So, shortly after I bought my Monte, the A/C crapped out. A friend of mine who is a GM Mechanic, visually inspected known problem areas (like the condensor coils in front of the radiator), found no problems, charged it with the stuff that has a UV dye in it. A/C worked for a while, then stopped. He inspected and no signs of leakage with the U/V light and goggles. He basically said at this point, when you have done all that can be done, it points to a problem with the evaporator coils.
The evaporator lives under the dash of the 6th gen Monte!! So I decided in the midst of the projects I have going on to prep the Monte for spring (separate thread will be started once those projects are completed), I decided "let's rip apart the dash board". I started on Saturday and today my friend Jeff gave me a hand.
One bolt in an "odd spot" I believe is preventing me from getting to the next phase. My hope is I get this next piece off and perhaps I can open the HVAC module without physically removing it from the car, get to the evap coil and change it. Then, go back to my friend, the GM Mechanic and get a re-charge on the system.

All this, to have working A/C. I'm normally a "windows open" kinda guy, so it rarely bothers me, but seriously, the Monte has 62K on it, I WANT working A/C....

 

wow, good luck to you, that is way more than I would do? But then again working AC is pretty nice to have........

 

im usually a windows down guy too, but its nice to have working a/c for defrosting and on those really hot/humid days. Good luck to you

 

OMG do i wanna know how much work went into that?!?!?!? hope goes back together properly and u get air working cause if it dont that was way 2 much effort!

 

Wow props to you for tearing into it yourself. I bet that was a lot of work. Good luck

 

WOW!!! Good luck! I hope you get it fixed. My a/c didn't work when I got my 02 SS and luckily it was just the condenser. A/C is definitely nice tho.

 

Jebus!! That's an undertaking forsure!

 

The plus side is, taking this apart is going fairly easy. Most bolts are right out in front, I have the shop manual to aid me a little bit here and there.

I think I heard rumor this is an 8 hour job for a shop who knows what they are doing!! So I can only imagine the labor cost to this mess if I sent it out (and trust me, I had thought about it when I first started). Plus, the part locally is $200!!! I'll be ordering it from RockAuto (they have options UNDER $100+shipping).

Thanks for the support guys. It's a good thing I trust the mechanic that diagnosed this. The rare times I have to go to him, it's strictly diagnostics. I end up doing the labor and he doesn't sell parts, and he's a friend. He's never steered me wrong yet, so I am hopeful this will end my problems.

 

I really think you would have to be a `Maniac LOL to
attempt such feat I do admire your daring adventure to
disassemble your complete dash to repair your a/c

I know that I have the ability to tear it apart, I just have a difficult time getting things back 2gether

Wish you a successful project with "Ice Cold Air"..
Thanks for posting/sharing your project + all your helpful posts/advice to so many member's that need help.

Look 4ward to your updates...Thank You!

 

I just found out my 05 SS AC isn't working - I hope all mine needs in a recharge YIKES!