Over the winter I noticed a musty smell when ever I turned on my AC to defrost windows, but always seemed to work. First semi-warm day and I notice my AC is not kicking in at all.

Used autozone quick charge kit and it kicked on and got cold quick, once again when the AC is running it smells, and the smell is not from bacteria (as I have researched) it smells like the 134a I just put in.

I believe I have an evaporator leak. Tore apart glove box to get to cabin filter (which was replaced 1 year ago) and really didn't see much debris inside as I know this is a common problem.

Went to a local junk yard to 'practice' how to pull this out as I couldn't find a how-to or any forums on here related to an AC leak inside the car. Ended up getting frustrated and breaking some parts on the 2 donor cars I went to practice on with my attempts to remove evaporator. (which I am surprised at the recent numbers of 2000 - 2003 Maximas in junk yards, this one had 8)

I plan on buying a new evaporator (and dryer) but am curious if anyone has experienced this or has ever replaced it. I have all the items to vacuum the system and recharge properly and I know that those quick refills typically cause more harm then help.

Any advice here would be appreciated.

 

I'm not an a/c guy but in general it is possible for any part to go bad. It sounds to me that you are guessing that the evaporator coil is leaking. It could also be the line has a pinhole in it. Maybe you should consider taking the car to a shop and have them do a leak test and verify your theory.

Here are 2 videos on replacing the evaporator coil. These for a 4th gen, but the 4th and 5th gens are pretty similar. Maybe you can get some pointers on the removal.