Jim_Chow
V8_Fan
I recently cleaned the front and rear evaporator on my 10 yr old LX w/ 119K mi. The A/C was still blowing cool, but didn't have that "ice cold" feel like with a new vehicle. The R134 was 1/2 lb short, but even after charging, I didn't notice a significant difference. The next step was a front and rear evaporator cleaning. I used the Toyota kit (pictured), one kit for each the front and rear evaporators. The instructions say to empty half the can up the evaporator drain tube, wait 10 minutes for it to drain, then empty the rest. Repeat for the rear evaporator. Next, run the engine w/ A/C on full w/ outside air and spray the air freshener into the intake vents. After letting it circulate for 5 min, turn off the engine and ventilate the vehicle. BTW, the drain tube is a rather fat tube that pokes out of the PS firewall (above the t-bar) and points forward. I located it by running the A/C and tracing the water drops. The rear wasn't as easy. For one, the drain tube was clogged, which made it extra tough to locate. It's behind the PS rear mudflap. Underneath, you'll see the insulated A/C tubing entering the bottom of the evap unit, which is located behind the rear right quarter panel area. From underneath, you'll see the A/C plumbing. Just behind where the tubes enter, there's a flat (black) rubber nipple with a slot in it just protruding from the bottom of the body (it's about the size of a medium to large flat-head screwdriver tip). Stick your finger into that and you'll find that inside is the drain tube. I used fencing wire to unclog mine, then followed the instructions for the cleaner. For both my front and rear evaporators, the liquid drained out pretty dirty. The results? The A/C is ice cold like in a new vehicle! In fact, it's so cold we only have to run it on low now whereas before, we had it on medium.
. For $15 I'll check out the Toyota kit.
