Air conditioning annual cleaning - is it necessary?

[ExpatOilWorker]

After reading the below DIY aircon cleaning, it might be a good idea to service it from time to tome.

http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?1361947-DIY-HVAC-Overhaul

[Pib]

From reading the article it said, "The pictures show 30 years of crap accumulation."

And from looking at one of the other pictures that showed full size tree leaves the wire/plastic coarse screen protecting the outside air inlet that most vehicles have (to keep out leaves, critters, etc) must have been removed over the years. Yeap, don't use a every 30 years A/C cleaning schedule.

[BSJ]

For a little used car every 4 or 5 years but for a car being used a lot or in the country 2 or 3 years.

[Rdrokit]

Depends on how many kilometers you drive. My maintenance manual calls for the cabin air filter to be replaced at 30,000km. They do clean when I get an oil change every 6,000km.

[PMK]

Toyota Sattahip is quoting me 2,500 baht on my 2010 Vios. They said the aircon is "very dirty". I think it's BS. I had it done around 20,000 KM/2 years ago.

[JAS21]

Be advised if you leave it too long (Mrs J's Mazda Lantis), or it is just old  ....you could end up having to do this 

 

 

Because the 'thingee' ended up like this  ...

 

 

Edited May 19, 2017 by JAS21

[Pib]

Chances are very low lack of cleaning drove the requirement to swap out the AC condenser under the dash....it is indeed a major job to replace...one to three days depending on the vehicle.   Expect the car really had a small refrigerant leak which usually occurs from pin size leaks developing in the condenser due to "corrosion" since that is where the A/C also removes/lower humidity from the circulating air.  The condenser works in a damp environment....just the nature of its job.,.which causes the condenser to corrode. Or just a latent factory defect that takes years for the leak to occur.    Low/leaking refrigerant levels mean poor cooling.

 

Plus in above picture quite a few of the condenser fins are bent badly....only rough handling could cause that.  How the rough handling could have occurred while in use I couldn't say...maybe poking around with a metal cleaning sprayer in the condenser area when cleaning before....or maybe those bent fins were caused by the mechanics who removed the condenser.

 

I did get my 2009  Fortuner A/C professionally cleaned at a Toyota dealership in a weak moment which cost me Bt2000.   A Fortuner has two condensers....the main one under the dash and a second one in the rear quarter panel to help cool the back area of the SUV. Toyota sprays foam cleaner on both condensers and rinses them by high pressure water....pretty much like cleaning your home A/Cs.   The Toyota tech who cleaned mine said my condensers were only "nit-noi" dirty.   Did it help the cooling?...maybe just a very little bit....but that improved cooling could have also been due to them evacuating and recharging the refrigerant.  But the cooled air did smell nice for a few days until the fragence of the foam cleaner wore off.

 

Edit: and yes, car shops saying your need your AC cleaned is something many push, whether needed or not.  Like your tires are now three years old....they need to be replaced.  Many times unneeded filter changes.   AC cleaning is just one of the many things shops will attempt to convince a customer they "need/gotta" to do and works all too often....it don't hurt to to have your car AC professionally cleaned and maybe you do drive around is a dust bowl....but if you are like me you drive around with your AC recirculating "inside vehicle air" not dirty outside vehicle air.   I do change/clean the A/C filter under the glove box compartment every 6 to 12 months...it's never really dirty..   But  if you are getting the cleaning done due to poor cooling it may just be low & leaking refrigerant that is the real culprit.   A/Cs can be a real pain (expensive pain) sometimes.

Edited May 19, 2017 by Pib

[Pib]

Had a brain fart in writing above. Where I said condenser above I meant to say evaporator.

The condenser is in front of the radiator in the engine compartment. The evaporator is inside the vehicle usually under the dash.

[JAS21]

10 hours ago, Pib said:

Chances are very low lack of cleaning drove the requirement to swap out the AC condenser under the dash....it is indeed a major job to replace...one to three days depending on the vehicle.   Expect the car really had a small refrigerant leak which usually occurs from pin size leaks developing in the condenser due to "corrosion" since that is where the A/C also removes/lower humidity from the circulating air.  The condenser works in a damp environment....just the nature of its job.,.which causes the condenser to corrode. Or just a latent factory defect that takes years for the leak to occur.    Low/leaking refrigerant levels mean poor cooling.

 

Plus in above picture quite a few of the condenser fins are bent badly....only rough handling could cause that.  How the rough handling could have occurred while in use I couldn't say...maybe poking around with a metal cleaning sprayer in the condenser area when cleaning before....or maybe those bent fins were caused by the mechanics who removed the condenser.

