Background
I’ve been holding this 2007 Suzuki Grand Vitara since 2014, and the aircon was functioning perfectly until end-2019. In end-2019, I observed that although the unit was cooling, it would take a few minutes for the blower to throw cold air, and this was certainly a departure from normal. I’d associated this shift in behaviour to the usage of the car dropping to 1/3 of its earlier usage. Nevertheless, I carried on.
The definite change was that earlier, the low side (Compressor suction) piping would show dew on its outer surface, while later it felt just cool, but not chilled. Covid-19 induced shutdown – 2020 until early 2021
The country was shut down in Mar-2020 and that meant virtually zero use of the car. Post Unlock 1.0 in May-2020, the car remained practically idle, but I used to keep the car roused by driving around for, say, 20kms once or twice a week. The aircon remained functional, but the behaviour remained as described above.
Why was inspection of the HVAC Unit required?
Sometime in Apr-2021, I decided to get the aircon inspected. I could have easily evacuated the refrigerant, done a pressure test at 200-250 psig followed by a vacuum hold test at -76cmHg, and charged fresh refrigerant. However, better sense prevailed. Since it was over 6.5 years since I’d got the car pre-owned, I decided to have the HVAC Unit opened, so that the evaporator core could be inspected and, if required, cleaned.
Project Grand Vitara Aircon Removal of the dashboard assembly
Benefits of removing the dashboard assembly have been enumerated
here (Aircons! Demystifying the car air-conditioning system).
We moved on to remove the dashboard assembly. Here are the steps that were followed :
1. Disconnect the battery negative terminal, and wait for a few minutes.
2. Evacuate the unit to recover the refrigerant.
3. Remove the two silver painted ornament strips on either side of the center console. Use a tool to pry the ornament strip first at the bottom, and then move up.
4. Remove the glove box.
5. Decouple and remove the blower assembly.
6. Remove the chrome ring and the garnish assembly around the gear lever.
7. Remove the necessary screws and remove the floor console as one unit.
Airbag module
8. Press the shift lock button and push the AT gear lever all the way back to L. This is to create room for removing the convenience box just below the AC control panel, and also to remove the dashboard assembly.
9. Remove the bolts fastening the gear lever assembly to the floor- this is just to move it around to access and decouple the airbag module couplers, and also to be able to pull the dashboard assembly out of position.
10. Decouple all couplers to the fuse panel – cum – body control module located above the accelerator pedal.
11. Remove the dashboard lower panel as shown
12. Remove the driver air bag assembly. Place this upright on the rear seat.
Do not place it with the horn pad facing the bottom, as, in the rare case of the air bag deploying, the unit will become a missile.
13. Remove the steering wheel assembly. Before doing so, please mark the centerline of the steering wheel so that the wheel can be perfectly in line during re-assembly.
14. Remove the steering column cover assembly. This is in two parts - one top and one bottom adjoining the steering control stalks
15. Remove the couplers, and then the clock spring, taking care to ensure that the orientation of the unit isn't disturbed. Wind some tape around to prevent it from moving around.
16. Remove the bolts holding the steering column to the metal frame.
17. Open the bolts on the A-pillar holding the dashboard assembly frame to the car's frame
18. Remove the dashboard assembly as one unit. The unit is heavy and will need two people to pull it out of position, and out of the car.
The following video elaborates how the steering wheel and the clock spring are removed.
Dashboard assembly removed ![Aircons! Demystifying the car air-conditioning system, Part 2-gv_dashboardassembly_removed.jpg](https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/attachments/technical-stuff/2171993d1688139615t-aircons-demystifying-car-air-conditioning-system-part-2-gv_dashboardassembly_removed.jpg)