Suburban and Silverado Evaporator Replacement Without Removing the Entire Dash
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 25 авг 2024
- Suburban and Silverado Evaporator Replacement Without Removing the Entire Dash! There's some pretty good hacks out there for cutting a whole in the HVAC box and replacing the evap that way, but we love our Suburban and didn't want to cut a hole in the side of the HVAC air box. So we figured out a way to slide the HVAC box out of the truck without fully removing the dash, the steering column or disassembling the dash off the support bar. We'll go through step by step and show you everything we figured out so you can do it yourslef and save a ton of time without hacking up your ninth-gen Suburban or Silverado. We've got tons of tips and tricks, so be sure to watch the whole video on Suburban and Silverado Evaporator Replacement Without Removing the Entire Dash!
Thanks for watching!
#subrbanevaporator #silveradoevaporator #evaporator
🖥️✅ Follow Motors and Mischief by Subscribing to the Channel today!
→ / @motorsandmischief
🔔 TURN ON NOTIFICATIONS🔔
→ Project f-250 playlist: bit.ly/2PFGVqq
→ Dodge dart 1970: bit.ly/3uaIJGV
→ Cars and trucks reviews:bit.ly/3djPMWZ
→Rental cars reviews: bit.ly/3unIMiT
Music in this video: Fire & Bones by Biddy Sullivan. Malicious Mischief exclusively uses Epidemic Sound for all of our videos. They handle all of the copyright and legal use so we can just focus on giving you guys great music. Check them out: →www.epidemicso...
- Motors and Mischief
Thanks for watching! Post your comments and questions down below and we'll be sure to answer them!
Hi did you already find out the leak, had same problem same truck, it was the rear evaporator leaking!!!
Thanks for sharing. For people watching this. Before attempting to remove the dash (which is quite some work), put dye in the system and check inside the cabin vents for "lint-like" debris. Using a UV Light, it should shine bright fluorescent colors. Kinda like small debris from a microfiber towel. It won't be damped (wet). This test has never failed me. Shine the light directly into the vents and also on the carpet at the exact area where the lower vents blow the air. You'll see what I'm talking about. If you don't see orange, bluish, yellowish color debris then your Evap Core is good. Good Luck you all. And thanks for this video. It's right on spot. Well done. 👌
Great tip right here
Another tip- there’s a drain hose under the accumulator hidden behind the inner fender wall. Run UV dye through the system, and remove that fender wall, and hit the hose with UV light. That’s how I found out mine was toast. Accumulator, the pan, headers and the hose were all covered in dye, however my vents did not show any dye in it.
@@caydens4395 Exactly! All this banter without the most important tips. And, they better make sure they get everything glued back together right, otherwise it's going to leak condensation like a sieve all over the floor of the cab.
Doing the exact same job to my ‘04 Suburban LT 1500…your explanation and step by step was super easy to follow and I appreciated your comment regarding not wanting to cut open the heater box. Like you and your family, we bought the car new and was not keen on turning it into some Frankenstein vehicle. I struggled like mad trying to uncouple the heater hoses under the hood. The quick connectors were not quick at all…ended up cutting them off with a dremel since I was keen on replacing both t-connections anyway! While in here, I’m replacing the evaporator, heater core, and all four HVAC actuators. A total HVAC system makeover. Thanks again!
That's awesome to hear, so glad it helped! Based on some issues ours is currently having, we'd recommend renewing your grounds while you're in there. We chased an HVAC actuator problem for MONTHS before we tracked down a bad ground at the instrument cluster. Then yesterday the truck started trying to lock itself over and over 100 times a minute so that will be a fun fix to track down - we think its also ground related. So, TLDR, check your grounds while you're doing all that other great work. Thanks for the comment!
Great Video, you save me. I'm an automotive technician A/C you VIDEO is helping me thank you.
Great instructional video! Your extra work made my work so much easier. Watched it twice to make sure I didn't miss a step.
That’s so great to hear, thanks so much for commenting!
As someone doing this job in a shop, cutting the box simply is not an option to everyone saying to just cut it. Thank you for such a great video, very detailed and helpful. Not a hard job just a careful one.
