Man I hate starting threads in this section, but what can i do... Well i bought the car with the a/c this way thinking that it just needed a recharge since thats what the guy told me.. Well couple days ago i bought one of those ac recharge kits and emptied it.. It made no difference and the pressure droped to zero right away.. I figured something was wrong (maybe leak) so i let my cuzin take it to the dealership he works at and test it.

He told me that he did the test on it and that my evaporator core is leaking... He said there was smoke coming under the dash. I guess the machine does that to determine where the leak is..

He also told me that this is would be a huge job to replace sine the dashboard has to be pulled and everything. Also might be a dealer only item and i will prolly get ripped off on that too...

Now can anyone tell me if these parts go out often and how hard is it to replace... Also around how much do they cost and can it be done without going to the dealer???? thx guys

 

also does anyone know if an evaporator core would fit from a mirage????? the ones for a lancer are like 500 bucks at napa. and the mirage one is like 90 bucks on ebay?????

 

The evap core from a Mirage will NOT fit. You can use any evap core from any 02-07 Lancer or 03-07 Evo. They are the same part. Here are some pictures to give you an idea. The evap core is located inside the heater unit. You WILL need to take apart your entire dash to get to it. Sorry.

 

wow senate thx for the diagram... ok so the ebay guy told me he can get a lancer one too... he gave me a dealer reference number which is MR 958417. Can anyone check if this part will fit the lancer???? just wanna make sure before i spend the money...

 

well i don't think that taking apart the dash is "too hard" i mean just taking things apart and putting them back together... (im good at this lol) um is there anyway you cold post some more detailed pics of the stuff i would need to remove so that i can get a better idea...

 

MR958417 is the part number for the evap core. Here is a diagram of what you need to take apart.

 

hey do you guys think i should spend some more money and go to an a/c place and have them check out the a/c and tell me whats up or just buy the evaporator core from another lancer and put it in mine and evac the ac and recharge? I mean based on what my cuzin told me the machine they hooked and he said there was like smoke comin from the evaporator core area behind the dash....

 

Evaporator core leaks aren't too common on these but I guess it's possible. I guarantee you'll break tons of stuff if you try to do it yourself. I've been working on cars for years and have done hundreds of dashboards and heater cores/evaporators and i still break plastic all the time.

Ask yourself this. First, do you trust the diagnosis? If not, get another opinion. Second. Do you really need AC? I mean, you live in Connecticut, it's not exactly a hot climate. I live in Southern NJ and I NEVER use the air because there's just no reason for it. And third, if it's worth the money and trouble to you, do you trust yourself to do the job? Remember that if you take it apart and can't figure out how to put it back together, you'll have to get it towed to the dealer and pay $1000 or more to have them fix your mess. Sorry for the pessimistic opinion but I see the results of people trying to fix complicated problems on their own cars that are far beyond what they can handle, and in every case it ends up being far more expensive in the end. I'd change the evaporator if you paid me for 10 hours worth of labor assuming I did the job start to finish. But if you took it apart and I had to put your puzzle back together, I'd be looking for a lot more. Typical labor rates at most shops are around $100 an hour, so choose wisely!

 

i completely understand what you're saying but sometimes its fine with no a/c but for those 2 months or so when its really hot i feel like it would be money and time well spent... I kinda trust my self to take a dash apart because i have been taking stuff apart and putting it together since i was a little kid but i know this is kind of different because there is alot of clips and you gotta drop the steering column and all to remove steering wheel... i would set aside 2 days for this and keep little screws in baggies and tape em to the part they attach to...

but what about the refrigerant and all that... i believe mine is all the way empty since it doesn't come out when i try to evaporate it....

i mean if i get the part cheap enough and it doesn't end up working out for me all i lost is some time...

mcgarvery can you post like a rough step by step what i gotta do to remove the heater case where the evap core is???

 

Personally, I say do it yourself. There is nothing better than getting to know your car. I have torn our dash apart on a ralliart and an evo (virtually the same thing). It's not that complicated. I actually think you could get away with doing this in 4-5 hours to get it in. The hardest part is going to be disconnecting the core. Those A/C couplers SUCK. You will need a special tool to do it. Other than that, totally feasible to do it. Good luck!

 

^^ yeah dude thats what im thinking the dash doesn't look complicated at all... i mean im pretty good with tools since i always mess around with things and take them apart... im very handy... plus it gives me experience that i'll need later in life... and i also dont have the money to pay someone 1k to fix my a/c and the whole car is worth like 7 grand... now that tool you're talking about can i get it at autozone or some store like that or what???

 

Bought this 8MR that had a few track days done.
last owner took out everything but heater box I’ll attach a photo. Question 1 do ye guys think I’ll get the rest in without taking the dash out? Because most parts are on left hand side buy glove box?

quastion 2 what parts can I use from a lancer? I know you can use a/c pump and just change pulley put hoses run opposite ways so I won’t go that route but anything else ye can thing of? First Evo so just trying to get my head around them.

any help greatly appreciated