Nasty Evaporator!

[Fergie]

I recently had the expansion valve replaced on my '91 under some warranty Campaign, and while the dealership was at it, I had them replace my leaky evaporator.

I was, to say the least, surprised at how dirty the whole thing was.

A scant $300 for the new evaporator, and my AC is working and ice cold!

 

[gotmud]

I can only imagine what mine looks like! That's just nasty!

 

[lndcruz]

nasty, is this easy to get to and clean?

 

[gotmud]

nasty, is this easy to get to and clean?

Piece of cake. at most...














































Once you remove the whole dash assembly

 

[lndcruz]

damn


my ac appears to be working fine, we will wait on that cleaning....

 

[SunTzuMD]

I found some stuff here in Japan that you squirt up the drip pipe from underneath that is supposed to clean it up. Has a long flexible tube your feed up and then spray in the foam, let it set for 20 minutes and then drain.

 

[jlg32281]

It's not that hard to get to and you should be able to clean it with water and a mild detergent.

 

[wfd175]

It's not that hard to get to and you should be able to clean it with water and a mild detergent.

I sprayed some 409 on it and hooked the hose up to the hot water heater with nozzle set on the flat fan pattern and flushed mine out last year.

I had a straw wrapper inside that kept making noise which led to the discovery of the caked on gunk. It cleaned up nicely, I just intermittenly sprayed as to not overflow the drain.

 

[WarDamnEagle]

I found some stuff here in Japan that you squirt up the drip pipe from underneath that is supposed to clean it up. Has a long flexible tube your feed up and then spray in the foam, let it set for 20 minutes and then drain.

BG products make something similar which is suppposed to work well. I have the kit but haven't used it yet. I think it's called fridgi-clean? It also comes with vent disinfectant that you spray into the cowl intake - fridgi-fresh? I think?

 

[tea LC]

Any idea how involved it was to remove the evaporator?


This will probably be my next project, but I can't find a lot of info on removing/replacing.

 

[e9999]

care to elaborate on the warranty for a 91 point?

 

[RavenTai]

mine was not quite as bad but it was nasty, the lower one third was plugged. on the LX450 you can remove the fans power transistor and its heat sink to get an approx 2" x 4" access. I used a right angle condenser cleaner wand on the garden hose. AC was notably colder and with higher flow afterward.

Someone said this access was not available on his LC, I wonder if later years may have it?

 

[NLXTACY]

I followed El Mariachi's thread and made all the difference in the ice cold world:
https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/92253-cleaning-ac-system-evaporator.html

 

[Fergie]

care to elaborate on the warranty for a 91 point?

Sure.

I had the vehicle in for an alignment at the local Toyota Dealership. The service advisor ran the VIN and found that the AC expansion valve had not been replaced under the factory authorized Campaign. The valve and labor were done for free. When they had everything apart, they discovered the evaporator was leaking on the back side. I already knew about this issue when I bought the vehicle and had planned to tackle it on my own. Since the techs were already that far in, the SA told me that to replace the evap, it would only be the parts cost. The dealership gives a MUD discount, so I got the evap for a fair price, and a free install.

As far as cleaning and everything of that nature is concerned, follow El Mariachi's post and you'll be good to go.

 

[e9999]

Sure.

I had the vehicle in for an alignment at the local Toyota Dealership. The service advisor ran the VIN and found that the AC expansion valve had not been replaced under the factory authorized Campaign. The valve and labor were done for free. When they had everything apart, they discovered the evaporator was leaking on the back side. I already knew about this issue when I bought the vehicle and had planned to tackle it on my own. Since the techs were already that far in, the SA told me that to replace the evap, it would only be the parts cost. The dealership gives a MUD discount, so I got the evap for a fair price, and a free install.

As far as cleaning and everything of that nature is concerned, follow El Mariachi's post and you'll be good to go.

wow, amazing that they did honor that replacement after so many years... good for you! and maybe good to know for other folks here. Do you know what years are covered?

 

[concretejungle]

I followed El Mariachi's thread and made all the difference in the ice cold world:
https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/92253-cleaning-ac-system-evaporator.html

I was just going to go looking for that thread.

I have still not had a chance to do this, but would really like to.

 

[NLXTACY]

I was just going to go looking for that thread.

I have still not had a chance to do this, but would really like to.

Once I got the kit in, it look me VERY little time to set it all up. I have put this in my maintenance schedule to do once a year just before the summer. So like now-ish

 

[alia176]

is the BG cleaner a mail order item typically?

 

[NLXTACY]

is the BG cleaner a mail order item typically?

Yup. I searched all over locally and had to order it.

 

[super90]

I used a kit like that previously with good results, but then I discovered if you pull the blower, you have lots of access to clean the evaporator. On the FZJ, there are only three or four bolts holding the blower in.