E-150 replacement A/C evaporator
 

Hello, I am a new member from the UK. I have a 1987 Econoline E-150 which has a problem with its air conditioning system. I am a complete novice with this sort of thing so any advice would be gratefully received.

I was investigating leaking coolant and found the evaporator pipe work to be split. As I am not familiar with these items, I wonder whether the evaporator not only handles the air conditioning, from the compressor mounted on the engine, but also deals with heating via the engine coolant as well.I have tried to research this item on the internet and the nearest replacement I have found is a 4 Seasons/Everco 44071. However, this item seems to be about half the width of the existing one and has a mounting flange on either end. I am also uncertain about the pipe work configuration. The problem is that the existing evaporator shares a black plastic housing with a motor which has a fan either side of it. The existing evaporator is a tube and fin type and the dimensions, without the external pipe works on the ends, are approximately 5” by 5” by 15”. I cannot find a manufacturer's name or a part number. I suspect this combination unit may not be OEM as I bought the vehicle second hand.

The obvious thing for me to do is seek advice in the UK but such vehicles are scarce. Therefore, I hope owners in the USA will be kind enough to share their knowledge and opinions.

Thank you.

Are you working on the front or rear A/C portion? The "4 Seasons/Everco 44071" part you mention is for the rear evaporator. Could you post a picture/pictures of what you're in need of?

E-150 replacement A/C evaporator
 

Thanks Common Sense for your interest. I am talking about the rear of the vehicle where the evaporator is side mounted in a plastic housing with a double fan motor. This is behind a panel by the passenger R/H/S rear door. I hope these photographs are helpful.

Best wishes.

Hope this helps you or points you in a good direction.

That is a dual purpose unit. In picture #5, the top 1/2 is the heater core and the bottom 1/2 is the evaporator. I see the split in the heater core coil in picture #5. It is repairable. A good radiator shop should be able to silver solder it for you. If you know a good A/C Technician, he/she could also silver solder it for you. You want to have it silver soldered due to the temp, pressure and being located on a bend where most fluid cavitation takes place.

E-150 replacement A/C evaporator
 

Thanks Common Sense, both for replying and pointing me in the right direction with some very helpful information. If I can get the existing unit repaired that might be a much quicker and cheaper solution to my problem.

I apologise if this is a silly question but do you have any suggestions as to the manufacturer or model number of the evaporator? Do you think it is OEM or are the vans converted by so many different coachbuilders that it would be difficult to hazzard a guess?

Thanks again!

Don't know if it's OEM or aftermarket. But my guess would be that based on the design of the Heater core/Evaporator unit itself, it is an OEM part. Most coach builders use OEM for the main units and just do interior upgrades/conversions as it's a lot cheaper for them to use OEM everything for the base unit they are building. But then again, that's just my guess.

E-150 replacement A/C evaporator
 

Thanks Use Common Sense for your reply. I am grateful for all your advice. I shall post any progress in solving this problem in due course.

With best wishes,

oxford

Sounds lime a plan. Good Luck...:)

E-150 replacement A/C evaporator
 

Apologies to Use Common Sense for the delay of about 6 weeks in updating progress on my problem. I could not identify my exact evaporator to replace it, so eventually followed Use Common Sense's advice to have the existing one repaired. This had been done and filled up with coolant. It does not appear to be leaking. I haven't had the air conditioning system recharged yet but hope that is also good. The recharging may be put off for a while as I have further maintenance to do to get the vehicle road worthy.

Anyway, I just wanted, albeit belatedly, to thank Use Common Sense for his friendly advice. It is much appreciated.

You're welcome and thanks for the update. Sounds like you're making progress. What ever you do, "DO NOT" get rid of your R-12 system. If you upgrade to R-134a, you will be greatly disappointed in the performance. The R-12 system will always provide ice. Another nice thing about an R-12 system is if you don't know how much refrigerant to put in and you have an inline site glass, you just add refrigerant until there are very few to no bubbles in the site glass.