bashea

I need to replace my discharge (high-pressure) hose and receiver/dryer. Should I get a seal kit and replace all the seals I can get to (not the evaporator) while I have the system open? Or is it better to leave everything alone?

LEAK FINDING TIP: The UV dye (.25 oz bottle is $4 at Napa Auto Parts) and a blacklight flashlight ($6 at Lowe's) is the best way to find a leak, inexpensively. You just need to borrow or buy a gauge manifold ($60 at Harbor Freight). Unless the leak is in the evaporator. Then you'll need the "sniffer" device. But, check that after checking everything else. Connections (including the Schrader valves), hose ends, and the compressor shaft seal are the usual leak locations.

ezone

If it were my own car I'd want to replace all the seals I could while the system is empty.

RayfenWindspear

Gaskets can rot over time. Technically the system is sealed, so they won't rot quickly, but you might as well swap them all, it's not that big a job. Depending on how thorough you want to be, you could skip the two for the expansion valve given that you'd have to dismantle the glove box and pull the evaporator out (careful to keep it tilted, the open ports leak oil like a boss). The gaskets for the evaporator itself though only require dismounting the battery.

bashea

Thank you so much for the advice, ezone and RayfenWindspear. I didn't realize the evaporator connections were easy to access from the firewall!

But, now I'm wondering if there's any benefit to removing the evapoarator to replace the two seals on the expansion valve. That's a lot of extra work, so I'm wondering: Has being an internal component, inside a casing, inside the passenger compartment, and away from outside temperatures and exposure all these years, preserved those seals better than the ones in the engine compartment?

ezone

From your lowest ambient temperature to approx 200F interior after sitting in the sun is quite a bit of temperature.
Maybe more if you're ever in a desert area.
I'm in the rust/salt belt, and I've really measured 190+F on a dashboard surface on a sunny day.
That's just effects of ambient conditions without ever running the engine LOL

Consider that you have (you posted in) 6th gen car thats around 20 years old. Time takes its toll on seals too.

FWIW the most leak prone seals are typically the ones on the high side of the system, as that's the side that has high temperatures and high pressures while the system is operating.
That's everything from the compressor discharge port to the condenser to the drier to the expansion valve.

The compressor itself takes and creates a bunch of heat so I'd also change the seal on the suction line at the compressor.

bashea

Out the evaporator comes! Thanks for the advice.

RayfenWindspear

And yeah it's a bit of work, but it's not too bad to get the box out. I recently replaced everything and I'd say the evaporator isn't too bad... or at the very least, the process is straightforward. Every other component I removed had some sort of gotcha where I had to maneuver a part some specific way or remove an entirely different component first. The only gotcha I suppose is that one last nut at the top that you need a 1/4" thick long ratchet extension. The standard thickness extensions wouldn't get in there.

Just remember, keep the open connections skyward on that thing... it contains an alarming amount of oil you don't want leaving the system and all over your upholstery. Live and learn

RayfenWindspear

Hey, so I'm guessing you took the evaporator out... I'm curious what year and trim your vehicle is and what filter you found there. A number of places I looked placed my 2000 GX with (theres two it seems?), yet they weren't a fit. Also, it seems the 2000 GX isn't listed as having a filter, the manual says it doesn't, and indeed, there was NOT a filter, or even a filter frame in the evaporator box. I found a Honda frame via a youtube video that does fit and modified a completely different filter to fit (a single 8x9"), but I'm wondering just what is supposed to be there.

ezone

It did not come with a cabin filter, it was not designed to have a cabin filter.
If you figured out a way to strap a filter to yours, I hope you made it easy to replace later on

(AFAIK) 2001 was the first year that Civic in N.A. was equipped with cabin filter, and it took a pair of those narrow ones.

bashea

RayfenWindspear: 1997 DX. No cabin air filter.

RayfenWindspear

is an exact match if anyone wants to install one. Slides right in and even has two little tab things that fit the air box, so you know it's really the right one, and in the right way. I haven't figured out the filter that goes in it yet, but the frame itself is 8x9" (1 inch thick I think), so I can't imagine it would be hard to match up. I got a filter that was supposedly for it but it was 8.9 x 8.8 x 1.3 inches, so I cut the filter smaller and hot glued cardboard to the bare sides to keep it stable and it fits nicely, but it forced me to "accordion" the pleats smaller, so there is probably a little less air flow than there should be.

After replacing my evaporator and seeing all the leaves and crap that were gummed up in it, I wouldn't put the thing back together until I had a filter in place. I'll have to snap a picture, but the old evaporator was so incredibly dirty.

Colin42

tried fixing your link, still isnt working

RayfenWindspear

Scratch that, got it working.