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Replacing AC Evaporator due to White Powder in vents


roks
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After a lot of thinking, watching YouTube, more thinking and reading the service manual, I have convinced myself that I can do this job.

I am struggling to find a aftermarket AC evaporator and I cannot afford £428 from Mr.T so I have resorted to 2nd hand originals. I have acquired a complete aircon box from a 2016 Auris 1.2, 60k, with heater core, evaporator and expansion valve. All appear to be in good nick and there is no trace of the white powder inside that box, so I will remove those parts and swap into my aircon box.

I will also be installing a new aftermarket condenser at the same time, (will measure the amount of oil that comes out of the old and add that amount to the new).

Wanted it done properly and evacuate the system, Mr.T. quoted £81 for 30min labour to evacuate and if I go back for a recharge, they will do a discounted price for a aircon service at £103 instead of £120 (sales speech “it should really be done because of covid, all the germs flying about, aircon service does a flush, clean, recharge and replace the filter”).

Kwikfit quoted £49 for evac and re-charge.

Only reason I’d go back to Mr.T for re-charge if I could be “sure” that they actually did a proper flush and refill and get the freon/oil balance correct.

Questions are:

  1. Does Mr.T actually “flush and clean” the system during a aircon service?
  2. Will they measure the oil and add if low etc?
  3. Should I clean the “new” heater core and evaporator as it been open, not sure how long? If so, what with?
  4. Does AC components (in my case 3 items above) go bad if left open if so how long?
  5. During the evac, does the oil get emptied?
  6. Service manual says “Nominal refrigerant charge 400 - 500 g (14.2 - 17.6 oz.)” but no mention of how much oil.

I look forward any advice, precautions or words of wisdom.

cheers.

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3 minutes ago, roks said:

After a lot of thinking, watching YouTube, more thinking and reading the service manual, I have convinced myself that I can do this job.

I am struggling to find a aftermarket AC evaporator and I cannot afford £428 from Mr.T so I have resorted to 2nd hand originals. I have acquired a complete aircon box from a 2016 Auris 1.2, 60k, with heater core, evaporator and expansion valve. All appear to be in good nick and there is no trace of the white powder inside that box, so I will remove those parts and swap into my aircon box.

I will also be installing a new aftermarket condenser at the same time, (will measure the amount of oil that comes out of the old and add that amount to the new).

Wanted it done properly and evacuate the system, Mr.T. quoted £81 for 30min labour to evacuate and if I go back for a recharge, they will do a discounted price for a aircon service at £103 instead of £120 (sales speech “it should really be done because of covid, all the germs flying about, aircon service does a flush, clean, recharge and replace the filter”).

Kwikfit quoted £49 for evac and re-charge.

Only reason I’d go back to Mr.T for re-charge if I could be “sure” that they actually did a proper flush and refill and get the freon/oil balance correct.

Questions are:

  1. Does Mr.T actually “flush and clean” the system during a aircon service?
  2. Will they measure the oil and add if low etc?
  3. Should I clean the “new” heater core and evaporator as it been open, not sure how long? If so, what with?
  4. Does AC components (in my case 3 items above) go bad if left open if so how long?
  5. During the evac, does the oil get emptied?
  6. Service manual says “Nominal refrigerant charge 400 - 500 g (14.2 - 17.6 oz.)” but no mention of how much oil.

I look forward any advice, precautions or words of wisdom.

cheers.

I have this exact issue! And would it be possible for you to link the videos you have watched? I've been wanting to attempt this job for a while, but I have absolutely no idea where to begin!

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Get an independent to do it, even a bloke in a van, have a good look around you may find a shortcut instead of having to pull the complete dash

i will have a look for aftermarket evap for you

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@flash22 ta mate, I've been looking for the shortcuts, one video guy did his without removing the support bar but that's about it, still had to take plastics off. I'll addtach some pictures of the 2nd hand ones I got from a 2016 car.

@Infiniti I will link the videos but these are US guys but you get an idea.

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@Infiniti here are the links to youtube videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-keZ4K_tt8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqrpRO0X5zU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XI0uuF_bu_E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ijyxxwW6Wo

These are the picture of the parts I got from a 2016 auris:

Untitled.jpg20220106_111036.jpg20220106_110954.jpg

20220106_110838.jpgUntitled2.jpgUntitled3.jpg20220105_232611.jpg

 

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13 hours ago, roks said:

Questions are:

  1. Does Mr.T actually “flush and clean” the system during a aircon service?
  2. Will they measure the oil and add if low etc?
  3. Should I clean the “new” heater core and evaporator as it been open, not sure how long? If so, what with?
  4. Does AC components (in my case 3 items above) go bad if left open if so how long?
  5. During the evac, does the oil get emptied?
  6. Service manual says “Nominal refrigerant charge 400 - 500 g (14.2 - 17.6 oz.)” but no mention of how much oil.

