Ford Focus - Aft Mkt Evaporator

[Frank Panipinto]

Greetings all. Haven't been on the Forum lately. Lost my lube tech/tire guy, so I got elected, in addition to all my other duties...We replaced the evaporator & accumulator per customer request (he is a parts manager at a local Range Rover dealership). Customer supplied his own aftermarket parts. Once apart, the new evaporator was wrong, so we ordered one from Napa. Customer now complains the air is not cold enough. Thermometer in center vent reads 55° on lowest blower setting on a 90° day. We tried a new orifice tube, evac & recharge - no change. I know that a 35° difference should be comfortable, but it takes a long time to get to that temp, and we routinely get temps into the low 40's and even mid to high 30's. Has anyone had an experience like this with an aftermarket (Napa PN 288016) evaporator? We really do not want to do this job again...especially gratis...

[Tim Martin]

Don't ya gotta love it when the customer wants a certain job done because his wifes brothers son in laws uncle said this part is the problem. And then the part he wants replaced turns out to be not the correct part. Extremely nice! And fun! And pays sooooooo well.

But to address the issue, I have run into similar issues already. Although to say that the aftermarket evaporator in this situation is the fault is probably somewhat premature without a proper diagnosis which for me would include evacuating the system, measuring the oil and freon charge. Recharging the system after a deep vacuum cycle, and trying to get pressures to be right considering the temperature and humidity levels. I'd also want to make sure that there is good air flow through the condenser (minimum 15degrees drop from inlet to outlet, more is better), as well as checking the condenser fan operation. There is many variables in these kind of vehicles. The other thing is that beings youa re in the deep south, it will take a bit to cool the interior, especially if it is a dark color car. The other thing is that to have a 35 degree temperature difference from outside to inside is not too unrealistic although I admit I prefer to see a greater difference.

When the evaporator was replaced, was the blend door seals disturbed in the evaporator/heater housing? This is an important item sometimes gets overlooked.

Just a few thoughts I had as I read the post. HTH!

[steven kiser]

i know because of first hand experience that ford redesighned the a/c lines. this may or may not resolve you issue. the way it's described as slow cooling the first thing that pops into mind is too much oil.

[ricmorin]

Greetings all. Haven't been on the Forum lately. Lost my lube tech/tire guy, so I got elected, in addition to all my other duties...We replaced the evaporator & accumulator per customer request (he is a parts manager at a local Range Rover dealership). Customer supplied his own aftermarket parts. Once apart, the new evaporator was wrong, so we ordered one from Napa. Customer now complains the air is not cold enough. Thermometer in center vent reads 55° on lowest blower setting on a 90° day. We tried a new orifice tube, evac & recharge - no change. I know that a 35° difference should be comfortable, but it takes a long time to get to that temp, and we routinely get temps into the low 40's and even mid to high 30's. Has anyone had an experience like this with an aftermarket (Napa PN 288016) evaporator? We really do not want to do this job again...especially gratis...

My first question is why was the evap replaced initially? Was it leaking? Or did the parts guy think that by replacing the evap would make it colder?

[fortknoxx]

does this critter have a cabin air filter?
my jetta blows colder air if i have the button hit for recirculating the air in the car, vs the air being pulled in from the out side. maybe he doesn't really know what that button on the dash is for. ya know the one with the arrow in a circle thru a car.

just a thought!

[Stewart Levy]

Hopefully you matched the fin count on the evap,
Gage readings are very important HIGH AND LOW at Idle and the the car at 1500 RPM.
Over charged systems with 134a don't cool as well as a starved system!
Using non OEM will make you usually under charge because they usually use smaller tubes. and they normaly won't cool the car or truck as well!
have you tried pinch off of the heater hoses? to see if you gain what you need.

[brianp87]

YOu may have to get some temp reading off of evap to see if your loosing the cooling in the dash?