whats up every1...my a/c had gone hot..so i went to my friendly mechanic thinking that all it needed was new free-on...after a week or 2...the air was cold again...my mechanic told me that it was the a/c evaporator, i've never heard of it, and i like to work on cars...iu dunno what it does..and i hear that the price to fix it is quite hefty..cause u have to change other parts too...my question is...doesn't any1 knwo if the a/c evaporator is the same thing as a A/C Receiver-Drier ? if it is then i'm all good..thanks for your help...later

 

Evaporator is the 'grille/fin' thingy in the cabin side.

Condenser is the thing that looks like a radiator that sits in front of the car

Receiver drier is the cylindrical thingy that sits in the engine compartment very near (next) to the condenser.

Sorry for the lack of technical terms, I'm not very big on words

 

THANKS FOR THE INFO, THIS SUX NOW I HAVE TO SPEND LOTS OF $$$$ FOR THSI STUPID EVAPORATOR...DO YOU OR ANY1 ESLE KNOW WHERE I CAN GET GOOD/CHEAP A/C EVAPORATORS FOR MY 95 MAXIMA? THANKS

ALSO, YOU'RE CAR LOOKS PHAT, I HAVE THE SAME CAR BUT IN A DARK GREEN...WHAT DID YOU DO TO YOUR TAIL LIGHTS TO GET RID OF THE AMBER PART? I'M DYING TO GET RID OF IT, THANKS AGAIN!

 

Hee-hee....thingy = technical terms

 

Actually it is pretty rare for these things to die in normal cars most are made of copper. The ones made of Al. are the ones that break all the time. I have no idea which is in the maxima but if it is a copper one I would suspect the actual failure occured ni the expansion valve.. The expansion valve is driectly attached to the evaporator core and it is what makes the liquid into a gas.. If you need these parts.. I have a used set off 95 maxima. $50 for it.

 

sounds good, imma check exaclty what i need, and then i'll get back to you..thanks...

 

Hopefully someone can help me here, this is going to be a little more detailed description of my A/C problem. I own a 95 Nissan Maxima SE, I had bought it from a private seller, a couple of weeks after, I realized my air had been getting hot, I thought nothing of it so I went to the dealer and just asked for some free-on to be put in. Like a week or so later, the air had become hot again. When I brought my car back to the mechanic, they did a routine A/C check. They told me that my Evaporator had gone bad. After talking to a someone from this forum (Cbr2 ), I had a little bit of a clearer view on what my problem was. I now know that when I do change the parts (yes I'm going to be doing it), I will need a new evaporator, 2 o-rings, and a valve needed with the evaporator.
I went to my car to check out the area where I would soon be working on, big problem. It looks like wreck in there, I have no idea where or what anything is. If anyone could help me out here telling me which boxes are what and which peice is for what blah blah blah, I would appreciate it. I basicall need to knwo where the evaporator is and anythign else I should know when I fix my A/C. Thanks

 

If you had the freon "topped off" at the dealer and it worked fine for a couple weeks your evap is prob leaking. Is that what the mechanic said? Did he say the evap was leaking? If you do need to replace the evap, I would also replace the expansion valve as cbr2 said. Keep in mind this is a labor intensive job and the A/C system will need to have a vacuum applied to it and then refilled.(you cant do this yourself without the proper A/C equip). Just be sure that if the evap is leaking and that if you do attempt this yourself that you replace ALL o-rings you remove with new ones and you coat them with A/C refrigerant oil.

 

Yeah, after the second visit, they told me that I needed a new A/C Evaporator, they also told me that I needed to change other parts as well (I'm assuming its the expansion valve and O-rings). I was told that it's not that hard to replace all that stuff. Cbr2 has the parts in better condition for $50 so I plan on buying from him (trying to save some money compared to the $250+ told by my mechanic). If i see that its too much of a hassle to change myself, I'll go to my mechanic and have him do it. I still don't know where the parts are in my car, I just want to know where exactly the evap is and the valve , anyways, thanks for your help, appreciate the info

 

The evap is in the air box. Your gonna have to remove your glove box and the panel under it. Should be a white plastic 2 peice box mounted under the dash. You will have to remove the A/C lines from it and thats prob done from under the hood. I havent done one on a Max so I'm not 100% sure. The evap will look like a mini radiator and should be somewhat next to the heater core which also looks like a mini radator only its the smaller of the two. Good luck man.

 

Thanks, this is really helpful info. I'm going to take apart my dash just to see what I'm up against, if I need any more info I'll be back lol.

 

No prob. EM me if ya need anything.