 

I did get my 2009  Fortuner A/C professionally cleaned at a Toyota dealership in a weak moment which cost me Bt2000.   A Fortuner has two condensers....the main one under the dash and a second one in the rear quarter panel to help cool the back area of the SUV. Toyota sprays foam cleaner on both condensers and rinses them by high pressure water....pretty much like cleaning your home A/Cs.   The Toyota tech who cleaned mine said my condensers were only "nit-noi" dirty.   Did it help the cooling?...maybe just a very little bit....but that improved cooling could have also been due to them evacuating and recharging the refrigerant.  But the cooled air did smell nice for a few days until the fragence of the foam cleaner wore off.

 

Edit: and yes, car shops saying your need your AC cleaned is something many push, whether needed or not.  Like your tires are now three years old....they need to be replaced.  Many times unneeded filter changes.   AC cleaning is just one of the many things shops will attempt to convince a customer they "need/gotta" to do and works all too often....it don't hurt to to have your car AC professionally cleaned and maybe you do drive around is a dust bowl....but if you are like me you drive around with your AC recirculating "inside vehicle air" not dirty outside vehicle air.   I do change/clean the A/C filter under the glove box compartment every 6 to 12 months...it's never really dirty..   But  if you are getting the cleaning done due to poor cooling it may just be low & leaking refrigerant that is the real culprit.   A/Cs can be a real pain (expensive pain) sometimes.

Lantis doesn't have a cabin filter!  Local garage washed it. Then it smelled even though it was ozoned ... not a good idea to do that.

 

Got them to wash it again ... still smelled. Tried products recommended on the internet. 

 

Included leaving bowls of vinegar in the car and then charcoal to absorbe that smell.

 

In the end  bit the bullet. Evap was quite cheap. Came out aroung 5K for everything ...

 

Car is much cooler now ...

Edited May 20, 2017 by JAS21

[stubuzz]

@JAS21 Does the dash rattle now?

[Pib]

57 minutes ago, JAS21 said:

In the end  bit the bullet. Evap was quite cheap. Came out aroung 5K for everything ...

Don't know when you got the evap changed and changing an evap can vary greatly per vehicle, but over last year I've had two in-laws change evaps.   One was on a 2004 Toyota Camry....cost a little under Bt10K (parts and labor...new evap) at a shop in the province....took a full day.  Other was on a 2007 Fortuner at a Toyota Dealership in Bangkok....two days and a little over Bt12K (parts and labor...new evap)....original time estimate was 3 days....guess the dealership paces itself.

 

Changing an evap is truly a job like shown in your picture.  I personally did it once all by myself when still living in the U.S. on a 1984 Pontiac....took "all" day to get it out and in...dash removal....partial removal of the center console...etc...etc...etc....what a pain.  The car was around 22 years old when I did it...the evap had a small leak which caused the system to lose too refrigerant and not cool after only about two weeks of topping the refrigerant up. I can't remember the total cost in parts as I had ordered the new evap and had all the equipment to evacuate and recharge the system so there was no labor charge.  It cooled well afterwards and the leak was gone.

 

The evap did not look bad at all after being in it's compartment for around 22 years, but corrosion had caused a small leak.   But I had cleaned it once myself as access to the evap for some cleaning could be done from the engine compartment side....but to remove it most had to be done from the inside dash side.  Yeap, a real pain.

[Jessi]

Slight water leak on passenger side, not all the time just sometimes.

Does this mean the A/C needs a service or would it in indicate another problem?

Air is still very cold.

Many thanks.  

[transam]

29 minutes ago, Jessi said:

Slight water leak on passenger side, not all the time just sometimes.

Does this mean the A/C needs a service or would it in indicate another problem?

Air is still very cold.

Many thanks.  

There is a water drain tube which may have been partially blocked by something, but to get to it you gotta get under the ride and poke a piece of something up the tube, or even a blast from an air line. Do you have a nice pool of water under the car when you park up after a ride around...?

[Pib]

Either a partially restricted/clogged drain tube.

Or the evaporater is partially freezing over due to low refrigerant level and when melting it's leaking out where it shouldn't.

[Jessi]

Thanks for your replies. I will take the car out tomorrow & check about the water under.

 

I had a new evaporator installed and service the unit about 4 years ago, cost 7K.

 

So I might just get a service done next week. 

 

Many thanks for your help.

[Jessi]

The drain hose is working, plenty of water under the car.

 

There is a lot of condensation on the unit under the dash and this

seems to be where the water is coming from.

It looks as if Pib is correct. 

I will put the car in & get the A/C serviced this week.

 

Thank you for your help Tranny & Pib.

