How to Clean Automotive AC Evaporator Core / Coil - Tutorial with Tips
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 ก.ค. 2023
- Another Automotive DIY. Using a chemical to clean the air conditioning evaporator core / coil. This kit is from Toyota, Kia makes a similar kit as well as BG. You can roll into your local dealership or find online, see these links.
***DO NOT Spray this into your dash vents!!! It will not reach the evaporator. You could run the blower motor and spray into the cabin filter area, but don't. You run the risk of this wet grime going through your dash air ducting and staying there. The cleaner can also mess up dash finishes and carpet, plus get through the vents and into your eyes. Do not follow so many bad online instructionals, just use as directed. That's exactly how I've showed it here.
May as well replace the cabin air filter at the same time. I like OEM parts but for cabin filters there is nothing wrong with a proper fitting cabin filter, it may even be superior to the factory filter.
Toyota AC refresh kit on Amazon, amzn.to/3NYwTMA amzn.to/44vLULh
From Toyota, autoparts.toyota.com/products...
Activated charcoal Cabin filters, amzn.to/3NthliE -nice and thick, activated charcoal. I would say better than OEM.
Part number in 00289-ACRKT (Air Con Refresh Kit)
alternate Toyota equivalent 00036-00008
#automotive #diy #evaporator - ยานยนต์และพาหนะ
Another really informative video. Your videos need to be shared. The average joe wouldn’t bat an eye on what techs do on the job and just pay for the service not knowing what they’ve done is completely useless. These videos are really appreciated.
Most all mechanic work, guys just go through the motions to get the job done. Right or wrong it gets done, then sometimes it has to be redone. 😆 thanks for watching!
Easy maintenance, cost effective. Thank you 🎉
Great video. Thanks for showing us what you did .
thanks Mikey for the positive feedback!
Good tip on the Cowling Thanks,,,
this was informative, thank you
Good advice. Thank you
Good tutorial. Thanks.
One point to make . Pinch off the drain hose & let the foam work for about 10 minutes before draining out . Only dirty water comes out , not foam .
Thanks for this. Probably can’t hurt. The air boxes are mostly air and likely liquid tight. Part of me thinks get the cleaner out asap before it has a chance to leak out another spot.
@@GIZZMOTORSPORTS The ( Car Care Nut ) recommends waiting 5 to 10 minutes . He is a Toyota Certified Master Mechanic . So that's where I learned that .
Why not just leave the can attached? And let the cleaner work it’s magic.
@MrRedHotChiliMan Makes sense to me. It seemed the foam liquefied way too fast. It needs at least 5-10 minutes to get a good clean.
You can plug the line to keep the cleaner in but it’ll still condense and only cover maybe the bottom half inch of the evaporator. I have some hvac boxes out of the cars, I’ll cut a window in one and see what goes on during cleaning.
Wow i didn't know you can do this to clean the core i have a 2009 honda civic exl
Thanks!
Thanks Mate for your Great video! When spraying to the intake, did you put external circulation, turn on AC and set the temperature to the lowest?
That’s the way to do it. Thanks for reminding everyone reading this!
Thanks for the video. I believe these kits are available from
Subaru as well.. possibly for less money. Don’t quote me on that as I heard it through the grapevine.
If you get foam back, you drained it to early. Should wait 10 -15 min before draining. Should get water only
so plug the drain hole and wait 10 minutes? Cant hurt, I see what you're saying. From the designs I've seen the maybe 350ml-400ml would be in the tube and air box, in a liquid state it might only over the bottom half inch of the evaporator.
Check out the car care nut. He has a good video on it. Also he’s a Toyota master mechanic and done many of these treatments
Yes . I watched ( car care nut ) & he says pinch off hose for 5 / 10 minutes before you let it drain .
Have you tried the Lubegard Kool-It product as a comparison? Love the RA magnets on the lift!