Thank you so much for the kind comment, glad its helping the guys in the shops. I used to work for Mercedes-Benz and had a similar trick for E320 heater cores. Man I loved banging out a 21 hour job in 8 hours and still doing it right. Keep up the good work!
emensly useful video 🎉❤ i have a silverado... i am planning an upfit for ac... knowing how easy dash assembly unbolts from firewall will make life unfathombly easier to fabricate and install the a/c evap in the molded spot where gm designed but was not optioned. ty ty ty! 😅
Hey buddy, you are a STUD ! You restore faith in a pair of hands with no fear !
Haha thank you! Appreciate you!
I work on cars for a living. 20+ years now. Use compressed air and soapy water mix to find your leak. Hook up your gauges and with an air compressor bow gun, Pump about 100 psi through the low side. You won't hurt anything as when the system is static, both sides are equal pressure. The system can handle upwards of 300 psi.
Next take a spray bottle with some soapy water mix, and soak down all your connections and components.
I promise you, you will find your leak in no time.
A couple of tips: disconnect your gauges once you induce the air and spray the high and low side fittings. Very common leak, even pros miss because they have their gauges hooked up there (duh). The high side especially, GM used this goofy rubber ball instead of a schrader valve iirc.
Another easily missed leak is the AC compressor shaft seal. This one goes behind the clutch drive and pulley. Can't see it unless those components are removed. If you soaked everything down with soapy water, and still can't find it, try pulling the clutch on the compressor and seeing if the shaft seal is the culprit.
My final tip is once you discover the leak, make sure to purge all the air out. Replace the accumulator, and perform a thorough vacuum of the system. Technically speaking, oxygen in the system can have harmful effects, so you only want to have it introduced into the system for as long as necessary.
Good luck ✌🏽
This is an awesome check list for finding the leak, thank you so much for putting it together! We did find the leak, it was in the main line to the rear A/C. At the time, we didn't have time to tackle a complete rear a/c line replace and funds for it were a little short so we converted the truck to front A/C only (without damaging anything so it can be converted back as soon as we have time to replace that rear line). Its been on a couple 3000 mile road trips since then, one with 6 people and we're happy to report the A/C is blowing cold and keeping the whole truck nice and cool. Takes a little longer without the rear A/C but it gets there and even the people in the 3rd row were comfortable. Thank you again tho, great tips!
Amazing job! My 2002 Yukon 203k miles started blowing warm air last May. July added coolant (was told it had a leak and needed new evaporator) that lasted til mid December. New Mechanic said minor leak in front and major leak in back. Didn’t recommend fixing it. Honestly he didn’t say specifically if it was a condenser and or an evaporator issue. The four windows are inoperable so driving in a very warm climate without air isn’t a viable solution. I hate to let it go. I envy your ability to fix it yourself.
Thank you Donna! Aww that sucks, those Yukon's are awesome, we had a 2002 before the Suburban and we loved it. For what its worth, modifying the lines to remove the rear air really wasn't hard and the truck has made 2 cross country road trips now on just the front A/C and its been totally fine even in the very back seats. If the major leak in the back is the rear A/C or A/C lines, bypassing them and disabling the rear A/C is an easy option. So if the minor leak in the front is just a hose, you may be able to save your rig by replacing the two hoses under the hood that tap have the t-fittings to for the rear air with hoses that are designed for no rear air. You have to modify one of them just a bit to fit around a radiator support that isn't there on the no-rear-A/C model, but it took 5 minutes. Hopefully you can save your Yukon. Thanks for commenting!
That looked like so much work mate, nice job!
I’ve got leaking in my passenger floor and have cleaned the drain line to no avail. Next step thinking is to check the bottom of the box assembly for leaks. Nothing is visible from the floorboard. Do you think the bottom section could be removed without all of these steps or would just be less of a hassle to pull the dash? Great vid and thanks for the content!
I appreciate all the work you put into this video! You have encouraged me to try it, if necessary, on my 2000 Suburban. The A/C was working fine until the compressor failed and I replaced the compressor, receiver dryer, orifice tube, etc. Like yours, mine seemed to hold a vacuum fine, but the freon leaks out in a week or two. Can you tell me approximately where the hole was in the rear air hose?
Its really not as hard as the photos make it look. For filming purposes, I actually had to do it 4 times. It was *really* easy by the 4th time. The leak was in the rear AC hoses, under the protective sleeve, which is what made it so hard to find. The sleeve hid the telltale oil and also moved the gas down the hose where it came out at the end of the sleeve, right near 3 other connections. If you find yours is the hoses, there are aftermarket hoses now that are soft instead of hard, and only about $600 instead of the $2000 the factory wants. Thanks for the question and good luck on your 'burb!
