I have Auto Climate control which i am told requires dash removal... is there a way to see if this is the case visually eg take left had side out and look ?How can you tell ?
GRJ120R GXL 2009
Just did mine. Was quoted $2000 for the job. Found this post. Stripped everything out an about 1.5 hours. Got a aftermarket evaporator from Covs (Perth) for $180. Installed it, put everything back together in about 1.5 hours. Taking it for regas next week ($200).
esman, you are a legend for saving me 1600 of Australias finest dollars.
P.S. One thing to note though. When you have removed all the covers and cubby on the passenger side. There is a section of plastic trim that runs around the bottom of the cubby hole. This had previousley been cut out of my car and this made the removal of the fan housing substantially easier. I assume that prior to me owning it someone had done some work in this area before. Anyway this is not exposed once all the covers are back on and although it has one less attachment screw it has not caused any issues in the 3 years I have owned the car.
Hey mate what prado did you have. I’m in perth and looking to do this!
There are indeed models that require full dash removal, however I've just done my 08 Prado 4L V6 (GRJ120R) this weekend and it was pretty easy and does not really require a ton of courage.
Total cost: $340 (Cool Drive Evaporator EV3320 $200; Aircon regas @ Headland Auto (Pressure test, labour, gas, oil & fluoro dye) $140
I also replaced the cabin air filter for $42 from repco although to be honest the quality of the repco filer does not seem as good as the original (time will tell I guess)
Here are the steps I followed (or at least should have followed):
Passenger Side
1. Remove the glove box (+- 6 screws)
2. Unclip all the cables and remove the car computer (I got it out without removing the computer but I needed some beers to calm down, perhaps that was a bonus)
3. Remove the fan unit (1 nut, 3/4 screws) it slides out to the left and may require a bit of patients without the computer removed it was almost impossible
4. Remove the cover for the evaporator (6/7 screws)
Engine:
5. Degas by pressing the valve in (use a rag to make sure you don't spray oil in your face)
Drivers Side:
6. Remove the plastic cover over the aircon pipes (1 screw)
7. Remove the 2 hex screws that are holding the evaporator in place
Passenger Side:
8. The evaporator will now be lose so you should be able to pull it out easily
9. Remove the slide at the bottom of the evaporator and put it onto the new evaporator
10. Remove the old sensors from the evaporator and put it into the same spot on the new evaporator
11. Slide the new evaporator into place
Now go though all the steps in reverse. I only removed the computer at the end when I could not get the fan unit back in easily but it would have saved me about 20 minutes if I had done it at the start. Total time took about 2.5 hours. The prices you've been quoted don't sound too bad however. Glove Box RemovedEvaporator Cover RemovedDriver Side Cover Before RemovalDrivers Side - Hex BoltsEvaporator Removed Thanks to Andrew for the original post. Hope this provides a bit more info for anyone wanting to give it a bash.
Hi Thomas, just wanted to say a BIG thank you for your post mate. Tackled this on Saturday in my GXL and pretty much had it done in about 2.5hrs.
The compartment was full of crud, obviously previous owner had run it without cabin filter...no joke removed a good handful of rotten twigs, leaves and other crap. That junk and the moisture was right next to the leak. Also, top hex bolt was not exactly super tight either, so glad to have cleaned out, replaced and torqued up the bolts that fasten the evaporator.
Cheers,
B
So I have been led to believe that if you have dials you can do it the easy way but if you have dual zone climate control you need to pull the whole heater box. Can anyone confirm this from experience?
thanks
So I have been led to believe that if you have dials you can do it the easy way but if you have dual zone climate control you need to pull the whole heater box. Can anyone confirm this from experience?
thanks
Yes can confirm. Did my 08 kdj grande earlier this year and is dash out. If you're confident doing a car radio etc then a dash out job isn't overly difficult to do just time consuming and you need to have room to lay out the parts when you remove them. Just be careful as old plastic is very brittle.
Worked at Toyota when the 120's were released and the dual zone models had air con installed from factory, but all other models air cons were installed at the dealerships and the evaporator was the only reason for the difference.
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