I want to try lubegard cond cleaner but nobody local to me sells it. Napa up here only carries a few of their products. Gotta love RA, I only wish they will one day start selling performance parts! lol
Hello friend 👌🙏😂 now I have learned how to make evaporator moon shine 😂 you are awesome sir 🫡 🫵 🫶 your video 🎉🎉🎉❤
I put little water in outside vents and full speed the fans when its 25 c
what fluid to use?
Hello.
Please my compressor has stopped working and am about changing the compressor, but some friends said i should change the evaporator which am not convenient with because i don't want the technician to damage other things in my vehicle, can i use this and cleans off dirt from the evaporator and still enjoy the cooling system for a very long time ?
Vehicle is Lincoln mkx 2016 model.
Writing you from Nigeria.
Thanks
You need to clean off the internal dirt and debris from the evaporator. The way in the video cleans the external surface of the evaporator only. Highly recommended to change the a/c radiator and clean the a/c circle very well that includes the evaporator. Otherwise, the new compressor may get damaged again very soon.
Abit confused...I thought when you spray the cleaner into the hole from the top you have the fan running on max without AC on. So cold air max fan while spraying? No heat?
Thanks. If you have the fan on next to nothing will drain out, you’re just moving the dirt into your ducting. Or worse you have the cleaner blow out your vents that will damage your interior. Exactly why I did this video, too much bad info online.
Buen video, mi carro tiene el evaporador tapado y estoy buscando tutorias de como limpiarlo, pues mi carro es japones y no tiene filtros, a demás me dicen que hay que Desmontar la caja del evaporador y romperla pues es sellada.
Me gustó la opción de por la manguera del desagüe, pero creo en este video el señor lo hizo al revés debo de limpiar primero la parte de alante y por último el evaporador
Sería evaporator y condensador
Thankyou for this. I have 2013 holden colorado, got my ac regassed. Technician told me i have restricted airflow dur to dirty, Evaporator needs replacing $2500. car not built with filter! Im thinking how hard is it to clean Evaporator? Found your video, now going to try this
Maybe try 2 cans! If you remove the blower motor assembly from under the right side of dash would you not be looking directly at the dirty face of the evaporator? Might be able to brush and vacuum out the bulk of the debris, then empty a can or cleaner directly on it
TH-cam - Sweet Project Cars - Used a brush head attached to a long wire to ream out the drainage tube , underneath vehicle .
Its like the evep coil acts as a filter in itself trapping the dirt from entering the cabin.
Like almost all cars before the 2000’s, without cabin filters. Air ducts blowing out dried leaves, if you had AC chances are it smelled
If you dont do regular cleaning maintenance for the evaporator, does it blow out white flakes? My a/c works fine but every time i turn it on, it blows soem white flakes. Im just trying to determine if i should attempt to clean it or just have a mechanic take a look if the evaporator is peeling. I have a 2012 Toyota Camry.
The flakes are from the evaporator. In your case I would not attempt this type of chemical clean as you may end up with a leak. The dust is also more common in dry climates, so you wouldn’t have the same natural condensation wash of the Evap after cleaning.
Good afternoon and what products were used?
Buenas tardes y que productos se utilizanron?
HI. This is the Toyota kit, the common USA part number is 00289-ACRKT
Could I use foam cleaner for houses a/c or would that be harmful to a car’s a/c and if so why?
Also, you/ he used a Toyota foam cleaner kit for his Acura - does that mean you can use the Toyota, Kia, or BG kits on any car brand?
all the car kits will be similar. I would stick with the car kits for cars. The home condenser, there is no chance of you breathing the chemical as it's outside the house. Really depends on the chemicals used.
in vw golf 4 I destroy flaps it was made from foam
Why my Australian Camry has no cabin filter? The moulding is plastic welded shut. I guess I can cut it open. Not sure if there is a filter in there originally.
