Rear AC evaporator leak (2 Viewers)

[JOFS]

Recently found my ac not working. Found it had no Freon So I charged it and took it in today to see what the deal. I was told it is leaking at the rear evaporator. This is at the local Toyota dealer where I purchased it.
they have to look again tomorrow but the quote from today is $4400. Disappointing that the truck is a 2017 with 47k miles and has been slathered in fluid film or wool wax since new. I do have an extended warranty and was told they think it will be covered.
Found one thread on here quoting 3900 but seems most just keep recharging it instead of fixing.
will update as I have more info but wanted to put this out there as reference point and see if others have any more experience with this.
Thanks
John

 

[JOFS]

Update
Dealership says it doesn’t leak now so they extended warranty won’t pay to fix. And since no parts were replaced nothing is covered.

So seems like others that have experienced this and just recharge it periodically might be on the right track. As that is what I would have done if I had to fork out 4400.

the service manager told me to watch it and if it goes empty again they will have no choice but to fix but I suspect this is a very slow leak so wonder if warranty will expire in the meantime

 

[deeptide]

"wonder if warranty will expire in the meantime"
Hope for the best, plan for the worse. My choices now would reflect a cabin sauna at 00:00:001 UTC.

 

[Lester did that]

I would just keep recharging it. I have a 2009 LC and there is a very small leak in the rear as well. Very small. I top it off every 2 years. Now if you refill it and it is warm in a week it might be worth biting the bullet. Last week the heat up here was too much and too early. 90 is nothing I am fan of.

 

[Skidder]

I have a 2001 with a rear evaporator leak. Recharge keeps for maybe two or three days. My mechanic is wondering if there is a retro-fit kit to eliminate or bypass or cut off the rear evap altogether and just run the front. Has anyone done this or know of a way?

 

[hedd]

I had a similar problem. My AC in the front worked but not the back. I had a noticeable leak and the dealer claimed the rear evap and a wiring harness needed fix which was like 4k. I told them to fix the leak first because that was clearly a problem. I had to talk to the service manager and was not happy with the quality of diagnosis from the dealer. They replaced the hose (leak) recharged the system and it's been working for two years. It was still like $800 but works.

Check this thread rear AC - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/rear-ac.1011714/#post-12497302

 

[JOFS]

Thanks for the info. Mines a bit different as front and back doesn’t matter as neither worked.

I found my ac getting warm this weekend again so appt pending to take it back in.

I checked the Freon and it was low again so it is going somewhere. I just want it fixed and am taking it to the dealership only because the extended warranty means I am not paying

I have put the appt off until I am away for a couple of weeks as last time they played around with it for a few days.
John

 

[JOFS]

So just got the truck back again. They replaced "rear cooler lines as a goodwill repair"

Interestingly they also billed the extended warranty. But the total was 793.22. But they gave a goodwill adjustment for $250 worth of labor.

So I didn't pay a thing, but funny thing was the original estimate was 4400 but when they had to have an adjuster in for the insurance company it only was 793 of which they wrote off 250.

So will see if this AC keeps working. But it sounds similar to others who have fixed a line only or just recharged it after getting the initial 4K estimate.

Hope others can use this info to help if they have issues in the future.

John

 

[katit]

I am amazed where those numbers even coming from? Sounds like repairs to be done to government-owned spaceship and not to passenger car...

There is distinctive steps:
1. Detect leak
2. Evac system if needed
3. Replace/repair part
4. Recharge system

Yes, with evaporator there could be a lot of labor in #3 but how much 8hr tops??
Parts expense. Not sure but couple hundreds? If more, we have local shop which can fix/rebuild hoses and cores.

 

[sfo1]

I've had a slow freon leak. Dye in lines helped located the leak; which was the two coupled aluminum pipes behind the rear evaporator. Tried new o-rings but the leak is in the evaporator. Quoting me ~$1k to change out the rear evap & re-charge. I know they spent time diagnosing and trying to repair, but price seems fair considering what I've heard from what some others have been quoted.

 

[sfo1]

I've had a slow freon leak. Dye in lines helped located the leak; which was the two coupled aluminum pipes behind the rear evaporator. Tried new o-rings but the leak is in the evaporator. Quoting me ~$1k to change out the rear evap & re-charge. I know they spent time diagnosing and trying to repair, but price seems fair considering what I've heard from what some others have been quoted.

Edit; mech pulled everything apart in order to replace the evaporator. Realized that the pipe assembly has pretty much failed and that it was not the evap. Ordered <$100 part - re-assemble - charge system - done. Saved a load of $ on that. Part #88706b670.

 

[BadReligion]

Edit; mech pulled everything apart in order to replace the evaporator. Realized that the pipe assembly has pretty much failed and that it was not the evap. Ordered <$100 part - re-assemble - charge system - done. Saved a load of $ on that. Part #88706b670.

Usually it's the o rings going into the rear evaporator that fail. Or the hard lines on high mileage and salt exposed vehicles. Hope they used Nylog Blue on the new ones. $1000 for a rear evaporator replacement is very fair, it's an 8 hour job (at least for me on my 100). If it leaks again and you don't have kids, cap the rear line in the engine bay and call it a day.

AC work is not rocket science, but takes patience. Before charging, I like to pull a vacuum for 24 hrs, then turn the pump off and keep manifold gauge connected. If it holds same level of vacuum for another 24 hrs, you don't have a leak and can charge with confidence.