Just wanted to drop a note to the folks here to acknowledge all the horror that you have heard about replacing a leaking AC evaporator core. Local shop wanted over $1,600 to replace it - and for our 2014 with 130k miles, it just didn't seem worth it. I am a fair home mechanic and have been for a few decades. I think the Toyota book shows this to be 13.5 hours and that is just about exactly what it took me in my garage. I used a partial PDF copy of the shop manual - but it stopped after the dashboard removal. I did loosen the main wiring harness that went across the car - and I left the main metal dash bar in place - but loose. I did not remove the steering wheel - but I did disconnect the steering column mounting nuts to disconnect it from the steel dash bar. I did have to remove all of the console assembly. The main thing that I did NOT do was remove the entire HVAC blend and core box. I was able to unscrew the bottom clamshell pan under the evaporator and unclip it - and slide the evaporator and cover out from underneath the HVAC box. That saved having to drain the coolant and disconnect the heater core. I videod the whole thing from two cameras - but the result was not great. I laid out all the parts in order of removal - but still got some parts confused putting it back together - which meant I had to undo and redo a few sections a few times. If you decide to attempt this yourself, just plan plenty of time and take a lot of breaks. It is super-tedious. I can't believe virtually all car manufacturers have not found a better way to design this part of our cars - and/or - to come up with bulletproof heater cores and evaporator cores. This is my first post here - and I will try now to upload a couple of pictures.
It looks like it. We bought this car about a year ago - and fairly quickly last summer it started leaking refrigerant. It had been to no less than 4 shops and nobody could/would identify the issue with the evaporator. I tried UV dye, halogen gas detectors, soapy water - and couldn't find it for the longest time. Finally I started to see UV dye come out the drip hose about a month ago. I wish I had the hundreds of dollars back from the shops where I took it and they charged me to NOT find the problem.
Hey about to do this - i am an able mechanic but I am absolutely dreading it. I have done some nasty jobs but this just seems awful because of how tedious it is. Any additional advice? or perhaps any literature/factory manual PDFs you'd be willing to share?
Well, it has been a few months now and I had to do the same thing for our 2005 Jeep Liberty. It was just about as tedious overall. I did not have a service manual to go by - I just watched all the youtube videos I could find. I did have a PDF that seemed to have the basic order for disassembly of a lot of the dash in it. I will try to attach it here. I went VERY slowly and methodically and filmed the whole process from TWO cameras - One on my head and one that I mounted between the seats. I did refer back to the video several times when I was putting it back together to find out where some things went - or what order I disassembled in. I laid out all the parts/bolts on a large table/bench as I went - I stuck sticky notes on each to remind me what order and what/where they were from. I also numbered and labeled all the electrical connectors so that I wouldn't forget one. I spent one day taking it all apart, and all the next day putting it back together. The one big re-do that I had was after I got the main dash-pad back in; some time later I had forgotten to reinstall the power steering controller box. I had it laying on the bench -but had forgotten to label it. I had to look up the part number to figure out what it was - and then go back to my video to find where it belonged (just above the steering column). I am amazed at how so much of the interior just "snaps together". The cars nowadays almost seem disposable at this point. Good luck. Take a few pics and post your experience back here. I am sure it all helps someone out there.
I've had my gen to almost down to this part when I was changing the dash pieces and changing the color from the tan to gray I was staring right at it and I've had it out in many Corollas and some celicas. The only thing bad about it is the myriad amount of screws and plastic pieces you can't make it go any faster they only come out so fast etc and you're trying not to break things dash pieces and the like. So you're stuck having to move that slow even if you have two people doesn't make it any faster what I usually do on a job like this since I have so many cars I'm not out of a vehicle I usually get it in a place or I'm comfortable to work on it and I get it all torn down one day clean things do whatever I'm going to do then the next morning or next day I reassemble I spend a lot of time farting around cleaning vacuuming no kidding I have a sink full of dishwater that my daughter or my wife or myself is washing pieces and setting them up to drip dry and then they get reinstalled yeah I'm really kind of anal about it even though a few of these are my work vehicles and by looking at the floors in the seats you wouldn't think they're very clean but God forbid you start taking the dash apart you'll be amazed and how everything doesn't have a spec of dust on it almost but yet the floor has 3 inches of sand on the floor because I vacuum rarely but it is painstakingly long and there's no way to really hurry it up
So far, so brutal. I have most of the dash out but I realized that if there is just a way to get the blower box out of the way, there is a GOOD chance to get the evaporator core out with ONLY removing the center council (next time). I am calling it quits for the day but decided to spend a few minutes seeing if the fan box can be removed without taking the whole climate box (with the cores in it) out. So far, does seem possible. I think there is one bolt behind it where its simply not possible to see or reach. That said, you did say you did this job WITHOUT taking the climate box out, right? Was there anything specific about that that I should know? thanks for replying. Pardon the delay i wasn't notified of your reply, started it today and decided to reference this thread again
I did NOT take out the whole HVAC box. I got the dash out - and was able to move the box enough to get the bottom cover of the evaporator off - and then slide the evaporator out. The pics I posted shows how far I went. On the other topic - my Jeep Liberty - That one was just about as difficult - and it is holding well for 2 weeks now too! I am 2 for 2 on evaporator replacements now. I guess I'm the expert.
Yeah they're all that bad now you got to take the whole car apart practically to get the mess out gone are the days of pulling it through and the engine compartment or any of that kind of stuff it's just horrible thank God I've only had to do this once or twice in my whole automotive life so far
I didnt see any photos. I have the fan box out and am about to take the computer out from under the HVAC box as well as the Airbag computer and see if I can drop the bottom. Are there clips on the back? any advice for this specific part would be massive to me right now =) Nice work getting these done. If youre local i'll pay to have you do the next one hahahaa
