1991 NSX Leaking AC Evaporator

[Kim Howlett]

Hi all;
I've had my '91 NSX since 2000 and have now encountered a new issue - a leaking AC evaporator. That is the conclusion that Jerry Sample, the NSX mechanic who works on my car, has come to after a considerable amount of diagnosing. I understand that the dealer no longer carries this part and I'm looking for a replacement. Any suggestions???? I live in San Diego and would certainly like to have AC in the summer.

Thanks to all for any help you can provide.

Kim Howlett

 

[goldNSX]

What part did the dealer look up, the one for R12? Do you still run R12?

 

[Larry Bastanza]

For an original 1991 - 80210-SL0-A02 is available to be purchased, you may have to wait for it $377.85

For a later model (for R134) 80210-SL0-A03 is also available to be purchased in the US. $434.49

It is defined as: Evaporator Sub-Assembly

Go Here: https://www.oemacuraparts.com/

You will find it in the "Electrical/Exhaust/Heater/Fuel" section under "Heater Unit" in the parts catalog.

HTH,
LarryB

 

[Miner]

And it is an easy job to replace!!!!

Ha Ha. I have been without A/C for 10 years now because of a leak in the evaporator.

I will get to it one of these years. Will be a good project with my daughter, who will get it when she graduates from college, in 18 years or so.

Thanks goodness I live in San Diego.

 

[Valhalla]

You can reach out to Joe Guetteri who can replace your existing unit with a completely refurbished one. He's based out of SW Florida and will just need your core for the swap. He's mostly on FaceBook but believe he resides on Prime as well. I think he goes by nsxspdfreak on this forum. He is like the Larry B of A/C for our cars.

 

[Miner]

That is good to hear.

 

[goldNSX]

I will get to it one of these years. Will be a good project with my daughter, who will get it when she graduates from college, in 18 years or so.

Is there some hope for us to see a DIY write-up? :wink:

 

[Old Guy]

I offer up the following with no comment on the quality of the product. RockAuto sells a replacement for the later style evaporator (80210-SL0-A03 ) for less than $60 Cdn. Its supplied by UAC and sourced from China so you can make your own risk assessment on quality. If it were a condenser, I would say go for it. Because its the Evap, there is a lot more time and $ involved in doing the replacement, so the cost of the part is less significant in terms of the overall repair cost. The $ saving associated with a bargain part may disappear if it fails prematurely. Tough call to make!

When you look in the service manual, the manual only dedicates two pages to the R&R of the Heater/Evap. Notwithstanding the recharge thing, that doesn't seem so bad until you spot the single line on those pages:
7. Remove the dashboard (Section 20).
That tends to throw a wrinkle into things.

You have my sympathies.

 

[goldNSX]

I've also seen the China part but already have the 'real' thing in stock. It all depends on the leak rate of the evap. My system looses around 200g per year (since 18 years!). Not enough yet to justify the hassle...

The OP might check how big the leak really is before starting a major surgery.

 

[drew]

http://www.nsxprime.com/forum/showthread.php/203799-1991-nsx-evaporator-discontinued-part

I've done the job, you'll need a double car garage for working space. It is a lot of screws and is easy to break your dash when dropping/installing the steering column.

Combine the jobs of greasing up the squeaky dash and the probably cracked dash defrost panel. A shampoo of your carpet is probably in order as well.

Your part can be repaired as the sharp bend tends to develop holes. Make sure you don't have the "black death" or you will spend a whole day cleaning out the pipes and installing a new compressor (use the one scheduled for the Legend).

For me: 6 hours removal and 10 hours to replace. I would have liked to have spent another day cleaning, greasing and resealing/foaming the evaporator box.

If your system is completely discharged, then unlikely you can get away with just topping off the system with refrigerant every year. A shop in CA is not allowed to top off systems, so you will have to do it yourself.

 

[Miner]

16 hours; sounds like fun! Maybe I'll wait until my daughter is 10 (currently 7) before we start this project!

I thought I read (here or in the service manual) procedures for removing the dash.

Or perhaps I'll live without A/C!

 

[Kim Howlett]

Thanks for all the info Larry. I'll ck it out.
BTW.. I noticed you're located Warwick NY... Not too far from Nyack, where I graduated from Nyack High way back in the day.

Best Regards
Kim

 

[Kim Howlett]

It's been quite hot here during summer in San Diego over the last several years and I guess I'm a bit spoiled. In addition, a recharge only lasts about one year..

Kim

 

[goldNSX]

The A/C compressor is switched off below a charge level of 400g. So you're loosing around 500g per year, that's a lot and would justify the job.

