They should fire all the engineers that designed this system where the entire dash has to be removed to get to the stupid evaporator. You should be able to remove the glove compartment and stuff under it and slide out the evaporator.
Pretty good vid. Slow it down to .25 and it's a lot better. Yep. Unfortunately, that's how it's done. Friday, a customer is bringing me a 2007, and it will be my 11th one between last year and this year and I have an '07 Lexus (very similar) coming in next week. Every year there is at least one (last year it was the Honda CR-V's) vehicle that has (it's time for) ac problems. This year is the GMC/Chevy trucks and the Camry. Couple of years a go it was the Cherokees. Lots of fun with these Camry's. I wanted to mention that, it's not necessary, but if you're doing this solo, you may want to unbolt and take out the blower unit and/or defroster plenum (some years) separate from the evaporator unit, because it's a little easier having to hold the safety/crash bar out of the way. Also, be sure to turn the steering wheel in the straight forward position before moving/lowering it. I remember the older Camry was a 30-45 minute job, with it sliding out from under the glovebox. I guess some slick, young engineer got a corner office out of this redesign! BTW: Be careful doing this on a hybrid. 245V DC will kill you.
Very late comment, but there's an esily accesed kill switch on the battery for safety, just so others know. Do that and wait a bit and the system should be safe.
I got this done at firestone for $1350. My AC is working perfectly fine now. Toyota initially diagnosed that my evaporator have leak. They quoted $3000.
I'm having the same problem Toyota want to charge me $4,900 to fix it. I have a corolla 2013. Can I get more info about what type repair you do to your car Toyota told me they have to replace whole AC & Heater Assembly thanks?
fernando rosario Toyota told me that they will have to “replace evaporator core”. Then I went to firestone and told them to replace evaporator core. They did it for $1350 and my AC started working fine again. (I also went to that cheap $300 fix garage to get that fixed initially but they could not fix it. Evaporator core replacement must be done through trust worthy companies only in my opinion)
done mine last weekend, it is by no means a small job and took me 2 days to do it, if you don't know what you're doing or have experience with air con don't try to do it yourself so many overlooked simple things could bite you in the ass
Like I tell customers, it's not something you want to rush on. Nothing worse than getting everything back together only to find out that-- the wipers don't work, or the car won't start. Tear EVERYTHING back down to find that one little plug you forgot to plug in, or (in older cars) that one little vacuum line that you didn't reconnect. know how I know? Yep, that's right...
i have 2009 Camry and AC had a leak somewhere, at first it was the High and Low pressure valves near the engine, so those got replaced and AC recharged. After a couple weeks, the cold air is again blowing from right (passenger vents) and warm air blowing from driver vents. My mechanic sucked out freon from the system and said only a small portion of freon was sucked out compared to how much he put in (550). The are no detectable leaks with UV light around the AC lines in the engine bay. He said its either the compressor that leaks or the evaporator. Is there a way to know for sure if its the evaporator?
@@planchik go to harbor freight and purchase a freon leak detector. Start the car with ac running and place the detector in front of the middle vents. If the evaporator is leaking, it will detect the freon blowing out of the vents.
@@SpiderGearMedia you mean like those little canisters? what about the oil ratio that supposed to go in the system? or can i just do one canister to test it out?
This video was extremely painful and agonizing to watch, especially the part when your trying to pull the reinforcement bar out just to remove the heater core box. On the 1996 Toyota Corrolla they made it so much more easier, they put a side panel in there that you removed under the dash board and the heater core pipes right there you just simply remove the two clips on the pipes and pull the core right out of the box. It was like a 20 minute job but for this easily 8 hours😖😩
Holly crap that’s a lot of work for the evap. I did this on my Nissan 300, years ago much easier that this. Any info on if it’s possible to change the expansion valve without taking out the evap and see if that fixes my problem? I put gauges on the ac system and showing a neg press or vacuum, so restriction= first thought is expansion valve?
Hey there. A little late to the party here. Would you happen to have the footage from your gopro still? My center vents are not blowing any(cold nor hot) air, but the side vents are. Im waiting on a toyota manual and want to see if that says anything, since I have the time to work on it now. I would like to use your footage in case I'd need to do the same thing.
I don't have the original footage anymore. Just start taking apart the center console and work your way into the dash. Get a freon leak detector at harbor freight to make sure it's leaking. It took about 7 or 8 hours to take apart. Record it yourself and take pics of all electric plugs so you know where they go when you put it back together. I didn't use a Toyota manual just cameras, painter's tape and a sharpie for every step.
