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Cleaning evaporator

Started by 1980sdga, 17 July 2011, 11:07 PM

1980sdga

I've been doing this AC work. (Hope to be finished by winter so I can get to work on the heat in time for next summer  ;D) And not being able to pull the evaporator for cleaning has been bugging me. If everything is 100% and you have a dirty evaporator then all is for naught...

As I was poking around I figured out that the evaporator can be reached for cleaning pretty easily through here:



Mine's a LHD and I can reach through the rubber part between the blower assembly and the evaporator plenum and reach the top of the evaporator. You can't see anything but you can feel the fins.

I used this:



Hooked up to the washer pump and scrubbed/flushed the top of the evaporator pretty well. The water and most of the resulting sludge went down the drain tubes. I'll probably clean it with the brush again and use some commercial coil cleaner on it. Then double check the drain tubes!

Anyway, I'm very happy that this can be done on my car without taking the whole thing apart!

KenM

Top marks for thinking Jon, you're right about it being a cause of poor performance. Good thing you can get at it too, I haven't allowed myself the pleasure of diving into the innards of a 116's dash but the evap can often

pretty hard to get to without major surgery. If you can find a way to spray some chemical onto it so much the better, no doubt you can buy a good commercial grade coil cleaner at a refrig parts wholesaler, an alkiline cleaner

rather than acidic is what you want, better at breaking down organic nastiness.

Cheers,

Big_Richard

i cleaned mine in a tub of boiling water & dishwasher powder.

the water turned black like tar and had to be changed numerous times.

also the amount of crap that accumulates behind the ac coil is concerning. I had inches of leaves, sand and mulch in there.

jjb-w116-hu

Quote from: 1980sdga on 17 July 2011, 11:07 PM
As I was poking around I figured out that the evaporator can be reached for cleaning pretty easily through here:

Anyway, I'm very happy that this can be done on my car without taking the whole thing apart!

where is "here" though, is that in behind the glovebox insides? i cant tell ;0

1980sdga

#4
Sorry!

It's behind the glove box liner and the rubber boot is between the center AC box and the blower assembly. My car has ACC but it looks as if RHD cars with ACC would be the same because both sides of the center section are the same, even the evaporator line openings.  I have a big rubber plug behind my instruments on the opposite side where I think the blower would go and in the photo you can see the 2 plugs where I believe the refrigerant lines would exit on a RHD car.

I got a bore scope and shot a video of it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbwmHSu1wXM

I don't think it's terrible but there is room for improvement!

KenM

Geez Jon it's like doing keyhole surgery, is that all the access you've got? I would definately hit it with a coil cleaner, get the type that expands and foams up because it will push out the dirt, that way you can see how much

crap is buried in the middle of the coil. It's certainly done some work judging by the rusted coil ends, at the least a coil cleaner will bring it up nice and bright too.


1980sdga

#6
It's not that bad Ken!  Once I wiggle my arm in there there's a lot of room for my hand but there is no way to see into the evaporator box. Well... maybe not a lot of room but I could fit a bigger brush in there.  I don't think I could fit an aerosol can in there so I would have to use something with a hose to spray the coil cleaner.  I'm going to flush it with plenty of water and scrub it as best as I can to loosen everything up before I use the coil cleaner.

I think I have an aerosol can of cleaner around.


1980sdga

Here's the rig I made up:



Just a power supply, a momentary switch in the end of a hose, washer pump, etc.  I can get the brush in position and push the switch to run the water. It's working pretty well!  I've also been running air through the brush rig in between flushings to blow crap out.

I know that with home AC coil cleaning can make a BIG difference in cooling so this shouldn't hurt.