Evaporator DIY w/ Pics
07-30-12, 06:41 AM
#62
Driver School Candidate
Nezlyfe:
I recently finished my evaporator replacement on my 1998 GS300.
The costs broke down like this, and everything was purchased at Advance Auto:
Evaporator $110
Expansion valve 35
O-ring Kit 8
Compressor Oil 8
Insulation Tape 10 (bought at Home Depot)
I might be a dollar or two off on some of the small stuff because I didn't keep the receipts, but that is basically it.
This is not a job to be taken lightly, but if you have good mechanical appitude and attention to detail it can be done with just normal handtools. I took a lot of pictures and over 100 notes during the job, and I still missed some electrical connectors during reassembly. If I had to do it over I would have made even more notes about the connectors.
Anyway mine is back together blowing nice cold air!!!!
Steve
1998 GS300
2003 GS430
2004 GS430
I recently finished my evaporator replacement on my 1998 GS300.
The costs broke down like this, and everything was purchased at Advance Auto:
Evaporator $110
Expansion valve 35
O-ring Kit 8
Compressor Oil 8
Insulation Tape 10 (bought at Home Depot)
I might be a dollar or two off on some of the small stuff because I didn't keep the receipts, but that is basically it.
This is not a job to be taken lightly, but if you have good mechanical appitude and attention to detail it can be done with just normal handtools. I took a lot of pictures and over 100 notes during the job, and I still missed some electrical connectors during reassembly. If I had to do it over I would have made even more notes about the connectors.
Anyway mine is back together blowing nice cold air!!!!
Steve
1998 GS300
2003 GS430
2004 GS430
12-04-12, 07:40 PM
#63
Driver School Candidate
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: SC
Posts: 3
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I planning this job but have not been able to confirm where system leak is. I was able to get about 30 days from a coolant charge but getting tired of the recharge and not knowing exactly which day it will stop producing cold air is bad in SC heat. I had it in the shop and they unable to isolate the leak source. I put dye in and observed all accessable components and lines under the hood with no luck. I hate to break into the dash without knowing the leak is in evaporator but stronly suspect it is. The mechanic used sniffer at the evap. drain line and got no indication. Possibly the leak was too slow to detect easily there. Most excellent photo journal of the dash/evaporator removal. Did you get confirmation that evaporator was leakig before starting this job? I have noticed for some time that vented air is much hotter than outside air with AC/Heat off. Suspect that the heater core getting a coolant flow when there should be none. Is that going to be a bad servo? Maybe this is a good time to replace environ. control servos? Suspect they are not easily accessed with dash installed. Did you consider R2 servos at the time? Thanks for posting secrets to GS300 dash removal.
12-04-12, 09:06 PM
#64
01-28-13, 08:32 AM
#66
i just tackled this job over the weekend it went very smooth i had no heat and needed to replace the heater core while i was in there i decided to check out the evap when i pulled it i found pag oil gathered up in the corner so i ran and got an evaporator at performance radiator for 90 bucks. i also did the expansion valve while the dash was out it was only 40 bucks.
one thing i noticed when i pulled the box was that the servo's and flaps where very guncked up with dirt and dust hair etc so i cleaned all the servos and put some new lithium grease on the flap tracks im trying to steer away from ever havinh to pull the dash again lol
the hardest parts of the whole job was finding a measuring cup that was small enough to measure 40ML for the Pag oil in the evaporator
my wife probably isnt going to like that i took her measuring cup i dont think she knows yet
oh i also swapped to a black dash while i was at it seeing that i am changing my interior to black.
one thing i noticed when i pulled the box was that the servo's and flaps where very guncked up with dirt and dust hair etc so i cleaned all the servos and put some new lithium grease on the flap tracks im trying to steer away from ever havinh to pull the dash again lol
the hardest parts of the whole job was finding a measuring cup that was small enough to measure 40ML for the Pag oil in the evaporator
my wife probably isnt going to like that i took her measuring cup i dont think she knows yet
oh i also swapped to a black dash while i was at it seeing that i am changing my interior to black.
04-04-13, 07:56 PM
#68
Driver School Candidate
telescopes steering whee ,need help please
after you remove the dash and replace the heater core, the steering wheel does not fit into the base and now I have a very low as two inches and i dont now what happened if I did something wrong, and they tried everything and nothing fusion. som busy wanna help me
06-26-13, 07:20 PM
#71
Finally got around to doing this last week and again thanks to the OP because I wouldn't have attempted this without this diy.
S/N for those with airbags in the pillars there is a 10mm bolt behind the srs snap at the top and then a plastic clip to pop. after that jam the pillar downward until you can remove it.
S/N for those with airbags in the pillars there is a 10mm bolt behind the srs snap at the top and then a plastic clip to pop. after that jam the pillar downward until you can remove it.
09-28-13, 06:16 PM
#72
The same thing happen to me today. looks like the steering column is a inch or two shorter. Did you figure it out?
09-29-13, 06:19 PM
#73
ok. I was able to bolt /line up my steering column. some how the steering shaft slipped down. (don't know how this happened). I just kept moving the steering wheel back/forth up/down and some how it popped in place. I still can't figure out what happened but my car is back together.
04-28-14, 07:23 PM
#74
Doing stuff like this I used to lose screws, so I bought a magnet plate. Then, I would forget where most screws go. So once I was ready to do the dash removal, I just screw the bolt back in a little after I remove every part. I've replaced heater core, evaporator, expansion valve, mode and driver/passenger servo's, condenser, drier, compressor(even though it was working perfectly) all with new dealer parts, and cleaned both lines. Now its blowing Alaska cold in a 90deg sunny day. Glad I did this, everything works perfectly with no problems still after a month. Thanks for the great write up. Outs.
01-13-15, 09:20 AM
#75
Hi guys, I don't want to be lame and dig up a thread for no reason but I have used this today for my dash conversion (grey to black). Massive thanks to the OP for making this.