WTF, you guys used a breaker bar to break the nuts that are factory welded , because they need to be stationary, instead of just using a T-40 torx head on a 1/4” drive wrench to remove the bolt from the outside??… interesting choice.
Is this the procedure i need to go through to get at the ID code box??? 2007 Camry was left outside for 5 months... battery is dead and dealer says must replace code box and other ECU parts! Any support you can give me would be appreciated!
I have my 2009 Camry, when ac is on heat comes out of the right vents and rear vent. opposite when set to heat. The controls blink when the car first turns on. I am thinking blend door. I took the glove box not and trim, i can see it move then the duel zone is moved by temp. any ideas what blend door to start with
Not sure if you fixed your problem but if you're ac light is flashing check the fuse in the box under the hood on the driver side. I have found that to be a problem with Toyota's
My son insert a pen through the centre vent panel, I try to take out but pen went beneath somewhere, consequently, now Car is just blowing cold air and heater stopped working, I just want to confirm to take out pen I need pull out this all system. Looking forward for your reply thanks
I have a 2010 camry and a pack rat chewed the 5 wires that run the ac unit but the "break" is way back on the right side. The setup is about the same as this. Is it possible to remove just the right side "blower unit" without removing the dash? Even if I can just drop it a bit to reach in there would help. If so, will I need to disconnect anything under the hood? Thanks.
If it's anything to do with the white housing in this video and you need to move it over at all, you will have to remove the dash cover. All the screws are accessible from inside the car except for the one that holds the middle of the support beam. That small bolt is accessed under the the grating of the windshield wipers.
@@mikethedesertrat The blower and filter housing does separate, but you have remove the entire system to access the screws against the firewall to pull them apart. The support beam is also in the way which has to be removed. If you can't see the wires with you eyes, you will have to start pulling it apart till you can. Took about 7hrs to take apart and twice as long to put it back together.
@@SpiderGearMedia Thanks. I can see the wires but the break is just out of easy finger reach. Any suggestions on splicing wire to a hard-to-reach location. Any tools or splicing clips you know about that work well?
Hello , does blower core comes separately from evaporator core or it's one piece. I have 2011 Toyota highlander, and evaporator core looks similar . I need to replace bled door actuator, and it is located between evaporator and blower , very hard place to access. Just wondering if it possible to remove blower side of core to get access to actuator? Thanks if there any information?
The blower motor is separate from the evaporator. However, the plastic housings are attached and I'm not sure if you can remove one without the other. It may have screws on the firewall side requiring you to remove the whole thing to separate the two.
@@brucesn6414 It was my first time and it took a couple of days to complete the job. I did not find it difficult, but very time consuming. I used painters tape with a sharpie to mark all of the wires and took pictures of all the plugs before disconnect. I also recorded the takedown in case I needed to go back and see where something went. The white plastic housing all screws together once its removed. I see you mentioned the blend door actuator. If yours is blowing cold out of one side and not the other, it could be the evaporator.
@@SpiderGearMedia I have one zone climate control, same for driver and passenger. So I find this blend door actuator( on passanger side) that can't move the door from cold to hot , for now I secured manually for warm, and it's blowing warm. But part itself won't come out, because it's location between blower plastic housing and evaporator plastics. On Highlander it's one part , that's changes temperature and mode where to blow air .
@@SpiderGearMedia Strange, that Band-Aid/insulin like smell peculiar to PAG oil is very very easy to pick up. Especially since the PAG oil actually dissolves in the R-134A refrigerant, much like what happens with the substance that gives natural gas its smell.
@@teravolt6113 yes refrigerant has a faint smell similar to band aids. This harbor freight leak detector worked great. www.harborfreight.com/electronic-freon-and-halogen-leak-detector-92514.html
@@SpiderGearMedia By the way i recently had the chance to smell the contents of a brand new PAG 46 bottle and, to me, it smells like Latex gloves/fresh paint. That's probably the Band Aid smell. Yes, it's a very faint smell but it's there.
hello brother, i need to see ur full video at normal speed because the mechanic is charging me 300 dllrs and i dont have the money. i uill appreciate that my man
@@gtxtx3 Okay, 300 is too cheap, and 12,000 is way too high. I'm an ASE Toyota certified ASM, I can tell you that this job would cost between 1500 to 3000 at a dealership.
