CRAP!

I replaced my AC evaporator in January on my 85 300TD, and it tested fine. Today I noticed it wasn't working well, and I dropped it off at the shop. They preformed a leak test and it shows a leak coming from the evaporator....

CRAP!

I bought the evaporator NEW from Phil, I did a little research about evaporator and I had heard that sometimes you can get one with bad welds and therefor leak. Has anyone had this issue?

The thought of taking the entire dash out again to fix this problem AGAIN goes beyond frustrating....

Jason

Thats why I have heard you should both pressure test and vacume test it before installation......I am certain Phill had no knowledge it was bad. I guess your case is a good reminder for most of us....

__________________
Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
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Section 609 MVAC Certified
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"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

So this is a common problem?

I asked the mechanic if he had a setup for testing just the evaporator and he said, no. I guess I could build one, but I'm still in shock/denial that the evaporator could be leaking...

I would not say common...but I have heard about it discussed before....on some A/C threads...they always pull a vacume before adding the refridgerant...but a flaw could be sucked shut in vacume but under pressure make itself known....I am no A/C guy and this is what I have learned following the A'C threads prepareing to fix my W123 A/C system.

__________________
Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
---------------------
Section 609 MVAC Certified
---------------------
"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

what brand was it? i have had problems with all but BEHR
the warranty evaporators at our shop has dramatically went down since we went to BEHR exclusively

That's a really tough break. I think there must be a postulate somewhere that indicates that as the required labor for replacement of a part increases, the chance of part failure increases proportionately.

Good luck,

Got my evaporator from Phil also and it had some serious vacume when I opened it up, so it was definately good when I got it out of the box. On the down side, I had to do some serious tweaking of the fittings to make it line up properly. The system is still holding after 6 months, so chances are it ought to hold.

__________________
95 SL500 Smoke Silver, Parchment 64K
07 E350 4matic Station Wagon White 34K
02 E320 4Matic Silver/grey 80K
05 F150 Silver 44K

yep mine came in that vacuum seal too. Brand New.

I pick the car up from the mechanic, and he is right. I installed a clear drain tube from the evaporator housing so that I could see if it was draining properly. The original was a nasty foam tube, anyway, you could really see the green leak stuff under the black light coming from the housing. It must be leaking. I guess I'll clean out the garage and take it out this weekend, what a bummer.

Still relatively cool here in Texas, but not for long...

I'll post some pictures of the leak when I find it...

Jason

jason, what brand was the one you got?

Suggest you call Phil and find out if there is a one year part manufacturer warranty.

Questions about Parts?
Call Phil for help at
1-888-333-4642
Mon-Fri 10:30a-8:00p ET
(NOT for technical support)

That's what a warranty is for... I'm sorry it does happen...

Partsman.

In no way is this Phil's fault, nor am I blaming him. New parts sometimes fail. I was simple just asking if anyone else has had this problem.

I have always orderred my parts for Phil and I will continue to do so for all three of my mercedes.

I'm sorry if my original posting seemed like I was blaming Phil, in no way was that my intent.

My wife often says I'm a poor comunicator, here is another example....

Jason

It didn't come across that way at all to me. Take it easy on yourself, man!

Sorry to hear you got bitten by a leak, too. It especially hurts when you think you've successfully "closed the book" for the indefinite future on some significant subsystem, only to have something like that turn up.

Well, well, well...

The only thing I can think of that is worse than replacing a new evaporator is to take the car apart and find the evaportaor was not the problem...

The evaporator is good, although I was surprised with how much oxidation had occured in 6 months, the evaporator pasted the pressure test. In fact the radiator guy who tested it thought I was nuts, the copper construction appearently is bullet proof and will last forever. My mechanic was shocked, and he offered to put the car back together for me.

Really it was my fault, I had installed a clear tube for the main drain of the AC Heater Box so I could see it draining. The OEM part is a foam tube. Appearently I didn't clean the box out very well ( I thought I did) and some of the leak dye drained out when the AC was working, lgihting the clear tube up like a christmas tree when you flash it with a black light. Which is why my mechanic thought the new evaporator was leaking, but it was all from the previous bad evaporator.

So the car is back together and we are still trying to determine where the leak is...But it is not the evaporator...

BTW I have installed a ground wire on the copper tubes to try and stop the oxidation, same thing we do on sail boats etc...

Jason

Oh my GOSH..... that is terrible....

WARNING... since you are familiar with Sacrificial Annodes....
If you connect that copper tube to the steel in your car the entire car will rust to the ground.... but that tube will be kept intact.... might be better to sacrifice that tube instead....

LOL