I'm torn on what to do. I hate rattles and I'm sure the dash will rattle if it's removed. Same time i don't want to cut and do this half ass
If it helps, mine was in and out 4 times for this video and it has no rattles. I hate rattles too, but Chevy did a good job on this and I was careful putting it back together. It’s been quite a while since this video and no rattles, even tho the truck sees plenty of time on bad fire roads. Good luck!
Great video takes me back to the back breaking pain in my back that was my 99 Silverado when i had to do my heater core i never wanted to do it again so i just replaced my evap core cabin filter and blower before I put it back in lol
Haha good call! Yeah, we swear by, and at, our Chevy's. Thanks for the comment!
Great video! Holy smokes! I hope my evap coil never leaks on my '01 8.1 liter Silverado. . Hopefully the coil is as pretty as your old one. Can you imagine taking this to a shop and letting them do it? It would be a crap shoot on having it done right with everything working, not to mention busted clips and plastic. I'm sure a few bolts would be left out too. I would attempt this method over the hack. I love my truck too much. I would take my time, use baggies marking all the bolt locations and take a lot of pictures. I felt bad when you discovered it was not leaking though, but you took it in stride. 👍👍
Thanks for the kind comment! Yeah, when I was a line tech at Mercedes-Benz, I was working across from another tech, Alex, who was pulling his first heater core on a convertible. I was doing some engine work and I heard him jerk something and one of the plastic clips from *his* car hit me in the back of the head! He'd jerked the box so hard it had not only broken the clip but come out with such force that it bounced off the back of the seat, flew across the hood of his car, two benches and then hit me. That car was not the same after the repair. I always worry I'll get that tech when I take mine in, which is why I usually don't. But then again, I was always super, super careful on customer cars so I'm sure there are tech's that work the same as I did. But there are Alex's too lol.
Bro thank you so much for this amazingly informative video I was going thru my ac and had to replace an evaporator cooler under the dash not the heater core but it's on the same box your video helped me get it apart and back together again had issues with the crash bar but it's a tight spot anyhow thank you
Oh man that’s awesome! Thanks so much for commenting!
My 03 2500 has a similar issue, can’t keep a charge, but it doesn’t have the rear stuff of course but all that’s left is that evap core. Had a bad compressor leaky condenser. Lots of dye in it, replaced everything.I can’t find anything. Supposed be able to see dye coming out of the drain on the box if that evap leaks.Nothing I can see with a black light. My sniffer thingy picks up something coming out the vent passenger side but it’s very slight and kind of think it’s a red herring. It didn’t look like the nightmare I thought it’d be, bad but doable. Thanks for the detailed video!
It’s really not terrible, considering how much has to come apart. Good luck, hope you find the leak!
Wow! I dread the day I might have to do that!!!
Another suggestion: go to a junkyard say you need an evaporator and remove the dash from a Silverado. Now you know how to remove the dash in Silverado.
Haha this is a good tip!
Maaan…fuq that! Lol That’s waaaay too much work just to have AC! I’ll just stay HOT 🥵 and miserable!!! Lol 😂 Salute to you good Sir! You’re a true warrior!! 💯
lol thank you! What's really bad is we screwed it up going back in the first time and had to do it twice more for the video. We did get a lot faster on the 3rd time. Thanks for the comment!
@@MotorsandMischief OMG!!!! I THINK I WOULD HAVE JUST GIVEN UP ON LIFE ALL TOGETHER!!! LOL
That's what I have been doing for the the last 8 years on my 2003 Silverado 2500HD. I only use my pickup for the 2 weeks of the year that the snow is over 4" which is then too deep for the car.
"this is Joel from the future..." Lol subscribed...
Haha thanks so much!
I looked through a lot of comments to see if anyone asked the same question but how exactly did you bypass the rear system? I'd love to be able to do that if it's a quick thing just to test for leaks.