All across the net they say that, apart from reduced or no cooling, a leaking evaporator on a R-134A system manifests itself by a smell not so different from the one of an old Band-Aid (some even say new-car like smell) that comes out of the vents whenever you turn the blower on. It's the PAG oil actually, not the refrigerant. Don't know that smell personally, i also have an opened receiver dryer in my possession but i can't find a way to describe the smell, probably not enough PAG oil inside it to produce a definite smell, even though you can see the PAG dregs inside it glow green (it was dyed) when you pass an UV light over it in the dark... also, the drain tube's hole might actually be glowing when exposed to UV if the leaked oil is dyed, another good check for evaporator's health on an old vehicle. I could buy a PAG oil bottle but it would just end up lying unused since i can't do AC repairs and nobody would use an opened bottle.
They should fire all the engineers that designed this system where the entire dash has to be removed to get to the stupid evaporator. You should be able to remove the glove compartment and stuff under it and slide out the evaporator.
The evaporator of my camry has a leak, and I see that it is crazy to repair it yourself. Good job
Thanks shalex, yes it's a lot of work but totally worth it.
Pretty good vid. Slow it down to .25 and it's a lot better. Yep. Unfortunately, that's how it's done. Friday, a customer is bringing me a 2007, and it will be my 11th one between last year and this year and I have an '07 Lexus (very similar) coming in next week. Every year there is at least one (last year it was the Honda CR-V's) vehicle that has (it's time for) ac problems. This year is the GMC/Chevy trucks and the Camry. Couple of years a go it was the Cherokees. Lots of fun with these Camry's.
I wanted to mention that, it's not necessary, but if you're doing this solo, you may want to unbolt and take out the blower unit and/or defroster plenum (some years) separate from the evaporator unit, because it's a little easier having to hold the safety/crash bar out of the way. Also, be sure to turn the steering wheel in the straight forward position before moving/lowering it.
I remember the older Camry was a 30-45 minute job, with it sliding out from under the glovebox. I guess some slick, young engineer got a corner office out of this redesign!
BTW: Be careful doing this on a hybrid. 245V DC will kill you.
Very late comment, but there's an esily accesed kill switch on the battery for safety, just so others know. Do that and wait a bit and the system should be safe.
I got this done at firestone for $1350. My AC is working perfectly fine now.
Toyota initially diagnosed that my evaporator have leak. They quoted $3000.
I'm having the same problem Toyota want to charge me $4,900 to fix it. I have a corolla 2013. Can I get more info about what type repair you do to your car Toyota told me they have to replace whole AC & Heater Assembly thanks?
fernando rosario Toyota told me that they will have to “replace evaporator core”. Then I went to firestone and told them to replace evaporator core. They did it for $1350 and my AC started working fine again. (I also went to that cheap $300 fix garage to get that fixed initially but they could not fix it. Evaporator core replacement must be done through trust worthy companies only in my opinion)
done mine last weekend, it is by no means a small job and took me 2 days to do it, if you don't know what you're doing or have experience with air con don't try to do it yourself so many overlooked simple things could bite you in the ass
Like I tell customers, it's not something you want to rush on. Nothing worse than getting everything back together only to find out that-- the wipers don't work, or the car won't start. Tear EVERYTHING back down to find that one little plug you forgot to plug in, or (in older cars) that one little vacuum line that you didn't reconnect. know how I know? Yep, that's right...
i have 2009 Camry and AC had a leak somewhere, at first it was the High and Low pressure valves near the engine, so those got replaced and AC recharged. After a couple weeks, the cold air is again blowing from right (passenger vents) and warm air blowing from driver vents. My mechanic sucked out freon from the system and said only a small portion of freon was sucked out compared to how much he put in (550). The are no detectable leaks with UV light around the AC lines in the engine bay. He said its either the compressor that leaks or the evaporator. Is there a way to know for sure if its the evaporator?
@@planchik go to harbor freight and purchase a freon leak detector. Start the car with ac running and place the detector in front of the middle vents. If the evaporator is leaking, it will detect the freon blowing out of the vents.
@@SpiderGearMedia ah crap, my mechanic vacuumed all the freon out of the system.
@@planchik pick some up at the auto parts store and add it in.
@@SpiderGearMedia you mean like those little canisters? what about the oil ratio that supposed to go in the system? or can i just do one canister to test it out?
nice of toyota to make this job so easy.
Plus gotta flush the coolant and take off the cowl to get the expansive valve
This video was extremely painful and agonizing to watch, especially the part when your trying to pull the reinforcement bar out just to remove the heater core box.
On the 1996 Toyota Corrolla they made it so much more easier, they put a side panel in there that you removed under the dash board and the heater core pipes right there you just simply remove the two clips on the pipes and pull the core right out of the box. It was like a 20 minute job but for this easily 8 hours😖😩
Great video.... It gives a good heads up on what to expect. And I thought the lexus 480 was a beast.
