I have a 96 Z28 with AC that doesn't work. Compressor leaks and the lines leak. I am in the middle of a dash swap right now and considering replacing Evaporator core, although it was not one of the leaking components in the AC system. I for sure am going to replace the condensor when I get to the under the hood upgrades over the winter. I wanted to finish up my interior upgrades first, before tackling that stuff. Anyways, how hard is it to actually remove the evaporator core, and should I even be doing that if it is not leaking? The heater core I can see and it is labeled 1996 on it, but looks brand new still and it is definitely not leaking and not clogged or anything. What are your thoughts on replacing Evap Core while I have the dash out and does anyone have a step by step on removing it without cutting anything? I am basically tearing the whole car apart over the winter and am not opposed to removing stuff to avoid cutting things and gluing them back together. I definitely need the AC working in the summertime with the little ones. Gets really hot in the back for them.

 

Evap core rarely fail unless its cause by a human working near it. I have probably replaces dozens of lines and hundreds of compressors I think I have had to replace 2 evaporators for leaking and I know one of those was drilled through.

If you dryer/receiver blew and filled it up or he system open to the elements for years and has go knows what living in it then it should be replaced.

On the other had I have brought back several systems 25+ years old with just a compressor, dryer/receiver and Orifice tube. Most of the time when the condenser fails its from a rock or something hitting it. As a general rule it does not matter if the condenser is 20 years old or new when rock/road debris hits it a 60+ MPH. That assume that air can still flow through it.

 

Thanks man, I will probably just leave it in there then. I recharged ac in June and it worked for a few months and then it all leaked out of the back of the compressor and the schrader valves on the lines. I need to change the radiator anyways so I am going to replace the condensor, the accumulator and all of the lines that had the leaky valves.

 

If the car was mine and has been sitting I would replace all the o-ring and and valves. That should be under $10. Of course the compressor and drier receiver. Receiver is and absolute requirement on a system that have not been in use for awhile.

Depending on where everything else is and budget, I would be more inclined to replace brake line and power steering lines then I would AC lines, as they have a higher failure rate and have a worse effect when they fail. Also in many cases AC lines can be repaired if they crack.

The thought behind that is if someone said they restored a car and told me they reused all the hard parts of the AC unit and rebuilt the compressor I would respect that. If someone said they restored a car and reused all the brake lines I would consider them morons, unless the restoration was a trailer queen that never saw the the real road.

Again just an opinion.

 

I just parked it for the winter this past weekend. Been driving it since I bought it April. Brakes work fine at this point, power steering is good too. One of my goals was to fix AC this winter and I figured cause I swapping the newer style dash in, while the dash is out I should replace anything that needed it right away. The plan is to eventually replace everything, however money is an issue as well as time. So I will get as much done as I can this winter, focusing on what is currently broken and then work on replacing everything else.