rgdavis

( I posted this previously) I bought this 88' last year for my wife. Havent tried to use the Airco or heater untill this year. I did notice that the airflow from the vents inside the car werent putting out much flow even on "10", they would barely blow a piece of toilet paper up thgat I taped to the vent. Also No HEAT and NO COOL !!
Soooooo,,,, I investigated,, Forums, Postings, Books, Friends etc...
jumped thru all the hoops , test the motor, check diverter doors, etc,,etc,,etc,,,,untill I decided to pull the EVAPORATOR housing,,,
after about 5 hours and every trick in the book I knew as a mechanic I found what was wrong,,,,
Here are the pics I promised hope they help someone,,you all have helped me so much in the past !!! THANX !!

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h2...orvette018.jpg
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h2...orvette017.jpg
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h2...orvette016.jpg
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h2...orvette015.jpg
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h2...orvette014.jpg

comp

Steel Breeze

EEEEEEE-Gad man! makes me want to look at mine. That looks like a cloths drier filter...

93*Corvette

How does the Evaporator come out? Is it easy? How long does it take?

rgdavis

It is NOT easy !!! it took me about 4 hours,,, 2 broken knuckles,,, a dictionary of "premium" swear words... but someone had to do it !!!
YUP !!! I went in !!! WOW !! I tried to talk myself out of it for about an hour,,, I even had a friend come over and I had him try to talk me out of it !!

I would rather have an LOWER GI !! or an enema !!

No really,, it was very challenging and you have to remove all the 10 mm bolts and star bolts around the perimeter of the housing,,,, the bottom back and the rear of the brace are the worst. Prepare yourself to have it layed up for a few days ....have all your "special" adapters, swivels and "sneaky tools" ready ...

BEFORE you dig in deep DO THIS !!! just to make sure...

----->>> Remove the blower motor and squirrel cage assembly.
Stick your finger up into the housing and feel if you can touch the fins on the evaporator, if they feel clean like your radiator fins then I would not go anyfurther, IF you cannot feel the sharp fins and it feels smooth like grease or muck then follow me into the housing !!!

UPDATE,,,, I cleaned it with ZEP,Gumout and Air and a small parts brush, took about 2 hours,, ( still on the car) then I took a lightbulb attached to a cord and placed it behind the core,,, I could see light all the way through in all of the fins,,, now its clean !!
Be careful to not bend the fins or poke the core with any sharp objects,, brush the fins "horizontal" with the way they "run"..
not "against the grain" so to speak..,, you will also probably have to replace the large foam gasget for the housing also.

joecaver

wow that is just gross. It looks worse than my radiator looked when I cleaned it. Thanks for posting the pics.

tomtom72

Okay this is from a rookie C4 owner.....dumb Q of the day!:o

How does that stuff get up in there? Is there a way of preventing that from happening?

Thanks!
Tom

AORoads

Man, you gotta patent that light saber in the first pic!!!! Good to see you found what ails the heat/ac. Nothing like a "blanket" of junk, eh?

tom, my understanding is that the Corvette is a vacuum cleaner. With the bottom air ducting into the engine for cooling, it supposedly picks up everything. To my knowledge, I can't recall seeing another car that does this quite as efficiently altho I'm sure someone will tell me about others that do, too.

jimmers

Thats alot of garbage in there!
Is that a lightsaber in the first pic??

zoro

What year is your car?

ewjxn

The Evap ducts air from inside the cabin when in recerc "max" mode or from the vents in front of the wind shield. My guess is this came from inside the cabin since most of the larger stuff would get screened out by the vent screens. Does the auto controll A/C have a recerc function? if so what triggers it? I also suspect a leak in the evap since the filth (for lack of a better word) looks oily. The oil in the system will act like a glue and grab all the dust dirt. This previous owner looks like a mobil dog groomer or a cat collector! Eric

CentralCoaster

Damn wtf, did the previous owner have a bunch of ferile cats living in that car and with the fans on 24/7? Either that or sasquach drove it regularly.

Demonic85

thats disgusting

I checked mine, its all clean.

rgdavis

My car is an 88'. I posted a pic of the rubber drain tube it was packed too,, I love the vacuum cleaner analogy !! ORECK has no room to talk next to this !! and no its not a light saber,,it's a flourecent cable tie, I just wanted to use it for contrast.. Im laffin,,while Im licking my shredded knuckles,,,
The refgerant system seems to be holding pressure I dont think it is leaking but I will double check before I re-assemble. Maybe your correct,,, maybe these are "hairballs " !!!! time for some "kitty-malt" in the oil !!!

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h2...orvette020.jpg
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h2...orvette022.jpg



Thanks for everyones help I very much appreciate it and all of the previous posts I use them frequently when troubleshooting this is a great resource I am greatful to all for the knowledge you have shared here.

R. Davis

HG

Holy Sh**, the other owner must hae been riding around with 10 cats and two sheep dogs for all of that dirt

Jet-Jock

Mine wasn't quite that bad but when I changed out the evaporator it looked pretty nasty in there as well.

bogus

what a ****ing mess.

good catch, tho!!!

jhammons01

Nice informative post. Something to get the mind thinking in the right direction.

Great White North

Good post!!!ltHAT IS GROSS!!!

Eric the Ricer

i might have to go check mine!