Slow it down with explanation get a thumbs up
Holly crap that’s a lot of work for the evap. I did this on my Nissan 300, years ago much easier that this. Any info on if it’s possible to change the expansion valve without taking out the evap and see if that fixes my problem? I put gauges on the ac system and showing a neg press or vacuum, so restriction= first thought is expansion valve?
Hey there. A little late to the party here. Would you happen to have the footage from your gopro still? My center vents are not blowing any(cold nor hot) air, but the side vents are. Im waiting on a toyota manual and want to see if that says anything, since I have the time to work on it now. I would like to use your footage in case I'd need to do the same thing.
I don't have the original footage anymore. Just start taking apart the center console and work your way into the dash. Get a freon leak detector at harbor freight to make sure it's leaking. It took about 7 or 8 hours to take apart. Record it yourself and take pics of all electric plugs so you know where they go when you put it back together. I didn't use a Toyota manual just cameras, painter's tape and a sharpie for every step.
WTF, you guys used a breaker bar to break the nuts that are factory welded , because they need to be stationary, instead of just using a T-40 torx head on a 1/4” drive wrench to remove the bolt from the outside??… interesting choice.
What the hell how can an Ac evaporator be hidden there Mama Mia can't believe this
Is this the procedure i need to go through to get at the ID code box??? 2007 Camry was left outside for 5 months... battery is dead and dealer says must replace code box and other ECU parts! Any support you can give me would be appreciated!
I have my 2009 Camry, when ac is on heat comes out of the right vents and rear vent. opposite when set to heat. The controls blink when the car first turns on. I am thinking blend door. I took the glove box not and trim, i can see it move then the duel zone is moved by temp. any ideas what blend door to start with
Not sure if you fixed your problem but if you're ac light is flashing check the fuse in the box under the hood on the driver side. I have found that to be a problem with Toyota's
Did take two 2 days to disassemble? Or 2 days to complete the job.
It took two days to complete the job.
Did you have to recharge your Air condition system?
Yes
My son insert a pen through the centre vent panel, I try to take out but pen went beneath somewhere, consequently, now Car is just blowing cold air and heater stopped working, I just want to confirm to take out pen I need pull out this all system. Looking forward for your reply thanks
ਹੀਟਰ ਵਿੱਚੋਂ ਕੋਈ rattling ਦੀ ਅਵਾਜ ਤਾਂ ਨਹੀਂ ਔਂਦੀ?
cesiumion ਨਹੀ ਜੀ rattling ਦੀ ਕੋਈ sound ਨੀ ਆਉਦੀ, ਬੱਸ ਨੋਰਮਲ ਅਵਾਜ ਹੀ ਆਦੀ,
I have a 2010 camry and a pack rat chewed the 5 wires that run the ac unit but the "break" is way back on the right side. The setup is about the same as this. Is it possible to remove just the right side "blower unit" without removing the dash? Even if I can just drop it a bit to reach in there would help. If so, will I need to disconnect anything under the hood? Thanks.
If it's anything to do with the white housing in this video and you need to move it over at all, you will have to remove the dash cover. All the screws are accessible from inside the car except for the one that holds the middle of the support beam. That small bolt is accessed under the the grating of the windshield wipers.
So the blower part (including fan,, filter,, etc.) on the right does not disconnect from the rest of the "white housing" part on the left?
@@mikethedesertrat The blower and filter housing does separate, but you have remove the entire system to access the screws against the firewall to pull them apart. The support beam is also in the way which has to be removed. If you can't see the wires with you eyes, you will have to start pulling it apart till you can. Took about 7hrs to take apart and twice as long to put it back together.
@@SpiderGearMedia Thanks. I can see the wires but the break is just out of easy finger reach. Any suggestions on splicing wire to a hard-to-reach location. Any tools or splicing clips you know about that work well?
@@mikethedesertrat I don't know of anything... good luck
I’m about to change the evaporator with my dad(a mechanic) & the part cost $170.
do you remember how long it took to do, i got one i need to change out myself and I need to make sure I charge them enough, thanks.
I didn't keep track, I took my time with it over the course of two days.
Two days
how you disconnect the ac line by front i can not saw it.
Hello , does blower core comes separately from evaporator core or it's one piece. I have 2011 Toyota highlander, and evaporator core looks similar . I need to replace bled door actuator, and it is located between evaporator and blower , very hard place to access. Just wondering if it possible to remove blower side of core to get access to actuator? Thanks if there any information?
The blower motor is separate from the evaporator. However, the plastic housings are attached and I'm not sure if you can remove one without the other. It may have screws on the firewall side requiring you to remove the whole thing to separate the two.
