Removing Evaporator+Expansion Valve on Camry 2008
 

Hey guys,
I am in urgent need of help on the following. My A/C started to smell bad about 3 months ago after almost 7 years of non stop perfect action. Late June a loss of refrigerant occurred and it stopped blowing cold. The shop re-filled small amount of missing Freon (not even half was gone) and we all assumed that it could be normal after all those years. But it was showing signs of leak a month ago again since the cold started to turn not-so-cold. They injected dye in the system and inspected it two weeks later using UV light and nothing was showing in the engine compartment. Then they tested the inside (removed the cabin filter and stuck the probe inside, car not running) with a Freon leak detector and it started "singing". Now I know where the leak is and it most likely is the evaporator or the expansion valve. Now the tough question - do I have to remove the ENTIRE dashboard and everything behind it in order to get to the evaporator or removing the glove box and the blower underneath will give me access to it. I watched some "horror" videos of removing the entire front and honestly if that's my only option I will rather go without A/C. I couldn't find the answer for this model/year even though there are some videos about '05 but I guess it's not the same. Any ideas, suggestions or schematics would be extremely appreciated. Also, since I will be buying an evaporator+expansion valve, do you have any comments on which brand should I go for? Damn, I thought this car will never give up on me...Thanks a million!

It appears the evaporator is buried under the dash which needs to be removed.

You might research technical service bulletins (TSB) for the odor issue perhaps.

There are some cans of Freon claiming to stop leaks.

I would try to have the freon topped off and try the old Lysol treatment to clean up the smell. It's cheap and not invasive. Might not take care of the issue though in the long run.

Thanks for suggestion guys but still no one with definitive answer as to whether the entire dash needs to be removed or just the junk underneath the glove box? I'll just go ahead and start removing stuff...

Shop manual directs to remove the dash to access the evaporator.

Would you please eleborate on what do you mean by "shop manual" so I can see for myself? Owner's Manual (which is useless) or the service manual? I went thru the service manual pages of the "cooling" section and boy, do they like to remove things! They just have tons of pages showing you how to take the car apart - remove the entire carpet in order to change the light bulb in the glovebox. Jee...
Thanks!

Shop manual = service manual.

The dash needs to be removed. The video below shows the process. Its for a 2007 but the process is the same.

Thanks for clarifying. Yes, I saw the service manual. As for the video this is so not 2007 Camry so it cannot be relevant as to whether this is the way to go. That guy is a show off...

Relevant?

Toyota doesn't significantly change their models every year. The 2007 and 2008 are the same car barring minor changes.