Somebody online must know if that’s possible on your Camry, ask google. Honda sorta used to do that on older civics, they left out the filters that you could add but without any issues/cutting
I’m planning on replacing all the A/C components on my ‘05 Outback XT. When do you introduce PAG oil to the A/C system, while installing the components? Also, will pulling a vacuum pull the PAG oil or only the air moisture? Thanks in advance.
I saw a separate video where this was addressed. The PAG oil will not be pulled with the vacuum, pulling a vacuum will only capture moisture while the oil will remain in place.
@@hardkore360 Oh great, thanks for letting me know. I gave never done this and was concerned the oil would come out into the pump. Apparently its viscosity offers enough resistance to the pump.
@@Mike_44 yep you got it, the water will boil off when in a vacuum, the PAG oil is denser and has more viscosity so it stays in the AC system assuming you have no leaks 👍
@@hardkore360 Awesome, thank you so much for verifying this.
Will using ramps affect the airbox when applying cleaner?
Shouldn’t be an issue with the angle of the ramps.
Nice
Leave it attached to the drain hose then drain after 10 minutes. It's in the instructions.
If there is still musty/mold smell after doing this, can Lysol sprayed into the air intake be worthy of more "cleaning and disinfecting"?
The foam gets all over the grime on the evaporator, tries to remove it. I don’t see how spray Lysol could do that. Maybe try 2 cans of foam or try to access the evaporator and mechanically clean it and the air box
@@GIZZMOTORSPORTSI have throat burning fume coming out of my ac system on my honda accord 21,could that be a bad evaporater?
@@macmoney2043the Honda evaporators don’t have chronic leak issues like r1234yf fillled Honda condensers. Is there a fluid leaking and burning off or something stuck on your exhaust? Or maybe somebody did this evaporator service incorrectly and the chemicals are in your dash ducting. What does it smell like?
@@GIZZMOTORSPORTS I Never had anywork done on it except oil changes.smell coming out of Ac is oderless and subtle yet burns throat.i changed the cabin filter and still the same and dont have any noticable leaks on engine .could be blocked exhast perhaps but i dont know how that could be.
@@GIZZMOTORSPORTS i just found out there is a manufactring defect on some honda accord 21 models with their ac coolant being prone to corrosion and leakage .the freon leak could be it
I can't access the drain tube on my Cadillac ats. Is there another way to get that cleaner in there?
That’s what I was going to ask.
Most cars, you can go on passenger side, pop off plastic panel where your left shin would be, and you’ll see a plastic hose connected to a plastic housing normally. This is the drain hose, just further up inside the car.
I believe you can use this can of cleaner if you connect to this rubber hose (again where passenger left leg sits) and shoot it upwards towards the coils.
But would have to have a drainage bucket at hand so when you disconnect you can immediately catch the drainage dirty liquid so it doesn’t get on passenger floor.
BUT I’m not a mechanic and not sure about this. I just think you can do it this way.
Had a toyota tec use that A/C crap on my tacoma and get it on my seats...needless to say i got a whole new interior...
This should be up at the top of the comments!
Isn't that restriction the one way drain valve that all cars have? Looks kinda like a duckbill.. yeah that's normal and it restricted the reverse flow of that cleaner upwards
I know what you mean, I see that duckbill drain on lots of rear ac units in Hondas. Not on this front one, unless then somehow built it into the line.
Hi does this clean the inside of the evaporator coil or the outside of the evaporator coils
It foam tries to clean inside and outside the evaporator, whatever it contacts. Does a better job on cars with cabin filters, older cars without could be plugged solid with debris. I have a couple of hvac boxes here out of car, I’ll open them up and maybe do another vid.
This is just to clean the drainage where the core sits. The evap core is sealed itself. Only the AC refrigerant goes inside through the core.
What was the reason for cleaning? No air out of vents. Or driver side blow hot air.
Just regular maintenance. If I ran the fan with ac off had a slight musty smell. Are you having any issues with yours?
@@GIZZMOTORSPORTS yes . No air coming out of vents. Blower works fine.
