Retrofitting climate control
 

A lot of JDM autos come with climate control. Does anyone know what parts differ from the standard FD? Or is it just the control units themselves?

I'm considering doing the swap, but would like to know what exactly I'd need off an auto-x to make the swap function.

Pic of controls for people who haven't seen them before:

Attachment 693520

I think few people in this forum have seen that system in the flesh.

I imagine it would be a tricky job to do, I worked with a friend on doing the 180sx climate control in a 240sx once, there are MANY additional sensors and computers in that car. I imagine, at minimum, there's a controlling computer and a temperature sensor. Might also have a sun load sensor, exterior temp sensor, etc.

And, you'd have to figure it out with no wiring diagram.

I think the only way this could be sorted out and documented is if you had a working car or a JDM front clip with the system in it. Then you could trace all the wiring, find the components, and move them over.

But, at the end of the day, most of the auto climate control systems work pretty poorly. I'd rather just crank the knob to where I want it. It WOULD be a neat project, but the end result wouldn't get you something amazing considering the amount of work you'd have to do.

Dale

Thanks for the reply Dale. Yeah, I imagine its quite involved. I've installed climate control in a VW before and it took a full weekend. I'm in talks with a guy at the moment who is breaking an auto rx7. I'm hoping to drive down, remove the system, then install it into my FD. If I go ahead with it I'll document the process/differences incase anyone else is interested :)

I'm doing this to satisfy my fetish for optional extras more than anything else....I appreciate the difference it will make is minimal :)

Cheers.

I'm glad someone else has asked.

I have 2 sets of climate control units from wrecked cars at home, and also one day plan to fit this to my JDM Type R

This is the info I have found so far:

- Climate was available in early version 1 Japanese spec Type X's (manual and auto) and the later version 2-4 Touring X models (auto only i believe all the way to 1998)

-You will need the entire dash loom as the connectors for the climate unit are different. There is also a light sensor on the top right demister vent so i would recommend taking the entire dash from the wreck. In my tests the climate dash loom seems to have the same connectors to connect to the non climate body loom. This was with a same year cars however.

- Because of this I'm thinking it will be very difficult getting it in a LHD car.

- I only have an auto dash climate loom that doesn't have the fog light circuit in it so it's no ideal for my manual car with fog lights. I did have it basic functioning in my car with the dash out. Make sure all your grounds on the dash are good too! Still on the lookout for a manual Type X climate dash loom one day.

- One guy in Australia seem to swap for swap the entire dash and it worked on his non climate car ok. Never saw it in the flesh though.

- No idea if there are any other hidden temp sensors or if all of the fan/heater/Aircon/resistor components are interchangeable.

Very interested to see your write up and how it all goes. :)

Cheers
James

Mine being auto Type-S JDM has the climate control, but honestly, its not that great.
I have a BMW E39 M5 sedan which had far nicer digital dual zone climate control fitted from factory (although it broke and is too expensive to bother fixing)

The RX-7 climate control, by the looks of it, would be a bit of a headache to swap into a car that didnt have it originally, as mentioned above. I tend to just use the heater on full blast most of the year anyway, as its so cold down here 90% of the time.

But good luck if you do go ahead :)

Edit

Just saw your lovely UK spec car and build thread.

IF you want climate you will need the Jap dash loom. Jap spec cars don't have headlight washers or adjustable headlights so the dash loom doesn't have connectors for this in there.

So to get this whole shebang working in there

-Climate
-Headlight Washers
-Headlight adjustment

There simply isn't a dash loom that accommodates all of this. You will have to custom wire some of these things to get them to work. (Happy to be proven wrong though) :)

Cruise control will be fine however, it's connectors will be there in the Jap dash loom

What's climate control? An automatic AC and Heat system?

Yes, it's LITERALLY a unit that controls the climate within the car. Imagine the system in your house (I assume you have central air). You set the temperature you want inside the car, and the car will automatically attempt to adjust it to that temperature for you!

It's really nice in my Lexus, and most of the time I can keep it between 70-80 and it'll keep me comfortable! :nod:

Yeah I had that before in one of my cars, can't recall which, It was pretty handy... Not sure how much trouble it is to get something like that setup in our FDs tho, not sure its worth TOO much trouble, but if its easy, it would be awesome.

Thanks for the replies & useful info! :)

I've taken apart a few JDM FD's and the UK loom is quite different to the JDM, so I imagine I'll have to make a new loom for the job. Should be a fun winter job, I'll keep you guys updated :)