My '95 E320 W124 has the dreaded leaking evaporator!

I intend to do the work myself, does anyone have any information that will help?

Specifically how do I disarm the air bags and how do I remove the dash?

Is this info covered in a manual?

If anyone has done this before I would very much appreciate some help.

Englishman

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1995 Mercedes E320

E-man do a search. There are a couple/few members that have just finished this procedure.

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Jim

I did our 94 e320 (75k miles) last month. Take your time, bag and label everything, use a digital camera for reference, TAKE YOUR TIME.

It's basically nuts and bolts I also replaced my heater core and all vent actuators while I was in there. They didn't need to be replaced, just insurance for the future.

I bought all my parts from Phil at FastLane.

I made my own evap drip hoses from heater hose I had laying around. The foam crap evap drip hoses that are OEM are crap

Make sure you have radio removal keys, a torx set, buy the instrument cluster removal tool (I tried with my homemade set and it wasted about 2 hours of my time), no need to remove to steering wheel (hence no need to remove drivers side airbag), just fully extend it out. Passenger airbag has two red electrical leads that just pop out. Assembly is held in by one long bolt accessed from below the dash.

Best bet is buy or borrow a manual. Even better is to find someone who has done the job and have them help along the way. Hidalgo (local forum member) was a huge help during my evap job

What is the typical failure mode for these evaporators?... corrosion from leaf debris?... internal corrosion?... poor joints?

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95 E320 Cabriolet, 159K

They just leak. Period!
The new ones, last longer. They are copper, the originals were aluminum.

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J.H.
'86 300E

I have to replace the evaporator in my 1994 e420. So the passenger side airbag has to come out? Any threat of it blowing up in my face? I haven't gotten there yet, but are the two red leads newmann talked about obvious? I am must assuming they are either plugs or maybe spade-connector type things.

BTW do you guys take out the seats? When I replaced the evaporator in my old BMW, I found that removing the seats was a huge help space wise.

The 2 red leads just pop out. It was a real head scratcher for me and then I was wiggling one and it just popped out. Theres no pins or clips to hold them in , just piece to piece friction and tight tolerances.

With the battery disconnected you should have no explosion.

I started to remove my seats and it seemed like more trouble than its worth. I almost had the passneger seat completely out but got hung up on a bolt or two and said screw it. I left them in and it was fine. I actually did alot of the work from the nice comfy cushions

I'd put a towel/sheet or something over the seats as they did receive a fair amount of sweat and dirt. It was pretty hot and humid in my garage when the job was going on.