@@SpiderGearMedia is it too complicated to remove dash ? What was car engineers thinking, when placing this mechanical part , so hard to reach.
@@brucesn6414 It was my first time and it took a couple of days to complete the job. I did not find it difficult, but very time consuming. I used painters tape with a sharpie to mark all of the wires and took pictures of all the plugs before disconnect. I also recorded the takedown in case I needed to go back and see where something went. The white plastic housing all screws together once its removed. I see you mentioned the blend door actuator. If yours is blowing cold out of one side and not the other, it could be the evaporator.
@@SpiderGearMedia I have one zone climate control, same for driver and passenger. So I find this blend door actuator( on passanger side) that can't move the door from cold to hot , for now I secured manually for warm, and it's blowing warm. But part itself won't come out, because it's location between blower plastic housing and evaporator plastics. On Highlander it's one part , that's changes temperature and mode where to blow air .
Please allow the full video without speed I need it, please. 💚
Well, I guess I will be trading in my Camry. Toyota Dealer wants to charge me $3000.00 to replace it.
3000 over monthly payments on a new car? sounds kind of silly
@alexiscastro5055 It was. I ended up keeping the car
Where is the office tube on this car? Thanks
The expansion valve is mounted on the firewall where the lines pass through to the evaporator.
@@SpiderGearMedia thank you
and I was looking for a way to clean it lol 😂
Do you perhaps remember any strange smell coming from the vents?
No smell from the vents, it was a slow leak.
@@SpiderGearMedia Strange, that Band-Aid/insulin like smell peculiar to PAG oil is very very easy to pick up. Especially since the PAG oil actually dissolves in the R-134A refrigerant, much like what happens with the substance that gives natural gas its smell.
@@teravolt6113 yes refrigerant has a faint smell similar to band aids. This harbor freight leak detector worked great. www.harborfreight.com/electronic-freon-and-halogen-leak-detector-92514.html
@@SpiderGearMedia By the way i recently had the chance to smell the contents of a brand new PAG 46 bottle and, to me, it smells like Latex gloves/fresh paint. That's probably the Band Aid smell. Yes, it's a very faint smell but it's there.
@@teravolt6113 I have the smell from my vents. It is such a bad leak now though that it drains fully after a couple days.
DAMN Engineers
i have 2007 Camry code: B1423, anyone know how to fix this issue
What, you are unable to talk in the video!
Thank you!
Did the ECU unit are behind the glove box? Can be possible to not remove all the dashboard to take it off?
Thanks
The evaporator core is in the center of the dash. The dashboard has to be removed.
No way. Trade it in....
Thats messed up
I have to do this tomorrow 🙃
good job but why you speed up the video it really not good like that its hard to follow your steps
You have to know what you doing .
sorry for my bad english
Thanks for the video
hello brother, i need to see ur full video at normal speed because the mechanic is charging me 300 dllrs and i dont have the money. i uill appreciate that my man
300 is dirt cheap, they charge 12,000+ here and that seems fair for the size of the job, i spent over 300 just in parts alone
@@gtxtx3 Okay, 300 is too cheap, and 12,000 is way too high. I'm an ASE Toyota certified ASM, I can tell you that this job would cost between 1500 to 3000 at a dealership.
Mind4Lease correct. Toyota told me 3000 for 2010 Camry. Pep boys told me 1200.
i really hope the you help me if you have the normal speed video i need it so bad to fix my car
slow down video to .25 and mute
What was your bad evaporator core symptoms?
All across the net they say that, apart from reduced or no cooling, a leaking evaporator on a R-134A system manifests itself by a smell not so different from the one of an old Band-Aid (some even say new-car like smell) that comes out of the vents whenever you turn the blower on. It's the PAG oil actually, not the refrigerant. Don't know that smell personally, i also have an opened receiver dryer in my possession but i can't find a way to describe the smell, probably not enough PAG oil inside it to produce a definite smell, even though you can see the PAG dregs inside it glow green (it was dyed) when you pass an UV light over it in the dark... also, the drain tube's hole might actually be glowing when exposed to UV if the leaked oil is dyed, another good check for evaporator's health on an old vehicle. I could buy a PAG oil bottle but it would just end up lying unused since i can't do AC repairs and nobody would use an opened bottle.
@@teravolt6113 o
here its 800.00 to 1100.00 for this job...
12,000+ where i am
Trade er in....
What in the hell!!!!!
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is why Camry’s are absolute junk. No thanks. I’d rather drive these American made Camry’s off a cliff instead
Yeah my 07 dash is melting, heat smells like mold when it rains, valve cover gasket leaking burning oil slow..I'm about to sell or trade