Evaporator AC question

[rayfloyd170]

Hello YW,

I had previous AC problem 5 months ago. The mechanic leak tested and could not find any leak. he evacuated the system and observed for (10min??) and concluded there is no leak. Although he mentioned if ever there is a leak then it is probably from the evaporator which is a bit complicated since it entails a lot of job and warned me of the cost.

He re-charged the refrigerant and all was good until yesterday, that was roughly 5 months in good service after the re-charge. I went back to the mechanic and he refilled again and it was just working for few hours (~4hrs) and again pressure becomes low and not starting the compressor.

To add I can also smell some "sort of oil smell" coming out from the vents when in operation and even when the engine is OFF the leaking sound continues.

This definitely sounds an evaporator leak... i have no other way of telling

Now, my question is... is this common for yaris and mine is just close to 4 years old coming brand-new when i purchased it from showroom. Now at 89K KM.

additional questions below:

1. can the leak be fixed (patched) or do i really need to replace the evaporator?
2. also not sure if the evaporator coils have leak or maybe only from the joints... (i hope it is only from the joints/ seals since the evaporator is too costly here) how often do joints leak/ how often evaporators leak?
3. does labor cost more than the spare part for this kind of job?
4. normally how many hours to replace the evaporator (i just don't want to be fooled by mechanics here)

Thanks in advance for your response.

[rayfloyd170]

Already replaced and cooling well. Actually the Toyota original spare part costs 4 times the denso part i purchased from outside market. When the mechanic removed the leaking evaporator i found out it was also a denso and exactly the same as what i purchased... It even has the same factory marks and stamp as well as the foam cushion... i wonder what Toyota sells, maybe they just re-branded it with Toyota.

The mechanic says, the original evaporator installed in my unit could possibly have premature failure due to vibration or factory defect. It was still very clean and only a minor pinhole leak from the corner side... He says he can even fix it and just block one fin however i told him i will just replace it since i already have the part available with me.

Took 2hrs for the expert mechanic to replace the evaporator, the dash removal was amazing, he did it in like 1hour with some rests in between, he needs to stretch out due to his age (probably 50 up). He took all the screws and he knows where they are located.. he says he has replaced evaporators of yaris more than 50 times in his 30 yrs experience...

He vacuumed tested the system and added some ND8 oil due to some oil leaking out of the evaporator was caught under the plastic housing. That was probably the oil smell i had....

Now it is working good and i spend 1/4 the total cost compared to Toyota Service Center.

Unbelievable 2hrs, that was finesse and all screws went in back perfectly together with all the electronics working fine...

Toyota service center committed to finish it by 5-6 hours and almost 4x the total cost.

[stykerdk]

Denso is 25% owned by Toyota, and many genuine Toyota parts is made by denso.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denso

[Niki Knuckles]

Interesting... Here's a subsidiary of the parent company...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denso_Ten