I agree that not replacing the drier would be a mistake if they opened the system. If you provided the dryer and they didn't change it that's even more an indication of incompetence on their end.
@landcruiser3DP sorry that my post was a little confusing. It's a trick keeping messages here short and also explaining enough to avoid confusion. The back story on my replacing the evaporator after 5 years is that I needed to open the system for other reasons and decided that a full system refresh (evap, expansion valve, condensor, compressor, dryer) made more sense than just replacing a few parts. My above post in this thread probably wasn't that helpful but I had the pictures handy that showed how dirty my evap was after cleaning in place (even though it was 5 years ago roughly) as compared to the new replacement so I decided to share them.
I'm sure that cleaning in place can be worthwhile both in terms of improved AC performance and likely in helping slow down corrosion of the evaporator. If possible, I'd start by pulling the blower and putting a scope on the evaporator. When I did that I could easily see how dirty things were and it helped guide where cleaned and when I stopped.
Tuning the fan clutch also really helped with the AC performance in my 80 when in traffic or at slow speeds. It also helped with engine operating temps which was great. How much this tuning helps on your rig will depend on a number of factors including how the fan clutch is performing now and how the cooling/ac system is setup. Fan shroud, foam around the radiator, cleanliness and other details also contribute to how the system works. You likely know all of that but in my opinion dialing in the fan clutch on an 80 is always a great idea.
You may have seen it but I recently shared the process that I followed to replace the major components of my 80s AC system here:
Thanks to the contributions of many very knowledgeable ih8mud contributors I was able to refresh the AC on my 1997 FZ 80. A few of those contributors surely saved me a lot of time, $$, mistakes and reworking. @flintknapper and @alia176 stand out in my mind though I'm sure there were a number...
forum.ih8mud.com
You may get the most bang for the buck with your plan of cleaning, replacing the dryer and recharging the system but a full update is also doable for the DIY non-expert wrench in my experience. I would have stuck with the cleaning and piecemeal approach for at least a few more years as my AC performance was pretty good. When I ran into issues with wear on the nose of the compressor though I decided it was time to update the system and I took the plunge. Avoiding breakdowns or AC failure are very high priorities for me though as we use the 80 primarily for longer trips with our young kids.
You may have noticed this in your searching but there are a handful of folks on the forum that are great at AC troubleshooting. I'm definitely not one of them but reading their posts helped me appreciate that a full AC update and recharge is typically easy compared to troubleshooting an AC system. That's part of why I just replaced the major components, flushed the system and started over. The chances of success that way seemed greater and I didn't want to get into repeated work and troubleshooting, etc.
Good luck with it.
