Nowadays as noticed that most of the cars that need to remove the whole dashboard when replacing the cooling coil (evaporator), as consider the workmanship even OEM standard that might have some minor defects. Not that easy for removed and reinstall back the dashboard.

If leaking again (especially for old car) or air-con servicing, have to remove again and this will take at least for few hours, will causing high repair/labor/maintainance cost.

When looking for new car, maybe can consider the car that no need to remove the dashboard when replacing/servicing air-con (cooling coil). Any air-con Sifu here?? Any suggestions.

Thanks.

I know for Hondas... normally no need to remove dashboard.

Just need to cut the glove box a bit but Honda has made a bracket replacement just for it.

newer cars all need to remove dash, those that doesn't are rare breeds, almost no more, even for new hondas, like the civic and brv all need to remove dash liao

Of course it looks like super hard and complicated for non-car ppl, but for those who does them everyday, its like nothing, if u r worried, just go to shops that frequently does those jobs to those models of vehicle u own, coz these are all jobs based on experience, the more they do, the less they will fuck up anything.

This post has been edited by Jegane: Oct 24 2021, 11:13 AM

Actually what TS want know ahh? Which car model that has its evaporator located off-center?

Or any way to avoid dismantling the lower dashboard during aircond service/repair?

Or any experienced sifu that can dismantle lower dash without damaging anything?

Ya, so stupid designed, never thinks about the air-con servicing and maintenance.
Nowadays labor costs getting expensive and hard to find a good sifu.

Futhermore, the cooling coil that needs to services regularly (Malaysia weather), how long can be last?? 2-5 years??
You can imagine how much the maintenance cost and the time taking just service the air-con.

I just send my car for replaced the cooling coil, getting shocked that take out the whole dashboard and cost 1K+ and waiting for whole day.

This post has been edited by A1700: Oct 24 2021, 09:38 PM

The answer of all this is do your A/C service regularly to prevent early wear.
Maintenance cost vary from around 1xx~2xx and you can do it either yearly or every 2 years max (Usually i recommend to do it during cabin filter change around 20~40k depending on car models) Nowadays you no need to dismantle the cooling coil for servicing, usually just plug in machine to clean the A/C oil, replenish gas and do some chemical wash or spray on the cooling coil in your car (if very dirty).
Newer rides are not made to last like those old days and knew as planned obsolete to encourage "frustrate" people to keep upgrade and scrap their old rides as more & more countries is going ban combustion car on the road.

This post has been edited by littlefire: Oct 26 2021, 09:43 AM

I just DIY for a friend, 2004 Toyota Avanza , first Gen. And because First Gen Avanza dont have cabin filter, the front evaporator coil ended up being super dirty and blocked.

So what I did was, remove the fan blower resistor and straight away can see part of the coil.
Using cheap Aeropak Aircond Cleaner and a garden hose (with pressure), was able spray clean the coil with garden hose. Though have to get ready a tray underneath the blower cause some water will leak to the carpet if no tray is used.

Cleaned the rear aircond blower, by spraying the chemical through the back of the vents.

And after that, removed the fan blower (which took a while to remove, because the Engine ECU was blocking the motor) and cleaned it up.

The results? Much improved airflow. Friend is satisfied with the results.
Cost? RM 12.90 for a can of Aircond cleaner and 1 hour of work (cleaning and fixing back)

This post has been edited by SleeplessEyes: Oct 26 2021, 09:58 PM

That kind of friendship = priceless.

Agree, the design is questionable but the engineer who designed the car does not think about easy service. That is not their problem or priority.

A lot of the times, lots of other parts were also located in difficult to service position which need to take out a whole lot of components.

For me, if the service is done by shops most of the time, they do not install back properly. 99% of times some wires will be left untied. Or clips broken not replaced back. In the end, the dashboard will create noise when driving. The reply usually you get when you ask them is car old already, these will happen.

I do not get it why majority of workshops do not keep those plastic clips that very often get broken when they loosen them. Those more hardworking ones will use cable tie and those lazy ones will just ignore it. The clips only cost few cents when they buy them in bulk. A packet of 1000 assorted clips only cost like RM50 which they can use for many years.

Strange that your friend's 04 Avanza doesn't have a cabin filter, when I am using 1st gen Avanza's cabin filter in my kancil (just mod it slightly). Maybe he doens't care?

Last time most Continental cars have to remove dashboard because the coil is located in the middle. I guess the idea is to have balance air pressure on both sides. Meanwhile Japanese cars mostly behind glove compartments and easy to access. Nowadays, Japanese cars also have those in the middle behind dashboard.

In olden days, there is no air filter before the coil, thus easy to get dirty and need to complete dismantle for proper cleaning. Nowadays, I think all cars have cabin filter thus keeping the coil clean. You just need to replace filter if it gets clogged up. No more removing coil required.

Problem is when the cooling coil leaks. Then you'll definitely need to remove the whole dashboard to replace the cooling coil.

Happened to me for a 5 years Honda that needed to change cooling coil 2x.

So sad you will seeing that the dashboard of your lovely + expensive car being removed completely, not sure how good are them to assemble back. This might happen again if the cooling coil leak again.

