Sounds like you are making good progress man! Was the evaporator core case really nasty inside? Mine was not too bad but I cleaned it regardless. I think you will really be pleased with the final result. I am OCD so I made sure to clean out the aluminum lines I took out while doing the work....not sure if it made a difference but my AC is cold as an outhouse toilet seat in an Eskimo Alaskan winter.....4+ years and running after all the work....

First post on this forum, but I've scoured it quite a bit over the years.

You did the whole system replacement, what about the two lines from the expansion valve that run through the firewall? Were they included in what you bought, or did you purchase them separately? I have a slow leak and will be replacing my evap. core and expansion valves, and I can't seem to find the hoses anywhere.


Found the part I was looking for. It's #88710-35380, and called a tube assembly. I really cannot afford to replace every piece in the entire system, so has anyone ever heard of this part failing?

I did not replace the tubes through the firewall. I simply made sure to spray the cleaner through them and let them dry. Aluminum tubes rarely fail but in my case, I did have a "knick" in the line and had a buddy tig-weld a spot of aluminum to stop it up........

Got the condenser and dryer in this morning. Pretty easy job, just a ton of bolts to take off and then reinstall. Only issue I had was two of my clips that hold the grill on broke. Cable ties to the rescue until I can get new ones.

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Here’s a couple photos of the evaporator. Mine was filled with 19 years of nastiness. Glad I decided to just replace all these major components as they looked pretty bad after 217k of use... The only non OEM part I used was the evaporator. Got some other brand off Amazon that all had 5 star reviews. Decided to roll the dice on that part based on the reviews. Fit perfect and no issues during the install.

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Great pics! man, that evap core was definitely ready to be replaced. I am sure the air in your rig will also smell much better now. Nice job!

One question: How did you end up cleaning up/out the evaporator core case? (I rinsed my out and then put it in the dishwasher...LOL...but it WORKED!)

I used about a tree and a half of paper towels and glass cleaner to wipe it all out. It was a mess! Get back from Chicago tomorrow night then hope to finish this up Thursday and be fishing all weekend, weather permitting! Thanks for the help!

Man, that's awesome and I do hope the write-up was helpful. I don't know about you, but I live in Alabama where it gets pretty freaking hot in the summer. Having a new system that you know is gonna work is awesome in the hot summer! Nice job!

Well, I finally got it all apart, and it is nasty. Add to the fact that I will have to get a new tube assembly

https://parts.olathetoyota.com/oem-p...MtNGwtdjYtZ2Fz

because when I removed the 2 bolts holding it all together, they had seized to the threaded aluminum inserts and stripped them out.......

So rather than take a chance, it's getting replaced too.

BTW, the link is to the dealership I bought the part from and they beat my local place by $20 including shipping and will have it here in three days instead of next week.

Meetball: Are you doing a complete AC rebuild as well?

awesome thread. one more of the things on my list to do to my 4runner. When I got it it had been hit on the front passenger side and the condenser was damaged so the AC didn't work. I took the compressor out shortly after I got the 4runner, kept all the tubing and hope to rebuild at some point.

No. This started as just a replacement of the evaporator core, expansion valve and the tube assembly....til now.

Need help.

Replaced the above mentioned parts with either rockauto.com or dealer parts. Reassembled, and took to have recharged. 29mm of vacuum held for an hour, recharged, and blew great (according to the words of the shop, and I trust them). Said they put 1.6 pounds in. An hour later, my wife and I go to pick it up, and there's an issue. The truck wanted to idle around 500 rpm, and the compressor started kicking on/off continuously. It didn't blow cold, and nothing in the dryer sight glass. Leak, right? I could rev it up some, and the engine would smooth out, the a/c fan would speed up, compressor cycled on (and stayed on until I let go of the throttle), and I could see freon in the site glass. Let off the throttle, and it would go back to the same crap. Shop and I agree that there must be a leak.

Get this, they pulled 1.6 pounds back off of it. Had them pull the system back down so I could look to see what was wrong, and there was no leak.

SO, WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?

Any pointers in a reasonable direction will be greatly appreciated.

(if this is a hijack, let me know and I'll post a new thread)

If there was a leak at the start, then the vacuum should not have held. Did you replace the major components with Denso or aftermarket from places like RockAuto? I would definitely swap out the AC relay under hood. If I remember correctly, it is one of larger relays in the fuse box. Did you replace the pressure switch?

One other thing: Did you replace the expansion valve? I suspect it is either the low pressure switch or the expansion valve but those are just guesses.....I think the system only takes around 20 ounces of R134A and I am wondering if that equates to the 1.6LBS you mentioned....