ineos service center in Dubai, the staff told us about the problem with the Grenadier's air conditioning. They said it was because of a valve that sometimes opens by itself, but Ineos still don't know why it happens.

While I was there, two other frustrated owners came in with this issue. I think it's a big problem over there, especially considering the intense heat in the region, making driving with the heating on quite uncomfortable.

I've encountered this issue about 5 times now during the trip. A quick workaround suggested is to press the mute buttons for a few seconds or to stop the car, lock it, and wait for a few minutes.

Definitely want to try @Dr. John's solution. Since we're currently in Pakistan and don't have access to an Ineos dealer, I would have to do it myself at an other garage. Does anyone have more information on how to do this on the Grenadier?

 

[dreamalaska]

Ineos, FTLOG, please make the HVAC controls a simple, mechanically operated system in the next refresh:

 

[DaBull]

Ineos, FTLOG, please make the HVAC controls a simple, mechanically operated system in the next refresh:

Hi dreamalaska, In my opinion it would be best if all vents on the HVAC system were controlled by cables and levers controlled by the user. That is about as fool proof as you can get. On the other spectrum, the New Defender HVAC system has worked flawlessly for me for 3 1/2 years and I like how you can easily control the temperature to the exact degree you and your passenger like. I would take either over the current Grenadier set up, although I am hopeful that software updates may improve it some. DaBull

 

[Kevin Mokracek]

Update: it just fixed itself. Donno what happened but it hasn’t happened since.

Don't be surprised if it pops up again. Mine does the same thing, blows cold in front and super hot in the rear. I'll turn it off for a bit then it goes back to normal or whatever normal is for HVAC in the Grenadier. Anyway after a while if I turn up the temp to warm the air a little the front vents will be warm but the back vents will be extremely hot and turning down the temp will not do anything for front or back. The only way I can reset it is to park the truck for a few minutes. The Grenadiers have the least intuitive and worst HVAC systems of any car I have ever owned. I do love the truck though.

 

[Jackattack13]

After fiddling with the temp controls and finding that what works one day, doesn't work the next, I now just use the "Auto" setting and have had far fewer issues. Who would of thought that designing an HVAC system for a car could prove to be so difficult.

 

[rovie]

After fiddling with the temp controls and finding that what works one day, doesn't work the next, I now just use the "Auto" setting and have had far fewer issues. Who would of thought that designing an HVAC system for a car could prove to be so difficult.

This is exactly the right approach. I also posted this at some point last summer. I always control my heating and air conditioning in combination with the Auto button. Then the temperature can be adjusted from very cold to hot. It is important that Auto, the air conditioning button and the rotary control are always seen as a single function. That's why I generally have no problems with the system.