Its not a simple bypass unfortunately. If you look down on the passenger side in the engine compartment, near the frame rail, you'll see a metal AC hose that has a y-connection. You have to replace that hose with the non-rear-air version of the same hose that doesn't have the Y in it. Sadly, the radiator core is different between the two models (why Chevy?) so you have to carefully bend the new hose so it will follow the path of the old hose. It wasn't that difficult but probably too much cost and trouble just for trouble shooting, unless you're a shop in which case having one in your test tools would be a simple way to isolate the rear and see if it will pull a vacuum. Thanks for the question!
Having the benefit of watching you tear out a dash, and seeing others simply cut some plastic. I vote for the simple way.
Cutting an access in the heater box is an entirely acceptable way to make the repair, but it’s not the factory recommended method. For those who don’t want to cut a hole in the heater box, this is the way. Thank you for the comment.
I was watching hoovies garage, the car wizard where they work on everything from Ferraris to dodges and the owner asked each mechanic one by one if they would do a dash removal reinstall for the condenser and he asked all five mechanics and they said no and they’re really good mechanics there. The boss said that he done 70 Silverado dash removals and he’ll do one more. But it wasn’t for the money.
That's crazy cause what the video doesn't show is we screwed it up going back together and ended up having to pull the dash TWICE more to get everything working right and by the 3rd time it was going really smoothly. We'd do it again now that we know how it goes in and out.
I hate to ask but what was screwed up?
@@MotorsandMischief it might be crazy; Hoovies is a you tube channel and I have seen a hack for silverados to get to the condenser through the glove box by cutting some stuff in the dash.
We managed to pinch a wire between the crash bar and the steering column support. We know, we know, rookie mistake. We got some warning lights on the dash that wouldn't go away upon reassembly the first time... and the second time... and the third time. We finally gave up, bought an annual subscription to Mitchell on Demand (we LOVE those guys) and traced the wires based on the lights that were on and what else wasn't functioning (dome lights), figured out which wire had to be the issue and then just traced it until we found it damaged from where it got pinched on the first re-install. This blew the main 50 amp fuse for the dash, which is what caused all our problems. It was dumb. We for sure knew better. But every once in a while we shoot ourselves in the foot even tho we know better.
Nice work. Did you find the leak and where was it?
I did! It was in one of the hoses for the rear AC, so bypassing it solved the problem. Turns out there's a protective sleeve over the hoses, and somehow mine started leaking inside that protective sleeve, which made it really hard to pinpoint because there was no visual evidence. Finally found it when the sniffer went off near the end of the sleeve (which is near other hard lines in the system) and finally got it to go off reliably by sticking it in the end of the sleeve.
Finally I found the right video.
Thanks so much for the comment, glad the video helped!
I'm doing this job now before you do anything take out the screws on the sides of the center console 3 on each side between seat and center console while power is still connected to the seats
You did a great job. The only comment I have that in hindsight I thing if you dropped the steering column down (not out just down) you would have had an easier time. Other than that perfect. On the ac you have been poorly served by the shops you have used. The best way to check for that unobvious leak is with nitrogen. It is not that expensive to get set up to do that. Heck you could have even used compressed air given thst your system was open so long.
It might not have come through in the editing cause we weren't sure how this was all going to go as we were filming, but we did end up dropping the steering column down. You are correct, it is waaaay easier if you do that and you have to drop the 4 bolts to get the dash loose regardless. And yeah we haven't found a great local shop but to be fair to them, if we'd have taken it back, they would have been happy to jump into it, but by that point we were $700 down for a fix that didn't work and reluctant to trust anyone to mess with it anymore. Thanks for the comments!
It looked dropped down in the video.
Well done! In retrospect, what would you have done to analyze that it was the hoses versus the evaporator core? I have already taken my truck to shop, twice, and they did service the front and rear A/C systems. They did not replace evap core. Loses freon in about three days. Before I have them take the entire front apart, I would like to make sure it needs to be done. Also, do you know of anywhere you can actually buy a dash cover?
The rear hoses have a cover over them, so you can't use the traditional tools like looking for oil marks, dirt collection and dye. It was all there, just under the cover (stupid cover). To be fair, our detector went off over the outlet to the cover but I didn't put two and two together at the time. Seems obvious in hindsight but, well, hindsight is like that. If its not setting off the detector by sticking the detector tube into the evap drain hose, its not leaking from the evaporator. If they've ruled out everything else, its probably those hoses. You can cut back the cover and inspect. Or honestly, just stick the detector's nozzle in the end of the cover on the hoses, it should go off if that's where the leak is. Ours did. And eBay is our goto for anything we need for the Suburban. Thanks for the question!