[Namplik]

On 19.5.2017 at 8:49 PM, PMK said:

Toyota Sattahip is quoting me 2,500 baht on my 2010 Vios. They said the aircon is "very dirty". I think it's BS. I had it done around 20,000 KM/2 years ago.

 

Not BS, you should do as they say. 

[Jessi]

On 5/21/2017 at 3:22 PM, Jessi said:

The drain hose is working, plenty of water under the car.

 

There is a lot of condensation on the unit under the dash and this

seems to be where the water is coming from.

It looks as if Pib is correct. 

I will put the car in & get the A/C serviced this week.

 

Thank you for your help Tranny & Pib.

I got the A/C serviced, no need for any parts just a good clean & re-gas. Cost 1,600B.

[Pib]

Be sure to jot down the re-gas date so if the cooling goes down hill within X-months you know you have a leak.

[Jessi]

25 minutes ago, Pib said:

Be sure to jot down the re-gas date so if the cooling goes down hill within X-months you know you have a leak.

Yes I will do that and thanks for your help along with transam. 

[USPatriot]

Your a.c. condenser coil evaporator coil is mounted by the radiator have it pressure washed when you have the car washed. The evaporator coil is inside the cabin by the blower motor.

 

I have never seen one dirty enough to stop an a.c. from cooling. I was an auto mechanic for 15 years I have been in the a.c. business for 8 years. I will say that having it cleaned would only help. Make sure if they take the Freon out that the evacuate the system with a vaccume pump before recharging the system with Freon.

 

 

[BEVUP]

On 5/4/2016 at 9:35 AM, funlovinkid said:

Great feedback on this, folks. I wasn't even aware there was an AC filter inside the passenger cabin. I don't drive that much, and Toyota talked me into this as recently as 2014, so I think I'll give it a pass this time. All good information, thanks!

& be cautious as the car dealers will also rip you off 

Had this happen on one of the earlier services on my Vigo as i was not familiar with the car lay out yet & yes it was concerning an Aircon clean

What the bloke did was when i parked up the Vigo in the service spot he came out put all the service covers on the seats & then started on about the clean. Low & behold he suddenly produced My (actually his) aircon filter from the drivers side which only took him 5 seconds

That's when i decided to check when i got home (& guess what ) it took me a couple of minutes as the mongrel of a thing was behind the glove box so that would make our Toyota service man better then Houdini 

[JAS21]

20 hours ago, USPatriot said:

Your a.c. condenser coil evaporator coil is mounted by the radiator have it pressure washed when you have the car washed. The evaporator coil is inside the cabin by the blower motor.

 

I have never seen one dirty enough to stop an a.c. from cooling. I was an auto mechanic for 15 years I have been in the a.c. business for 8 years. I will say that having it cleaned would only help. Make sure if they take the Freon out that the evacuate the system with a vaccume pump before recharging the system with Freon.

 

 

Have a look at posts #31 and #36 ...☺

[sometimewoodworker]

On 19/05/2017 at 10:49 PM, PMK said:

Toyota Sattahip is quoting me 2,500 baht on my 2010 Vios. They said the aircon is "very dirty". I think it's BS. I had it done around 20,000 KM/2 years ago.

That sound like a reasonable price. This is our pickup having the same job done after about the same millage. It took 4 hours. I managed to get it done under warranty. There is a space for an optional filter that we now have.

[USPatriot]

2 hours ago, JAS21 said:

Have a look at posts #31 and #36 ...☺

I did read the posts. I did say it can't hurt to have it done. As long as it is out might as well clean the blower wheel too.

 

 

[stud858]

Cleaning the condensor radiator is not difficult and should be only a few hundred baht.  Inside evaporator depends on car and could mean taking dash out to clean properly. I wouldn't bother. Don't fall for sales chatter. I only take my car to a shop that does service while I can watch too. 

[sometimewoodworker]

4 hours ago, stud858 said:

Cleaning the condensor radiator is not difficult and should be only a few hundred baht.  Inside evaporator depends on car and could mean taking dash out to clean properly. I wouldn't bother. Don't fall for sales chatter. I only take my car to a shop that does service while I can watch too. 

Depending on the car that not true as you can see from the pictures above.

[stud858]

1 hour ago, sometimewoodworker said:

Depending on the car that not true as you can see from the pictures above.

Some cars have easy access to evaporator  by removing glove box compartment only. 

[transam]

Just do NOT leave A/C on recirculating air and you probably will not have any problems...

[myjawe]

To confirm how much it must be wrong:

 

Even Benz and Bmw that like to charge for every single useless thing, do not propose aircon cleaning.

 

So I could not believe that a crap jap car needs it.