Hi Forum,

I have a leak from the plastic pan of the a/c evaporator, right by the drainage hose. Here's the link to the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUErrdByYwg&feature=youtu.be Basically, instead of leaking on the ground, all the water leaks on the passenger floor mat. The previous owner glued the hole and it was fine for a few months, but now his patch has fallen off.

My question is the following. Can I remove the cracked plastic part without pulling out the dash? It seems that the plastic casing is made of two parts, upper part and lower pan. Am I right about this?

I would really appreciate your advice on this issue.

Alex

I think what you have is a heater core leak, and the coolant has eaten through the heater core surround.

I'm not sure on the diamante (overseas) models but for our Australian models the heater core surround is not able to be separated without taking the dash and everything else behind it out.

You need to follow the usual procedure of replacing the heater core seals. Once you have removed the dash and all the "boxes' behind the dash, you will gain access to remove the heater core surround and should be able to replace it. Alternatively if you cannot find the parts to replace the surround then, provided the heater core seals are properly replaced, you could do a bit of a patch job with fibreglass and it would be fine.

What country are you in mate?

Thanks for the reply. I didn't notice any coolant leak though. What's leaking is pure water, and it's only leaking when the a/c is on. Otherwise, absolutely dry. I guess the previous owner was replacing the heater core and just damaged the evaporator.

I am in the United States.

I did some basic search on dashboard removal, but it seems there's no complete tutorial on this procedure. I guess this question has been asked, but could you guys refer me to a post that describes dashboard dismantling. Some photos or video would be invaluable. Any advice is very much appreciated.

I have several guides here in the forums for dash removal however the ac evap box can be removed without taking out the dash, you need to get your AC purged and it is a little fiddly but certainly can be done

Madmagna,

You mentioned purging the a/c, does it mean that I cannot remove the box without disconnecting and removing the evaporator itself?

I think what Mal is saying that the aircon system goes into the cabin in the same entry point as the coolant lines. It contains gas (R134a) and in Australia you need to either have this professionally removed (environmental emission laws) from the system or the tubes blocked to prevent it from escaping.

Once that is done then you can remove the glove box & surround, side airbox (controls flow of air from outsidecabin), the heater core surround and then remove the piping that goes into the heater core, replace the seals and hook it all back up and put it back together. You don't NEED to remove the dash but it's easier to get access to the heater core if its removed.

Fellas,
Thank you for clarifying this. However, I don't need to replace the heater core. It's fine. No coolant leaks or anything whatsoever. It has been serviced by the previous owner. Apparently, during the previous servicing, whoever did it, the evaporator(cooling unit) box was damaged. It is cracked and has a hole in the middle. I posted a video of it above.
My problem is that, due to the condensation, water leaks from the a/c radiator(evaporator), through the hole in the box, right on my floor mat. So just to clarify my question, could you guys tell me if I need to remove the a/c evaporator itself to fix its casing or I can remove the casing without touching the evaporator?
Again, thanks for your advice.

Our cars are all right hand drive, so it may be a different setup too...
I think he means the catch pan for the condensate that drips off the cold a/c core is dripping in the car instead of going out the tube and dripping outside the car, no coolant or air con gas leaks.

Silly question, but is the condensate drain clear? If it is blocked eg with mud over the end of the rubber drain pipe, condensate can come back up and drain into the cabin as you now experience.

Yeap, the drain is clear. TiMi, thank you for summarizing it nicely, that's exactly what I meant. So this "catch pan" for condensate has a hole and multiple cracks in it. Do you know if I can remove it without removing the ac core?

I don't know if you have to remove the unit or not, but my first attempt would be to clean it up as much as possible and try to gunk the unit up with a good silicone rather than take it out. This may not be feasible - I have never been anywhere near mine and hope never to do so.

Well, I guess I'll give it a try. The unit has multiple cracks (virtually falling apart), so the only way to fix it will be to replace or glue it using fiberglass.

have any self service wreckers near you by any chance?

as that would be a wise way to experiment on trying to remove the pan, without damaging yours any more. and if its easy enough. you then know how to remove it?
as trying to degas the system and removing the unit wouldn't be that much fun if its still located on the left hand side of the car

have any self service wreckers near you by any chance?

as that would be a wise way to experiment on trying to remove the pan, without damaging yours any more. and if its easy enough. you then know how to remove it?
as trying to degas the system and removing the unit wouldn't be that much fun if its still located on the left hand side of the car

I did exactly what you suggested. Went to the junk yard and dismantled one of the Demons there. It seems like it will be equally hard to just remove the pan. One of the brackets that hold it faces the firewall. I don't think I can reach it without removing the whole unit. Couldn't simulate the process, since the car had been taken apart already. The local folks, instead of dismantling the dash to remove the part they need, just break everything off to pull out some tiny sensor. You have to be there first, otherwise there will be just a pile of broken parts. Barbarians.

I got a used cooling unit though. I am still thinking about the optimal way to perform this replacement.

Just finished replacing the a/c core unit under the dash. It required to pull out the glove compartment with all of the surrounding plastic and the passenger airbag. There's no need to remove the dash. I also had to loosen up the adjacent unit (with blower motor) since it was blocking the way out for the a/c core. Also, if you plan to open the a/c system, be sure to replace the drier/filter which is located under the battery (at least in the American models). It's $20 on ebay.