Thanks a bunch for the video it helped a lot
So glad it helped, thanks for letting us know!
Hi Jake, Great Video Buddy.....Maybe the leak is in the lines that run to the rear Evaporator...Did you check those...???
Good catch! That’s exactly where they turned out to be. The leak was under the rubber sleeve the factory put on there, making it really difficult to find. But we bypassed the rear AC and it’s been working flawlessly since. Thanks for the idea, you were spot on!
I commend you that takes patience !
Hey would like to diagnose my a/c
Great fix with nice details, thanks
Great detailed video thanks
Glad it was helpful!
Love burbans!
Front-to-rear A/C lines have a plastic coating…leaks are inside the plastic coating and almost impossible to detect even with dye…almost positive it’s your issue. Near/around rear wheel arch is the likely location.
Thanks for info! Yeah we used the factory non-rear-a/c lines to temporarily disable the rear a/c and the system has been awesome now since this video. We're going to install new lines next summer, probably use one of the aftermarket kits but not sure yet and we'll do a video about that. Saved our (new) rear a/c connector hoses so we can just swap them back in with the new rear a/c lines. But that's great info about the plastic coating cause dang it was hard to find the leak. Thanks for commenting!
Excellent job . iI wish it was a chevy Equinox
My AC was not blowing hard and there wasn’t a problem with the blower motor. The problem was that the evaporator in the dash was clogged with dirt and the solution is to take the dash apart as you see this gentleman doing. There’s another way however; use a hot knife to make a square access port, get in there with a brush, vacuum and compressed air using a dental mirror and lights. When you’re done take your piece you cut out and gorilla glue it in. This may also be a way to see if it’s leaking.
Awesome video Great work !
Thank you very much! And thanks for commenting!
I've uses nitrogen to pressurize the system and find leaks with soapy water before it works great on small leaks like yours
Thats a great idea! We ended up finding the leak in the rear A/C lines, but it was under a protective cover that the rear lines were wrapped in, so was incredibly difficult to pinpoint. In hindsight, pretty obvious, but then hindsight is like that. We'll keep your trick in mind for future problems tho, that's much better than throwing parts at it!
My dash is all cracked, it still blows my mind why a vehicle manufacturer would design it that way.
Oddly enough ours hasn't cracked and we're quite surprised by that. Totally agree manufacturers would make a lot of fans by building a dash that didn't crack in the sun.
Thank you very much for that video
You are welcome! Thanks so much for taking the time to comment!
All that and the evap coil is fine!? 🤯
Yeah that was disappointing. But we found the leak in the lines going to the rear A/C, so we bypassed the rear A/C system for now and everything works great. We'll have a future video where we replace those hoses.
I’m in a similar boat. Keeps blowing out high pressure relief valve. New compressor, high and low switches, dryer & pigtail, orifice tube, condenser and new control module, each time still blows out pop off valve in compressor. Evaporator is last🤷🏻♂️ it pulls a vaccum and takes a charge easy. But builds high pressure.
Jeez, we feel you. Ours is blowing ice cold after finding the leak in the rear a/c lines, but now the blend air door motor has failed and the Suburban defaults to full heat, which is great fun now that spring is here. Quick video on replacing the blend air door coming soon lol! Thanks for you comment and good luck, hope your evap replacement is more productive than ours was!
@@MotorsandMischief Found the problem. Bad fan clutch. Most likely the only problem in the beginning. Instead of spending a year and $1200, I could have spent $70 and been done in 20 minutes. 😡 The fan clutch seemed to have tension, but I replaced it just to be sure and when it was off, I could spin it freely and bearing noise. Today was the first day I have had ac in a year! 🙂
Weren't the evaporators inside the engine bay at some time ago
There were, although we're not sure exactly when that was on the GM stuff. Our 86 F-250 has it in the engine compartment and it takes about 20 minutes to change it. That sure would have been nice on this lol. Thanks for the comment!
what a great video.
Nice job!!
I did a 2005 GMC Yukon xl..pain in the ass
It’s a heck of a job, that’s for sure. Thanks for commenting!
How did you determine it was one of the lines going to the rear evap leaking ?
