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The Official "My Evaporator Leaked/Leaks" Roll Call Thread

Mr. Panama upstairs said he used a 'four seasons' unit and it worked out well down in Central America. Sounds good to me.
 
I think this is mostly 95+ZJ's and 97+ XJ's that got the cheap, low bid, evaps. Those are the only ones I'm hearing about. Was talking to a local A/C specialty shop guy and he passed on the years from their experiences. Apparently they get a lot of Jeep work from two of the local dealers. You'd think that if they were going to use cheap crap they would at least make it easy to replace, on second thought they used a cheap plastic piece, pin of some kind, on the TJ's to operate the flapper door in the heater box, that 89CENT piece costs $600 to replace...dash has to come out same as the XJ...which is why I have two broken ones on our TJ's that only allow the defrosters to run on low fan, otherwise the flapper slams shut and it comes out the floor.
 
I'm having the honor of replacing mine right now on my 87. My AC looses charge about every month and the dealership wanted $1100 to get it fixed. I've got the old evaporator ripped out now. It hasn't been that big a pain, but I've had more fun experiences. Also doing the heater core while everything is pulled apart.
 
Wasn't there a dealer recall for this issue? I seem to recall a ways back someone talking about it. My 97 was purchased used with a leaky evaporator. I haven't asked the dealer about a recall yet, been a bit too busy...
 
There are hardly ever recalls for items that aren't safety-related. Rarely, a company will do the right thing and fix the defective part for free.

I've never heard of it in this case.

PS: My charge has been holding for a month.
 
The evaporator doesn't leak on my '94. Just got the system re-charged this past weekend. Doesn't blow quite as cold as I'd like, but it works. Sure was nice not to have it converted over from R12. That was an $800 nightmare with my '92 Accord.
 
I put the UV leak detector dye in my 98 XJ to find the leak. I couldn't see a leak anywhere, but it was still leaking. So it must be the evaporator.

I used this stuff called Maxi-Seal from Interdynamics that I got at Advance Auto Parts (i work there.) Prior to the leak sealer, the system would lose all charge after only 2 weeks. It's been a month since I added that stuff and the system's still full.
 
Just got back from finding out my 98 XJ's a/c evaporator is leaking and they won't attempt to refill it. (obviously due to environmental reasons...)

I've found evaporators online from $75-$400. Looked at replacing it myself and I've come to the conclusion that I have enough Jeep projects right now to keep me busy, so.....

I'm going to toss Advance Auto Parts $40 for an a/c metal/rubber seal kit and a "do-it-yourself" R-134a recharge kit. If it works, I'm styling...if not, I'll try to make it through the summer and attempt the fix during the winter.

I'll post here again and let you know how the "quick fix" method works for me....
 
CJHVN said:
I'm going to toss Advance Auto Parts $40 for an a/c metal/rubber seal kit and a "do-it-yourself" R-134a recharge kit. If it works, I'm styling...if not, I'll try to make it through the summer and attempt the fix during the winter.

I'll post here again and let you know how the "quick fix" method works for me....
Click to expand...

Please do let me know, and also, please let me know what brand you use.

I need to find/fix/recharge my converted R134a A/C on my '92 XJ.
It was converted 3 years ago, but now blows hot air.
I checked hoses but cannot find anything obvious.
I suspect a slow leak, as I have not used it over the winter, and I live in a dry climate (11% humidity, on average).
Does using it over the winter help? Opinions?

My mechanic wants to charge $80 for debugging and recharging. Yikes!
I was at the parts store today, and saw several different brands of DIY cans that claim to do similar things.
If I can't do it myself, I can't afford to do it, which would suck, since it's very hot here currently (average temp ~96*).
My wife and I are melting.

1. Have others done this DIY route?
2. If so, then what brands have people used, and what experiences, good/bad?

Thanks for all your help.
 
Please do let me know, and also, please let me know what brand you use.
Click to expand...

I've used the Interdynamics products, mainly because they're the brand we sell at Advance. I've retrofitted 3 cars and recharged many, many more (recharged a guy's tahoe in the parking lot today :laugh3: ) If you buy a regular kit with or without the gauge, you'll get three, 15oz cans with 2oz of oil and leak sealer. That is enough for most vehicles. I'd recommend getting the kit with the gauge because it really comes in handy, esp. if you have more than one car.

Put that kit in, and check it after a week, if you lost any 134a, get the maxi-seal kit that I talked about afew posts ago.

Check again after a week, if your system is STILL leaking, you might want to use leak detector and find/fix it.

Keep in mind:
Average price of a 12-13oz can of R134a in 2004: $5-6

Average price of the same amount of the same stuff in 2005: $9-11

Its not going down. From what I hear DuPont got in some trouble and is to stop (?) manufacturing r134a. Just a rumor.
 
So how do you do the conversion ? If you evacuate the system you need to draw a vacum on it to remove ALL the stuff in there including the R12 oil that they used and that takes about 8 hour of steady vacum on the system. At that point you can then refill the system with R134a, now if you have R134 already in it and have a leak the R134 that leaks out is going to be replaced with outside air, then when you try to refill it or 'top it off' the system will not take anymore R134. Just curious because I know I need a new evap and I know mine leaks because I can see the yellow dye coming out of the drain on the firewall.
 
RichP said:
So how do you do the conversion ? If you evacuate the system you need to draw a vacum on it to remove ALL the stuff in there including the R12 oil that they used and that takes about 8 hour of steady vacum on the system. At that point you can then refill the system with R134a, now if you have R134 already in it and have a leak the R134 that leaks out is going to be replaced with outside air, then when you try to refill it or 'top it off' the system will not take anymore R134. Just curious because I know I need a new evap and I know mine leaks because I can see the yellow dye coming out of the drain on the firewall.
Click to expand...

Every system I ever converted was completely empty. Most of the stuff says it is compatible with r12 oils, (which is why they use ester oil instead of PAG.)

If you DO have r12 left, i'd get it sucked out. Only because the ozone depletion. I've seen people fill their system with r134a when they had quite a bit of r12 in the system. I don't recommend it, but they said it blew cold air.

If 134a leaks out, outside air won't replace it because it is a pressurized system. You just lose pressure. Once the pressure in the system gets down to atmospheric pressure, the leak will stop, because its equalized. But it'll feel like you have the heat on and the compressor won't cycle.

A little tip: if the system is still low and won't take any more r134a, press the filler hose coupling toward the fitting, sometimes the filler hose won't press the schrader valve in the low side port far enough to open it. Had that happen to me yesterday. Even after I put 3/4 of a can in.
 
Last edited:
if any one has pictures of replacing the evap, that would be great, i have a 2000.
What is the tool used to seperate the lines just outside the firewall. There are some funky connectors there. can i get the tool at autozone/kragen/pepboys?
 
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