126 evaporator cleaned (and minty fresh ;))

The pictures are from a 124.

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1987 300TD 309, xxx 2.8.2014 10,000 mile OCI


Be careful of the toes you step on today, as they may be connected to the ass you have to kiss tomorrow. anonymous

“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter won’t mind.” Dr. Seuss

I did not take any pics when I did this. I was pretty hot out and I just wanted to get it over with. It was not nearly as accessible as the truck. I could only really feel part of it. It was every bit as dirty as the truck and I went in the same way (through the blower fan hole). Basically you just remove the lower passenger kick panel, unplug and remove the fan and go to work.

I just used a mild solution of soap and water with my pump up sprayer, along with an old toothbrush. I dragged the big stuff down to the bottom of the coil and then wiped it out. Then I just blasted the thing with a hose. It worked very good and some of that old musty car smell is gone. Took about 1 hour from start to finish. It blows much harder than before.

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AJ

1985 300D (SOLD)

No real procedure - just drop knee panel - remove a couple of screws from bottom of fan housing - a couple more screws from from fan and "bobs your uncle" your done. It was actually more difficult to put the fan back in while holding the fan and with the other hand trying to line up the screws. I rinsed for a long time using a hose. A/C seems to blow better now.... I wish I had kept the pictures - but Im sure you'll figure it out...

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Thomas

2003 Jetta TDi
1983 300SD
1999 Ford Contour - died - Oil pump
1998 Chevy Blazer - money pit
1997 Toyota Corolla - wrecked
1983 Honda Civic - still on the road
1980 Datsun 310 - long dead
1976 Ford Granada - my 1st car - best A/C ever


"Listen, strange women lyin' in ponds distributin' swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony."

I went to local hardware store this weekend and bought some coil cleaner - cost $13 for a can. Sprayed over the evaporator as described above until it ran out of the drain under the car clear. Also spray gunk off the blower motor squirrel cage. Tested it yesterday afternoon - 92* 1" from the condenser, 61*in the vent.

Smells better, too.

Coil cleaner did eat the epoxy off my garage floor, though

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Current Mercedes
1979 maple yellow 240D 4-speed

Gone and fondly remembered:
1980 orient red 240D 4-speed

Gone and NOT fondly remembered:
1982 Chna Blue 300TD

Other car in the stable:
2013 VW Jetta Sportwagen TDI / 6-speed MT

I am gonna try this for sure!! I imaging my car has some gunk inside that evap box!

What should I expect from my vent temperature wise? My 300D only blows 55 out the vent when it's hot outside.

Or is it a ratio depending on the outside temp? like 90 out means 60 inside is good?

I know some are better than others but I gotta say my 1997 Ford F150(Hey I need a work truck)blows right at 40 even on smoltering days according to my gauge stuck into my vent. If I could get my 300D or the 300SDL close to that I'd be a VERY happy cool camper!!

Thank you guys!!
Hip

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2006 Jetta TDI DSG 320k miles
1997 Ford F150 325k miles 4.2L V6 "Work Truck"
2008 Tundra 225k miles 5.7L
1982 240D.....sold
1984 300D...Totaled OUCH!
1985 300D Turbo 222k miles "Dos" sold to 79Mercy
1986 300SDL 98K miles "The Beater"....sold
1987 190E 2.3 16v Euro spec 115K miles....sold

Hip001,
Your vent temperature on low speed ( the standard way of measuring it ) will not be affected... but the ability of the AC to put enough cool air into your car to make it feel nice and cool can very much be changed by this cleaning if it is needed.... and I bet less than one percent of our OLD cars do not need this cleaning in the WORST WAY...
People change out and improve all sorts of components on our cars and then wonder why they do not get new car performance out of the AC without ever looking at this major potential bottleneck .... and since it does not change the center vent temperature under a normal test procedure they just go on about their business wondering why they are not satisfied with the AC output...
If, on the other hand, it were easy to measure total air output ....that would be very different and people would feel like they had been slapped up side the face when the test results were read...

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1980 240d ,

chain elongation, cam marks reference:
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/10414-help-i-need-check-stretch.html

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/305365-9-degrees-chain-stretch.html

evap fin cleaning:

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/156207-photo-step-step-post-showing-w123-evaporator-removal-1983-240d-1982-300td.html?highlight=evaporator

A/C thread

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/297462-c-recommendations-mb-vehicles.html

Yep.........the ability to cool the interior depends on two factors..........vent temps and air volume.

You can have a 40F. vent temp but without the air volume on high fan speed, the interior temperature won't easily be reduced.

I did not notice any real difference in temp. change. Just more air flow. On the road in the middle of the day, I'm seeing mid 30's out the vents with R12 and the recirc. flap safety wired so that it only receives fresh air (not recirculated air). I get about 50 out the vents if the car is not moving or in traffic.

Depending on the mileage... I would say "go for it" as it is a pretty easy job, you have nothing to lose and something to gain from it.

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AJ

1985 300D (SOLD)

If anything, the temperature will rise on high fan. However, the issue, as explained above, is the combination of airflow and vent temperatures. If you double the airflow, you cool the interior nearly twice as fast.........even if the vent temp rises slightly.

You would be correct. My coldest temps. are/were on the lowest fan speed setting. As the fan speed increases the temp. rises slightly (not much). But, the interior of the car cools much quicker.

I posted that somewhere before. Cant remember where.

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AJ

1985 300D (SOLD)

I've got some serious problems on the '86 SDL. The vent temp on low fan is exactly 60°F. after 15 minutes of running. The vent temp on high fan climbs to a whopping 75°F. I never realized it was this bad until I finally put the thermometer on it. Surprisingly, with ambients in the high 80's, it cools better than one would believe by looking at the numbers.

Have you looked to see if your recirc function is working correctly? I had one bad pod and the other was actually disconnected, so I was always getting outside air, even when it was 98 degrees out. I replaced both of my vacuum pods on my 86 and with R134A I get 39 to 40 degrees out of the center vent on medium fan setting and about 48 to 50 degrees on high fan with recirc on.
The humidity here really requires me to run with recirc on almost all of the time.

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John
1986 300sdl
1985 380se

Good point..........I need to find that and check it out.

is thier a recirculation valve on 123 bodies?if yes then all of them or which models?