I think we need to consider this when looking for the new car. Just a sharing.

The cooling coil leak is something hardly happened. Not sure what brand Honda use but so unlucky of you. My Nissan 15 years also only once refill gas because I think less cool but I was told very little need to top up.

Actually in between part behind dashboard especially along air-cond ducting, there are foams to seal and stop/muffle squeaking between part. After 5 years, these foam decayed. Sometime your air-cond blows out part of the foam which is like black rubbery dust. So, when opening, the pro shop will replace all these foam and no more squeaking sounds

Apologies for necro-ing this thread, but wanted to ask if anyone has any recommended AC Repair Workshops around Klang Valley (KL / PJ) area that provides great and clean workmanship for Cooling Coil replacement for a 2012 KIA Forte.

Ideally one that takes care not to damage any parts of the Dashboard during removal / reinstallation.

Many thanks in advance for the recommendations.

How you know if is the cooling coil faulty? Aircond compressors in Forte/Elentra of the same era has a flow control valve that is prone to be stuck (open/close), which causes the aircond system to not feel cold. Many got slaughtered and will continue to get slaughtered by unscrupulous shops if they don't know the real problem.

If you don't mind to travel a bit, head (google 1st) to Ming Wah Car Cooler somewhere at Chow Kit area. They are really good in dismantling/reassemble dashboard, and can only change that faulty flow control valve, without other unnecessary parts. You repair cost may turm out to be just a fraction of normal cost if this is to be done by other places.

Thank you.

Well, I was also hoping that the issue would not be Cooling Coil / Evaporator Core related.
Alas, that is not the case - as I could almost clearly hear the hissing sound of the Refrigerant / Freon Gas leaking when I parked at a silent basement car park with engine turned off.

My suspicion started when the AC started to gradually lose its coolness about a little under 2 years ago.
My first troubleshooting / rectification attempt was a visit to Ming Wah to flush-service the AC system.
At the time, I believe the leak was still very gradual - hence, no hissing sound and the AC was able to retain its cooling function for more than 1 year after aforesaid service.

I went for a gas-recharge again, circa Sep / Oct 2024, when the AC started feeling less cool.

Thereafter (sometime this Apr'25), the AC lost its cooling function completely > and I brought it to my neighborhood workshop for a recharge.
The hissing sound, described above, was detected by me after I drove home from said recharge service.

TL;DR version:
• Confirm cooling coil problem because Freon-Refrigerant is leaking (TS could hear hissing sound plus smell).
• TS have already been to Ming Wah, but would still like to know if there are any other good / great recommendation from Forumers here.
• Reason why TS would like to have other recommendations:
- 1st priority [WORKMANSHIP]: To ensure no damage to dashboard / other parts (as close to 100% as reasonably possible).
- 2nd priority [CLEANLINESS]: As in TS hopes that the workshop / repairman would make the best effort to keep the customer's vehicle interior clean.

This post has been edited by rompers: Jul 3 2025, 12:24 AM

I tried stop leak product. Worked for me. Mine similar like yours, leak very slow and we couldnt detect the leak so i decided to try. Mine no cold after 2 months

After remove dash all kind of rattle come very irritating wanna go back and redo and irritating to drive

Pray tell, which stop leak product did you use?

Also, was the product effective - as in did you AC / Cooling Coil stopped leaking from then until now (present)?

How many years / months have passed since you last used the stop leak product to fix said leak?

This post has been edited by rompers: Jul 5 2025, 11:47 PM

I used one bottle. Then after few weeks i go top-up gas, guess it didnt work immediately but takes time or maybe as its working more gas leaked out? After that it lasted until now. No more top up gas and aircond super cold until now. Daily driven car.
From oct 2023 until now 2025.



This post has been edited by Balanced: Jul 6 2025, 12:24 AM

Thank you very much for the info / sharing.

One last question, how bad was the AC leak in your car at that time?

Gradual leak = AC leaking refrigerant over a course of weeks / months.

Large leak = AC leak with complete loss of refrigerant within 24 to 48 hours.

Small leak, 2 months.

If you don't mind sharing, what was your Car Brand, Model and Year of Manufacture?

Reason for asking:
I'd like to research a bit more to see if there are any distinct difference(s) between my car and your car - hoping that there are none; so that I have more confidence to attempt said method.

At the end of the day, I really hope to be able to avoid Dashboard removal - but if it doesn't work, well. . .what choice do I have right 😅

Japanese honda car, honda civic es 1.7 year 2001. Basically if the leak it small, higher % for it to work.

One other question; would you happen to still have the Shopee (I'm assuming you bought the product there) link for the Stop Leak product?

What bottle size you purchased?

Also, what were the steps you took to apply the Stop Leak - if for example, the AC system is completely discharged (zero refrigerant).

Only got 1 size. 1 bottle used.
When the aircond just started feeling less cold, i bought and use immediately after arrival few days later.

Car was totally cold, done it on weekends. After apply it became colder but only for few weeks before it started reduce coldness again. So i go shop top up gas. After that the coldness last until now without anymore top up. So it worked albeit slower.