Candidly, we fought that stupid system for 2 years trying to figure it out. At this point everything except the rear lines and the rear evaporator had been replaced so we knew it had to be in the rear air system so we just decided to remove it (in such a way that we could put it back when we wanted to). While disconnecting the rear air hoses we pushed the rubber protective cover back and saw oil staining on one of the hoses going to the rear. Which made sense in hindsight. The sniffer would go off in that area but we couldn’t ever find the leak because it was hidden by the rubber cover. They now make aftermarket kits to replace that hose group for the rear air and they are only like $600 (vs the $2500 replacements cost when we shot the video). We’ll be installing a set of those at some point and we’ll do a video on reactivating the rear air. Thanks for the question!
UV light to see the dye will indicate the leak ?
We tried this, fairly extensively. We did NOT see the telltale green staining around the evap drain tube like you would with a bad evap, but we had tried almost everything else and it seemed like lots of rigs were having issues with theirs without setting off the leak detector. So we went for it. As you can see it looked almost brand new. The leak (and the dye) were eventually discovered inside a rubber protective boot around one of the rear A/C lines where the boot was hiding all the evidence. Thanks for the comment!
Is it possible to remove the top dash cover, and then remove the ductwork ? Or does the whole dash system have to come out?
If you’re just trying to get to the ductwork, absolutely you can without removing the whole dash. We played around with whether it was easier to remove/install depending on what order we did the ductwork. Great question!
Cutting box makesmore sense at this point. Speaking from a fabricators point of view of course
We would love to fabricate a door for future access... but honestly despite how it looks in the video, its really not that bad of a job. And it gives you the opportunity to clean and tighten everything as you put it back together.
Nice job!!! But the way the sits are in myas well do the hack!!🤣🤣🤣🤣
Our seats? Yeah that’s 20 years and 4 kids growing up in it and all learning to drive in it. We’ve actually got new foam and new leather to cover the seats and make them brand new but this truck has always been kind of an odd duck in that it’s equipped with things Chevy insists it shouldn’t have, and they’re always confused when they see the factory options it has. I’m this case, we can’t find the right seat color so we’re working with a couple different manufacturers and I get the right color seat leather. We’ll be installing them in a future video. But right now… yeah they look pretty bad lol
great vido,i think i need to eplace htr core,hop3 fully his will help me,i cant remov3 dash,i hqve a roller box top and bottom,lots of tools s im an 3ex mechnic,but figh5ing cancer now, i was wondering if som wY TO replce, i dont care if i hve to cut or rmov some6hing
Sorry to hear about your cancer, that sucks. On the truck, if you don't care about cutting the heater box, there is a hack that allows you to cut into the box by just removing the glovebox. If you google "suburban heater box repair hack" it should pop right up. Very best of luck to you.
@@MotorsandMischief thank, ill look,
Is there much difference in doing this on a 2002 and a 1997? I have a K2500 suburban I need to do the same thing to that is a 1997, not really looking forward to it.
Its very different unfortunately. The parts break for a lot of the interior parts is 1999, which tells us 98 and earlier is going to be different. Sorry we couldn't help.
Be Happy! Your evap replacement on your 1997 is worlds easier !
Can you do mine next 😂, im trying to figure out how to do it in a parking garage and not get any neighbors may at my apartments
Ok hear us out on this: we actually had to remove and reinstall the dash FOUR TIMES for this video and by the time we were doing it the last time, we'd gotten really good at it and wouldn't hesitate to do it in a parking lot if we had to do it again. Meaning you can totally do it. We put all the specifics in the video so technically you could totally do this in a parking space without making the neighbors mad. Just put all the parts in the back of the 'Burb and bag and tag your bolts as you go. Good luck and thanks for commenting!
Yeah, fuk that! Im going to cut the box and JB weld when complete!
It’s for sure a lot of work, this tutorial is for people who don’t want to cut the box, but cutting the box is a 100% effective way of solving the problem. We would suggest silicone or 3M Window Weld instead of JB Weld; your rig will probably last to needing another evaporator eventually and the JB Weld will be a pistol to get off. If only Chevy had put an access door for us! Thanks for the comment!
"The right stuff". Made by Permatex would work very well for that. It is black and comes in a caulking gun tube. It is so strong that it welded my interior drivers door on my Buick Lucerne. It is also easy to cut with a utility knife, when you need to remove the part again. They made a video of them sealing a hole in the engine block of a water cooled boat engine. Those engines only get up to 400 degrees they said.
