alkattan

Hi there,

I have GS430 2001, Mechanic told me that my A/C Evaporator is leaking , since this is expensive to fix. I am wondering how I can reach the A/C Evaporator my self? I am thinking doing it!! . Some one told me I have to remove the whole dash??? Is this true ?

Thank you all

alkattan

Can I use GS 300 Evaporator for GS430 2001?

vicestan

Oh no , get a second opinion on it. I had my evaporator core replaced its a common problem on the lexus gs models. It was done buy a lexus mechanic here in il cool guy and he did it from his garage I was there. Anyway its alot of work and you shouldn't even think about doing it, heck I got tierd just watching the replace and helping out a little. Let me put it this way your WHOLE entire front dash will be removed.

Also have it done at a lexus dealership because it will take less time since they have experiance with removing them already. A privat mechanic or some other place will take an extra 3-4 hours as insurance time because they will do it by the manual. Man my whole dash was removed I mean everytihng down to the firewall ( I think thats what the metal wall is called between the engine and cabin ). The guy who did mine is a certified lexus mechanic and it took him like 4-5 hours if I remember correctly I think more like 4. Also replace the expansion valve while they are at it, the dealership will tell you it should be replaced with the evap core since the valve is also known to fail. So might as well replace it also since everything is apart the vavle only costs like 60 dollars If I remember right. Don't do this your self, or otherwise you will regret it for the rest of your life. Also like I said have someone else verify its the evap core, I had the core and valve replaced and still having problems, I'm thinking its the compressor but this local shop did the diagnostic here and quoted me 1200 to replace the core/valve. Now I wish I had went to a lexus dealership to have them verify that it was indeed the core although they said when they ran the die in my a/c system, right under the dash below the evap core the whole place was lighting up like 4th of july.

Plus when I looked at the evap core I couldnt see any damage : /, maybe its not visible but it didnt look damaged, none of the lines leading up to the core showed any signs of damage also. And get oem parts also, no aftermarket. Oh and the gs-300/400 cores are exactly the same and I got mine for 303 dollars.

alkattan

Thanks for your input vicestan, I hoop they installed your dash properly I was waiting for someone with the same problem. I did take my car to the dealer and they confirmed that it is from the evaporator . I can smell the gas when the A/C is on. When I refilled it with Freon, it used to stay for 1 to 2 months, but now it doesn’t; it will stay cool for 2 days only. I was thinking doing it my self but since you are not recommending it; I am having second thoughts. I never thought that a good car like Lexus will have this kind of a problem, it’s just too sad.

vicestan

Yea its a all to common problem with the gs. Oh and the dash in fact before that I had this slight rattle when stopping at a red light, you know how quiet our cars are and that rattle annoyed the ****** out of me. Anyway once everything was installed back the rattle was gone . Yes its a sad problem but a problem none the less, be glad you dont drive a bmw or benz otherwise you would be seeing alot more of these type of problems.

DaveGS4

iTrader: (2)

Actually Stan I'd have to disagree that this is a common problem (besides that it happened to you, sorry ). There are only 23 threads in the GS forum on CL out of 23,000+ that even mention 'evaporator' and most of those are on other topics.

I know just because it isn't discussed here doesn't mean it doesn't happen, but we can do some pretty good trend analysis from the posts w/ problems. Don't think this is one of them that many people have.

lexforlife

iTrader: (7)

dave you are right.. i have alot of research on ac problems with the ls model and gs models and there were so few issues that it was not even mentioned on any lists for bulletions..


i suspect alot of the problems so have is lack of use.. their is a oil in the system that circulates and keeps all seals etc working properly... when its not used reg seals can dry , and then its down hill from there..

chuckb

thanks guys. I was starting to get paranoid.

vicestan

Well the guy that did my car workes for a lexus dealership here in il and I asked him if it was a common problem with the gs and he said yes they've done quiet a few. Its odd that there aren't alot of topics here on the forum about this but then again not all lexus owners come here so maybe its one of those freak occurances affecting the cars that are not directly tied in with this site. In fact the evap is a very common problem with Lexus in general, I know a guy who had hes evap replaced on his rx. Lets just say when I had the problem I felt like I was the only person in the america with this problem with a lexus, but turns out its a common problem and is a common replacement at the lexus dealers. Oh and maybe your right about the oil, since we have 4 seasons here the a/c is only used for a short summer period. Maybe the winter takes its toll on the poorly designed evap/expension valve.

lexforlife

iTrader: (7)

thats it right there

out of all our crew here in south fl and its quite large the only problem i have seen with ac is compressor going bad and thats on the older model sc's but then again we use ours daily down here

vicestan

I feel bad for your heater core .

lexforlife

iTrader: (7)

why

i run my heater once a month at full blast like guys up north during the winter should be running their ac as well..

chuckb

I guess I should be doing that, huh?

on a side note-I did have to have the expansion valve replaced in my 95 ES about 2 years ago. It had about 70k miles

lexforlife

iTrader: (7)

chuck

older model lexus had some design flaws within system and expansion valve was one of them .. i used to have a 93 ls400 , it served me well for almost 5 yrs but the ac compressor , rec and dryer and valve went bad at around 70k+ ,miles.. the newer models like our cars and ls have a redesigned system so the only real weak link is evap core but not a common problem

alkattan

My A/C is always running even in cold weather, but yet I had the leak. And the Freon odor is very strong now.