Adding A/C to 98 Rav4
As the title says I would like to add A/C to my 98 convertible i just picked up. I searched the forum and have found out that apparently US rav4's all come standard with A/C so im guessing mine may be from canada because the speedo reads in kmh. So has no cooling a/c components. No compressor, condenser, lines or even an a/c button. I have a doner car with working a/c but was wondering if there is a separate a/c ecu or is it all controlled through the main ecu?
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yeah the doner car is my current daily and a/c works great, especially the ball sack vent under the steering column. I cant believe car manufactures did away with that. it easily keeps me 10 degree cooler with cold air flow to my down belows.
I also just confirmed that my convertible is from canada. Is there any difference between US and Canada models other than kmh?
I also just confirmed that my convertible is from canada. Is there any difference between US and Canada models other than kmh?
1998 Rav4, manual transmission, 2WD, 5-door, JDM engine installed in 2013
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I attach the 1999 wiring diagram, which for the greater part should cover your Canadian 1998. See pages 2 and 4. On page 4 in particular, left side, middle, there is an "A/C Amplifier," which many call the computer for the A/C system. On the lower left, the engine computer ties into the A/C system a bit.
I attach another manual section that may be helpful.
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I've installed a/c systems on a dozen (or so) vehicles. One thing I can say is that vehicles are a very compact bundle of parts. Once you start separating things, they take up a lot of ground-space.
What I've found to be easiest (for me anyways) was to buy some tarps, lay them on the ground (out of the way some place) and set the parts down on them in an orderly fashion.
That being said:
If you can, pull both vehicles side-by-side and work on them simultaneously. You'll find that disassembly and reassembly (from one vehicle to the other) goes alot faster and you'll have a sharper recollection of how parts are to be assembled........verses pulling all parts from one car over the course of a week. Take a break. And then spending a couple weeks trying to remember how everything goes back together on your daily driver. Plus, there's less of chance that you get distracted assembling things when you find out you forgot to pull a certain necessary part.
When stopping forward progress to go back and pull more parts off the doner, you may start to feel as if you bit off more than you can chew and lose your tenacity for accomplishing the project. Have no doubt about it, adding a/c to these vehicles is a major task. It's not going to be a accomplished over the course of a weekend and a couple beers.
You're going to have to remove the dash to swap the HVAC boxes.
Wire harnesses are different both in the engine compartment as well as behind the dash. You could splice the air conditioning wires into the engine compartment wire harness and install the fuses/relaysand junction connectors into the factory fuse block. But the wire harness behind the dash is a different story. It's a complicated mess......
If both vehicles have the same drivetrain combination, I suggest you swap the whole dash as a single unit with as much of the wire harness, fuse box, air ducts and everything else attached to it as a single unit. This is how the dash is installed in the vehicle at the factory.......you have barely enough room to install a completely assembled dash into a Rav, but it's do-able. And it saves time over completely disassembling the dash piece by piece and reinstalling it piece by piece.
What I've found to be easiest (for me anyways) was to buy some tarps, lay them on the ground (out of the way some place) and set the parts down on them in an orderly fashion.
That being said:
If you can, pull both vehicles side-by-side and work on them simultaneously. You'll find that disassembly and reassembly (from one vehicle to the other) goes alot faster and you'll have a sharper recollection of how parts are to be assembled........verses pulling all parts from one car over the course of a week. Take a break. And then spending a couple weeks trying to remember how everything goes back together on your daily driver. Plus, there's less of chance that you get distracted assembling things when you find out you forgot to pull a certain necessary part.
When stopping forward progress to go back and pull more parts off the doner, you may start to feel as if you bit off more than you can chew and lose your tenacity for accomplishing the project. Have no doubt about it, adding a/c to these vehicles is a major task. It's not going to be a accomplished over the course of a weekend and a couple beers.
You're going to have to remove the dash to swap the HVAC boxes.
Wire harnesses are different both in the engine compartment as well as behind the dash. You could splice the air conditioning wires into the engine compartment wire harness and install the fuses/relaysand junction connectors into the factory fuse block. But the wire harness behind the dash is a different story. It's a complicated mess......
If both vehicles have the same drivetrain combination, I suggest you swap the whole dash as a single unit with as much of the wire harness, fuse box, air ducts and everything else attached to it as a single unit. This is how the dash is installed in the vehicle at the factory.......you have barely enough room to install a completely assembled dash into a Rav, but it's do-able. And it saves time over completely disassembling the dash piece by piece and reinstalling it piece by piece.
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Thank you so much for all the helpful info. I will really have to think about whether or not i can have both vehicles down for that long while i swap it..
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