 

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

[MENTION=21682]Kim Howlett[/MENTION], this is from my RHD model so it will look different from yours but you will get the idea on what you need to go through;
http://www.nsxcb.co.uk/entry.php?1836-AC-Refresh-01

Replacing the evaporator will force you opening up the big white plastic heater unit under the dashboard and all of the foam seals inside there are dead by now so best replacing them.
As [MENTION=25419]Valhalla[/MENTION] mentioned, Joe has foam seal DIY kit as well as offers refresh service.

Check heater core while replacing the evaporator.
If you see trace of coolant seepage (rare but happened on several NSX), consider repairing or for LHD, you should be able to find aftermarket replacement.
I think Joe may be able to help you on this as well.

Just one note about the heater core.
If you order new OEM one, you will receive the latest aluminium one and not the brass one that you have.
The bent angle/shape of the two pipes is different between the aluminium and brass one and thus, different version won't fit inside your existing big plastic heater unit so be careful.

While in there, consider replacing some of the plastic grommets at the pedal.
So much easier when you have extra space.

You may want looking at the SRS unit although it's a safety device so decision is up to you.

Check the state of the defrost panel especially around the sun-light sensor at the middle.
Sometimes, not easy to see the crack when it's warm so ask someone to gently tap on the panel while monitoring from outside.
You need to take the entire dashboard out in order to replace it.
Can't remember how these car/VIN specific tag/plate were attached on Acura. May be on the dashboard and not on the defrost panel???
Please review if replacing the parts around it.

Don't overfill the refrigerant. It could puncture the evaporator again in longer term.
NSX uses huge drier/receiver that acts as accumulator as well so the system has some tolerance but never exceed the max amount.
Not sure how you topped up the system in the past but it's easy to overfill.
For some reason, the puncture happens at the low pressure side of the evaporator side wall and not the high pressure side....

Good luck.


Kaz

 

[drew]

>Replacing the evaporator will force you opening up the big white plastic heater unit under the dashboard and all of the foam seals inside there are dead by now so best replacing them.

Yes, I wish I would have done this, but I needed to get my car back on the road as it was my daily driver at the time. It would take another day or two to restore the heater/evap box: cleaning, new foam, and lubrication. The box will be quite dirty and blend doors will be in need of maintenance.

And new caps for SRS unit, at least loosen/tighten up the torx bolts as they are extremely difficult to remove.

And if your Climate Control unit hasn't been done, then do that too. And, midas swell, send in your cluster because the caps go out on that too...and they can be very destructive. Oh, an don't forget the stock radio head unit, if you do the caps while it is still working that would be a major bonus.

**

Legally, you could drive around without a dash too. Technically, the law in CA only requires a high-beam indicator.

 

[goldNSX]

And new caps for SRS unit, at least loosen/tighten up the torx bolts as they are extremely difficult to remove.

Just heat the screws up. Just don't burn down the car.

I'd love to see a list of parts involved in the evap procedure but for now I'm going the NIKE way and hope I'll find a workaround for the heater core not fitting straight away and the foam and whatever is going to expect me.

Sometimes, I wonder how many NSXs have undergone a major revision and how many are lying around...

 

[SWFL_NSX]

I replaced the evap in my 91 last summer.

1. Yes, order the foam kit from Joe-it's worth having all the different types of foam on hand

2. Please be careful with the dash-I cracked mine under the steering wheel after being too hasty with re-assembly. You can repair them with hot staples, fiberglass matt and epoxy that is mean to bond to ABS. The repair is very solid, but it's embarrassing mistake to make!

3. If the compressor is original, it's a good time to do that as well consider sticking with r12. I live in Florida (brutally hot and muggy in the summer) and feel this is necessary.

4. When you blow out the AC lines, don't disconnect the condensers-the aluminum fittings are known to crack on disassembly.

5. Agree with Kaz...spend the $300 for the exhaust panel and replace it now. Kaz has excellent advice on his website about AC service as well.

5. Excellent advice from Drew on the ABS unit!

 

[drew]

Where is the source for "foam kit from Joe"?

Honda calls for the Denso 10PA15C. I highly recommend the 10PA20C as it has a slightly higher displacement (20cc vs 15cc) and all else is the same. Get ONLY the highest quality new or rebuild possible via OE/Denso (New OEM Denso is $260 on RockAuto); it is better to do NOTHING as cheap bearings or vanes will ruin your a/c system. If you think replacing your evap is expensive, the cost of cleaning debris out your system will murder your checkbook. Keep your OEM core.

Consider sending BrianK: SRS, CCU, Instrument Cluster, and Stereo head unit. If the old caps bleed they tend to completely ruin the stereo and apparently the cluster can cause a fire.

Yeah, it gets to be a an expensive job to have done correctly.