DIY Evaporator Cleaning

Thanks for this, still blows my mind we don't have a cabin filter!

 

i did this today.
thanks for write up.

 

Well done! Definitely added to my to do list, thanks!

 

well that explains where all that $hit is coming from.... added to the "to do list."
thanks OP

 

Thank you for this thread OP. Helpful info !

 

can u REPLACE the evaporator this way too?..!!

 

I figured the cabin filter would catch all of this????

 

It would, but Toyota did not put any.

 

I am lucky my 2010 has one....but good to know so I always keep it in and clean!

 

The big issue is not the lack of filter, but the way intake duct is designed in the First Gen. It's wide open straight down the slots under the windshield - all crap sucked in end up at the evap core.

May years ago I had Zastava 1100 (Yugoslavian flavor of Fiat 127) and it did not have cabin air filter but the cabin air intake was through the expansion box where any road crap settled at the bottom. It was big enough to collect a year worth of leaves and it was very easy to clean. That little drain under the windshield in 1st gen Tacoma is nothing compared to my old Zastava.

 

Just did mine, it was a waste of time as it was pretty clean. Lol.

I am chasing a pretty unique issue. I can only use the face/feet setting for the air, no matter what I turn the dial to.

 

broken or disengaged control cable

 

I did mine a couple of weeks ago and it wasn't that bad either. Still glad I did it. It wasn't that tough of a job, and it's nice to know it's clean. I cleaned the fan to and is seems to run quieter.

 

Just did mine today. It seemed like it was gonna be a "Have to do it" really soon, because there would be wet spot under my truck a few hours after shutdown. Made me worry about a clog in the drain.

Took some time, and a toothbrush to agitate some of the stubborn dirt, but it worked great! Ice cold air, and the condensate is draining out in a stream now!

Thank you OP!

 

Haha jokes on you! I don’t have A/C!

Oh wait……..

 

Great. Another thing I need to do.

 

gonna git-er-done today

 

Great write up! Like everyone else, this is now on my list!

 

Early this week, I took my 2004 Tacoma to town & noticed half way there that no air was blowing out of the vents. None of the speeds worked till I hit high & then this horrible noise came out from under the dash, right then, I knew the mice filled up the fan with grass.

After getting home & pulling the fan out, it was tightly packed with grass. After cleaning the fan of all the grass, I plugged it back in to see if there were any speeds but high & there weren't; when the control hit high, it snapped on & sliced into my thumb. Not a fun day @ that point, so I quit for the day to clean up the blood & go find the resistor that makes the speeds possible.
Amazon had the resistor as a direct replacement for $15.00, so it got ordered & shut down working.

The next day the resistor came in & I figured out how to replace it, but it wouldn't come out of the ductwork due to more grass from the mice. After removing more grass from the duct, the resistor came out, but the rest of the duct & the face of the evaporator was covered in grass, insulation, what looked like felt sealing off the air flow. It is a wonder that it worked @ all, but a thermometer the stays stuck in the vent, shows that it gets to 40 degrees F in the summer. Looking further found me this thread which helped me get the dash torn apart & the ductwork to remove the crap covering the evaporator coil. The vacuum cleaner got a lot, but the rest is stuck & it started raining, so all work had to stop till the rain stops.

Thanks for posting the info on how to do all this, or I would be without HVAC for my trip next week. More info after the rain stops!

11/07/21
The rain is gone & the sun is out warming up a 45 degree morning. Since the vacuum could only pull out half the mice mess, I rigged up a few small attachments to help remove the mess, but it wouldn't get it all. The air hose attachment would blow loose the rest in the box so the vacuum could get it.
I had no coil cleaner, so I used a water based enzyme cleaner to wash the rest of the gunk away. Satisfied with the coil, everything was reassembled & ther rest of the bottle of cleaner went thru the resistor hole & washed any junk out of the pan & left it to drain.

After reassembling everything the system was checked & there is plenty of air movement now & very little crap blew out of the vents so I got it all. Again, thanks for the pictures & writeup on how to do this. The repair bill was $15.00 & a bunch of owner supplied labor.

Cheers!

 

This was a great write up. Very helpful and easy to follow.
Once I got it apart it looked as if something had spent some time living in my ac. With the fan was covered with dirt and fibers. Got it cleaned out with compressed air, vac and flushed it out.

Now it I think I need to go a bit further next time and clean the heater core. Looking for any suggestions on how to get the heater core cleaned out also.