I would say no. A flush is something done that goes beyond a simple recharge. You would have to specifically ask if they (or anyone else you are considering) can do that. A specialist A/C engineer would probably be far more experienced. Dealers sometimes call in such expertise anyway. 

Have a read at this:

 https://www.hella.com/techworld/uk/Technical/Car-air-conditioning/Flushing-the-car-AC-system-1891/

Getting oil level correct is vitally important. A normal vac and recharge removes only a minimal amount and its normal practice to add a little fresh oil along with the fresh refrigerant. Most of the oil sits in the compressor anyway.

When you replace evaporators and condensors you are removing much more oil from the system because those parts will have a film of oil within them. That adds up and becomes a significant proportion of the total amount. Compressors can be drained of oil and totally refilled if needed.

You have so many unknowns here such as parts that are open and that have been in use and so will have oil in them. Is there contamination within them? You need to talk to a pro and ask what they advise.

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@Mooly Thanks for your input, duly noted.

I will be measuring what comes out of the old condenser and replacing the same amount. I guess I could try the same with the old evaporator?

The 2nd hand evaporator may have drained, not sure, when I removed the expansion valve to take it out of the casing, it was well moist. I've since put the EV back in and sealed the ports. I can remove it and see if any comes out of of the evaporator. 

I am not working on the compressor.

 

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Also, would it suffice to flush/clean the evaporator as its open (is the EV normally open or closed and does it close both ports?).

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The expansion valve even if open would be a very tiny opening in the scheme of things. Think of the valve a bit like an aerosol spray that squirts refrigerant into the evaporator. Its very finely metered according to the pressures in the system. It only restricts flow at one end of the evaporator.

I think you could only clean it under pressure although remember in an AC system the compressor actually provides suction to the evaporator and pressure to the condenser forcing the refrigerant around.

 

 

 

 

 

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@Mooly I am still looking for an aftermarket evaporator, @flash22 kindly offered to help look for one, if the I don't find one, I am going use the 2nd hand. It had the EV still attached, I don't think any debris got in the evaporator, just air, an aftermarket.

I'll remove and discard the EV and use the current one, not sure if I even should introduce any cleaning agent the evaporator, might just tip it over to see if any oil comes out.

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Not found any aftermarket solutions, tried a few places and suppliers but nothing or lead times that are 3-4 months

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@flash22 Thanks for trying buddy.

I might hold off for a few weeks, its getting colder in London, I don't have a garage, I can imagine a few broken tabs from brittle plastics.

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  • 2 months later...

Finally managed to remove the evaporator, as suspected, fins were corroded, tons of white stuff on it. Replaced the evap, cleaned out the white stuff from the aircon box etc. Ended up following the manual and taking everything off, wasted too much time trying to find short cuts.

20220327_182418.thumb.jpg.a9bb3672d1e489e3b2e782ddf62da48d.jpg

Now putting thing back together is another challenge, misplaced a bolt some and also trying to find the torque spec for these bolts.

image.png

Anyone know the torque specs please? Not listed is the manual bit for the other bolts they are listed, not for these.

Thanks

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On 3/27/2022 at 8:54 PM, roks said:

Anyone know the torque specs please?

No takers?

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Just tighten them up without overdoing it and don't worry about the torque.

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Thanks @Stivino I wacked it with the impact wrench lightly, just wanted to be sure.

Just need to replace the condenser now and then take it to be recharged.

 

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All completed, total time spent aprox. 14 hrs, but I reckon if I was to do it again, I can do it in half that.

No screws left over so that's a good sign....only thing I messed up on is I mixed one of the o-rings for the condenser pipe and one fell down the firewall so I don't know if its the new or old. 

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  • 1 year later...
On 3/29/2022 at 11:15 AM, roks said:

No takers?

I know this has been done for a long time, but I have some advice for next time. If I can't find the torque specs for bolts, what I usually to is I mark the bolts with a screwdriver/permanent market. That way, when I return to it, I can get it exactly where it was.

As a good practice, I put a bit of blue loctite to make sure they won't come loose from any vibrations. 

Did you have more white powder coming from the vents after doing this?

 

My 2014 Yaris Hybrid is in the same situation. Luckily, the car is still under warranty, so the dealer did the investigation and found the fault.

The job will be done under warranty!

 

 

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On 2/8/2024 at 12:57 PM, inteli7 said:

Did you have more white powder coming from the vents after doing this?

Glad to report that no more white powder from the vents

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