Check lines next to the clamps on frame rail next to passenger rear tire.....
It turned out to be the lines to the rear AC but it was leaking at the front under the rubber housing that GM puts in to protect from abrasion. Thanks for the comment!
And I thought the space shuttle was complicated.
Obviously, they never intended for this to be serviced, or replaced.
Nah this is normal for a line tech. You should see what Mercedes has you do to change out the evaporators in the V12 S-Class cars that have rear air! Engineers hate technicians, we all have our theories as to why, but this is the result lol. Thanks for the comment!
Always
Do the job right 💯 or you're not a real mechanic
Interesting insight. If you're referring to bypassing the rear A/C, we feel that if you have optional equipment that has failed, and you can convert the vehicle to a factory-correct configuration without permanently altering the vehicle, then its a valid repair. For us, and a lot of people who perhaps don't have the time or the money to replace the rear A/C hoses, this is an excellent alternative. We've driven this vehicle for over a year now with this repair, and it's worked flawlessly, in the 110 degree summers and the coldest winters so we're content with the conversion. Someday, when we have the time and the money for the new hoses, we'll convert the rig back to rear A/C. But for now it works great and it saved us a lot of money. If you're referring to removing the dash in its entirety just to get to the heater box when its not necessary, well, we just disagree. And for what its worth, Joel is an ASE Certified Master Technician with over 10 years as a full time auto tech. Appreciate you commenting!
Very good u tube sorry not problem
So did the lower plastic piece that the glove box is connected to have to be removed or could it have stayed in place?
It needs to be removed, but the bolts holding the plastic to the metal frame do not have to be removed because the frame will go with that lower section and f dash
The bolt behind the engine gives me claustrophobia, and I’m sitting here in my living room watching this on my phone…
I like the hack better 1.500 to a job on and 04 to 06 is to much I did the hack ac get ice cold no water leaks
Hack away! Thanks for commenting!
I thought the AC evaporator was hidden inside the box why do you all call it heart core where is the AC evaporator located at Chevy Tahoe 2000
The evaporator and the heater core are both inside the box. If you watch the video, you'll see we pull out two different cores. They look similar, but one is obviously hooked up to the coolant hoses and the other is connected to the a/c system. We show both in detail in the video. Thanks for the question!
After doing all of this I would find it very difficult to be cordial if somebody bitched that the air was too cold or not cold enough.
Gets to 38:00 *
FUCK!
Pulls out air chisle to make sure old evap core IS leaking*
Lol much. Actually felt bad replacing the perfectly good evaporator, like I was accusing the Suburban of something it didn’t do. Thanks for the comment, that was a good laugh!
@@MotorsandMischief in all seriousness I do appreciate the time you took in making this video for us. I'm doing an evap core on an 03 silverado right now and the information I have has me taking apart WAY more than what's actually needed. I'm grateful that there are people like you out there who I can reference before I just follow the original information I have... I'm always thinking " there has to be an easier way " and it's nice to get some validation for that ahead of time.
( cutting the hvac box isn't an option for me either, as it's not my vehicle I can't justify doing that even if it functioned properly afterwards )
So, big thank you!
Good call on the block off kit for the rear. Alot of people wind up doing the same because those lines/ hoses can be so damn expensive and the rear ac isn't as important to most people anyway.
Damn!
Does this guy not sound like Bob from bobs burger?
mmmm, burgers...
Why you need to drop the steering. Column
The crash bar ties into the column and to get the crash bar off you have to unbolt the column. Thanks for the question!
I dont know about all this when u risk breaking dash and alot more obstacles on 20+ year old vehicle that clearly shows wear u could have took a obsilating tool cut it out replace it and use a plastic welder to put it back look brand new and be done in hour instead of 100 bolts and 100 plugs and just way to much but what do i know better u than me 👍
No no, the dash and HVAC and wiring and all is solid, its really not a risk to replace it. I had it in and out 4 times for this video and there's been zero ill effects and nothing broke while I was working on it. Don't let that concern you. Going to all that extra work rather than just cutting a hole in the box IS totally correct tho. If you don't mind cutting a hole and just plastic welding or gluing it back up, that way is much faster and there's lots of videos on that method. But I didn't want to cut my box, hence this method. Ideally, GM would have put an access door in the airbox and this job could have taken an hour. Thanks for the comment!
