My A/C started leaking early this summer. I had my regular mechanic recharge it at the beginning of summer and we used their electronic sniffer to try to trace the source of the leak. No such luck. That charge last about a month. We charged it partially again to try to sniff out the leak and still no luck, so I went to a reputable A/C specialist. Right off the bat they said it sounded like the evaporator core was the source of the leak. The smoking gun was the fact that I could detect a chemical smell through the cabin vents. Refrigerant itself is odorless, but the oil added for lubrication has a sharp smell. They wanted to run a full test to see what else they could diagnose.
They were right, it was the evap core. The kicker is that it's mounted so far behind the dash that they have to remove everything down to the firewall to get to the split-case housing. Here's a picture he took after just removing the dash skin, center console and stereo frame. The steel crossbar has to come out too. I'm pretty sure its the white box located behind the stereo.
They showed me the evap core and it had a fairly large hole and big wet area around it with dust collecting on the wet areas. It's about the size of a large cigar box, maybe 11 x 15 x 2...sorry didn't get a picture of it. It took them 2 days to do the work. They called me the morning of the 2nd day to assist them with all the aftermarket switches I had mounted in the dash. I went over on my lunch break and sorted out the wires (which they at least labeled and had pulled to the proper switches). I just had to make sure the right wire went onto the correct spade on the back of the switch.
Not sure what contributed to its demise, but I reckon being tossed around on rocks contributed, or maybe something got past the cabin filter and finally rubbed a hole which got bigger and bigger.
Total cost was about $1250. Here's a YT video I found that shows the level of disassembly required. Most modern vehicles require a full dash disassembly for this type of repair, but apparently Toyota trucks are especially intense.
They were right, it was the evap core. The kicker is that it's mounted so far behind the dash that they have to remove everything down to the firewall to get to the split-case housing. Here's a picture he took after just removing the dash skin, center console and stereo frame. The steel crossbar has to come out too. I'm pretty sure its the white box located behind the stereo.
They showed me the evap core and it had a fairly large hole and big wet area around it with dust collecting on the wet areas. It's about the size of a large cigar box, maybe 11 x 15 x 2...sorry didn't get a picture of it. It took them 2 days to do the work. They called me the morning of the 2nd day to assist them with all the aftermarket switches I had mounted in the dash. I went over on my lunch break and sorted out the wires (which they at least labeled and had pulled to the proper switches). I just had to make sure the right wire went onto the correct spade on the back of the switch.
Not sure what contributed to its demise, but I reckon being tossed around on rocks contributed, or maybe something got past the cabin filter and finally rubbed a hole which got bigger and bigger.
Total cost was about $1250. Here's a YT video I found that shows the level of disassembly required. Most modern vehicles require a full dash disassembly for this type of repair, but apparently Toyota trucks are especially intense.