@@theebenReyes if no air on cold then maybe this evaporator is plugged, common on some dodge trucks. If no hot of cold air maybe just a plugged cabin filter.
Very informative video sir. Thank you
@@chrisbui7642 thanks for the positive feedback!!
How do you make sure it doesn't go into car? All in blower etc?
Only spray into the box that houses the evaporator, spray into the drain tube is the best way. Don’t turn the fan on until after most of the cleaner has drained out.
Can you do this to every car or just your Toyota vehicle @@GIZZMOTORSPORTS
can this technique be used for a 2009 ford flex ?
I assume it'd work fine. I have not yet seen a vehicle that didn't get some dirty fluid out.
I love charcoal filter, but it restrict air than others non charcoal 😅😅😅😅
I caution against doing this on the CL9 TSX as the evaporator coil sits directly above the ECU. The cleaning solution can leak onto the ECU and cause a major headache. Ask me how I know 😮
That sucks. You must have also had water dripping on your ecu when AC/defrost was in use.
@@GIZZMOTORSPORTS nope… absolutely no issue before. This happened immediately after the procedure. Thought I was being proactive in doing the procedure, but in this case, the famous saying applies… “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” 🤣. Luckily, I pretty much caught it immediately and was able to deoxit with success 👍🏼
Is it possible to cover the ECU with a towel to prevent it from getting dripped on? Or would you say don't attempt at cleaning at all?
@@gloums I would lay a towel down just in case and try it. Let me know if anything drips on the towel
I couldn't find the air conditioner outlet hose in my 2013 VW Polo car? I wonder where this outlet pipe is?
If you turn on the AC do you see the water draining?
@@GIZZMOTORSPORTS If I travel for a very long time. like 5-6 hours
Put car on jack stands, on a humid day. Put an open bucket of hot water on the passenger front floor, start car with ac on max and look to see where it comes out. I would try this.
is it safe to spray from above?
Like into the vents? That won’t work, it won’t work its way down to the evaporator. But it’s even worse, local dealer did that and after the foam shot out onto the seats eventually had to replace all seat covers.
Driver side blows hot for me im going to try this
May as well do it, can’t hurt. But also have a look, warmer on the left side is typically low on refrigerant.
@@GIZZMOTORSPORTSor blend door issue
Cuando puso el producto por abajo debió de encender el abanico para que limpiara mejor
Hi. The reason we don’t turn the fan on in the beginning is because the liquid and dirt will go through and dirty the vent ducting. If it blows through the vents and gets on seats and carpet it can stain it.
I highly suspect that the Subaru evap cleaner is the same as Toyota, and it's only $16 as opposed to $46.
Yes that's a good buy! I think they are all very similar too. Kia sells a cleaner for less that $10 but it's just the coil cleaner and no can of scent.
are you near ARIZONA
Sorry, very far from Arizona
Interesting but I wonder how effective one can of cleaner is? I guess it depends on how long you've had the car and dirty the evaporator core is. Here in Japan I'd rather get the full cleaning done, even though it costs more, it's worth it when you see how much grime is acumulated in just a few years even with regular filter changes🙂th-cam.com/video/zKpEosUIfsE/w-d-xo.html
Nice, thanks for that link. I wouldn’t trust many do do the cleaning shown in the Japanese video. Actually, I wouldn’t trust anybody to do that, lol. I just worry about water and especially a chemical cleaner getting places it shouldn’t. I’d attempt it if the car had clear access to the evaporator, but in most you pull the blower motor like they did and you still can’t get close to the evaporator. What do they charge for that service in Japan?
I'm not sure I get what you mean. They use a camera along with the sprayer so they can clearly get to and see the evaporator and housing so they can wash everything down far better than a can of foam going up from the drain hose would. Water collects on the evaporator and drains out of the car in normal function so there is nothing to worry about using a cleaner and then fresh water to rinse all the grime out. The buckets of dirty water coming out was everything accumulated on a 2 year old car. Basically it's just an easier and cheaper way to completely clean the evaporator instead of pulling apart the dash and pulling it out for cleaning. Cost is around 140 dollars.