That's how you pinch wires
If you're not careful for sure. But we didn't pinch any wires on this job so we can attest it can be done. Thanks for your comment tho.
This is still alot of work, did save some time tho..
Well we screwed it up the first 2 times and had to do it 3 times total and we can say by the third time we were REALLY fast lol, but thanks for the comment!
@@MotorsandMischief i have 2 trucks to do.. Might as well change the heater core and evaporator core in both while having it tore this far apart.. Sure was hoping there was a easier way but it doesn't look like it.. Lol thanks for the video! Definitely shows some of the steps that would be hard to figure out on your own.
Jesus what a disaster
Just gorilla glue all that junk that broke
Why in God’s name didn’t they just add an access panel to the Evaporator coil from the factory ????? What a Service NIGHTMARE
Right?! It would have been so easy! We feel like there’s a way to combine this method and the hack method to create your own, OEM-style access door. We’ll post another video if we figure it out. Thanks for commenting!
Drive it into the lake and let Allstate pay for it. Or park it on my street and someone will total it for you.
Haha no we love this truck, its a 2500 with the 8.1 and we'll keep fixing it until there's no more parts left in the world to fix it with. Its all good now, we temporarily disabled the rear a/c using factory non-rear-a/c lines and its blowing nice and cold. Thanks for commenting!
Looks like the whole dash did have to be removed.
Yeah I guess you're correct, however the other videos all show you having to remove the sub-structure and the steering column, which is a lot more work. We should probably have titled it "Evaporator Replacement Without Removing Steering Column, Driver's Side Bracing and A Bunch of Wiring On the Driver's Side" but that doesn't roll off the tongue as well. Thanks for the comment!
GM should be ashamed of their HVAC system on these trucks. Totally ridiculous on replacing a heater core, evap core and actuators. The frickin dashboard should be able to be pulled back as one unit. Absolutely horrible design. Early 2000,s Fords so so much easier. Dashboard pulls out as one unit. I saw a video that in order to replace the heater core on these trucks you have to disconnect the AC system. Unreal that GM would build a HVAC system this bad.
Dude you're way too calm if you took all that apart just to find out that the AC condenser was good I would lose it! I believe they have a patch material for them hoses that run in the rear like you said you've had a truck a long time you should have fixed it the right way and not bypass the rear AC what about your passengers that's the way the truck was that's the way you should fix it fix the rear hoses! You talk about not cutting the dash doing things right and then you don't do things right fix the rear hoses!
Well we did the yelling and cursing off camera and got it out of our system lol. On the rear hose, yes, we want to fix it properly but we didn't hack anything. We won't hack this truck. We bought new, no-rear-AC-hoses and converted the truck. It can easily be converted back as we saved the new hoses that have the rear-ac configuration. We took the truck on a 2500 mile road trip right after this video and it performed flawlessly. AC worked awesome for 6 people. People sitting in the very back reported that it didn't cool off as quickly as when it had rear AC but it did cool off and kept them very comfortable. The hoses to convert it to front AC only were only $100, and the repair hose that is now available on Amazon is $400. Most people report that when they go to remove the rear evaporator from the rear hose, they are corroded together and you end up damaging the rear evaporator and having to replace that as well, for another $100-ish. So if you're on a budget, bypassing the rear AC is a totally acceptable way to not hack up the system and save yourself $400 while not doing any permanent changes to the truck. We've got an upcoming video on converting it back to rear AC and installing the new rear hose. Thanks for commenting!!
What good does getting emotional about a difficult job do? I happen to like this guy’s demeanor. He sounds like Bob on Bob’s Burgers; whatever happens or whatever is in front of him he maintains pretty much the same tone…
If you watched the video, he explains all this. Are you a grouchy old man??
Thats to much smh 🤦🏾
Modern man needs a vehicle with air conditioning more than he needs a vehicle.
Are you crazy, why are you destroying this vehicle. A real technician will replace it in 30min wow what a disaster.
We’re not sure what you’re talking about, the factory book time on this job is 13.4 hours and Joel is an ASE Certified Master tech, so he does know what he’s doing. And we’re super confused what you’re talking about destroying the vehicle, its currently parked outside, runs great and the air blows ice cold. But thanks for commenting, we guess.