That sounds like a good way to clean it for $140 if you can spray the evaporator. Some cars just have no way to spray the evaporator unless you drill a hole in the hvac box, which is no big deal.
Yeah I don't think they would do it if there was no way to the evaporator on some cars. Drilling is way too invasive lol. They use a hose and camera cable that they can control movements remotely to a certain extent so they can clean just about any car by just passing it through the airbox and vent since most of the time its almost right next to it🙂
@@keifuchan7265I'm trying to figure out what to do for mine rn
I can imagine that smells good in the car for about a week afterwards
Yes, 1 week max. 3-4 days it’s very noticeable, not so much after that.
Promo>SM
that car must be a Toyota, but mine is Elantra and I even can spray inside without removing anything because the hole is right where the vent is. I'm talking about the spray under the hood. Toyota make everything harder so you suffer doing maintenance and get tired, so you go to them (Dealer or stealershit).
Assumed you were trying to cleanout the Evap matrix Internally.... Not merely giving the things' outsides a bath !
I think if you spray it through the blower fan there will be better results.
you are correct, in some cases, every vehicle is different. I just had this conversation with one of our fluid reps so they sent their tech in for a demo. He had a hvac box on a table and was trying to show how you aim the line in through the fan into the area where the evaporator sits. Fine on a table, try doing that in a car. Then he said turn the fan on right away, I have major issues with this. The vendor pulled the rubber tips off the line to feed through the fan, he supplied all the techs with the push trigger and line and sells the cans without anything on the top. I said you know that rubber fitting is there to feed the cleaner in the drain tube? I asked why you'd risk turning fan on immediately and pushing cleaner out the vents, he said the cleaner wont hurt anything. They of course I said the debris and fluid will get into the ducting and not exit the vehicle, some may even drip out of ducts into car. His only real argument is sometimes he can't find the drain tube, for what we work on we can always find the tube. They are salespeople, aren't trying to do a good job.
Waarom met een ijzeren staaf in de drainhole rammen. Wil je de condensor lek prikken 😱
Condenser? He is working on the Evaporator.
the evap should have been rinsed with water and then sprayed the conditioner in
Hi Tony, I know what you mean, I used to think that too. Hard to rinse these without getting water everywhere. If I can find an easy clean way to do it I’ll try. I was told the water condensing on the evap is good enough to clean it. Spraying the conditioner in this way vs spraying at the cowel is good enough for me.
Yes, rinsing is very important, especially if condenser is made with plastic components. I washed out mine on a car I no longer have with some Lysol general cleaning spray. Didn't rinse and 6 months later the condenser broke apart as I was driving. One of the plastic ends cracked. The spray ate through the plastic.
@@roberthernandez2935 wow that sucks. but in this case, evaporators as far as I’ve seen are all metal. And they will naturally have the humidity drawn to is as a self rinse. The condenser as you say, 100% hit that with the garden hose. I spray all mine often.
You probably know the year, make and model of the vehicle you are working on, but I do not and every vehicle is made differently
They will all have a condensation drain under the box that houses the evaporator. Look for that drain.
kardashian
Just curious,why would you wanna be cleaning something you can't even see . If your cleaning it because cabin filter is dirty ? THATS WHAT THE FILTER IS SUPPOSED TO LOOK LIKE AFTER ITS BEEN IN THERE FOR SONETIME
Regardless of cabin filter, with the hot and cold you get moisture and mold.
Loock like you have no idea what you doing
Looks like you can't spell... Sorry I could not resist. But you really think so??
Waste of time..
Toyota Sucks. That's why I told them GOODBYE long time ago.
At 1:02 did anyone else notice the spelling of "Conditioner" is wrong on the can?
You know, even for the French label it’s a typo. I’ve seen other cams with the correct spelling, this looks like a legit typo. And I bought it over the counter at the Toyota dealership.