Evaporator in 2000 voyager van

Hi, I have a 2000 Plymouth voyager. About a month ago on a hot day, I was driving it and noticed that the A/C was not cooling very well. It was also making a hissing sound under the dash. A day or so later I was feeling a little light headed and went in and they told me I had an irregular heart beat. After a few days of treatment I was feeling well again. A week later I was driving the van again on a hot day and had the A/c on and it still wasnt working right and I heard the same hissing sound again. Again,after a day, I wasnt feeling right again and was told I had an irregular heartbeat and was treated again. I then took the van to the dealer and they told me the evaporator core was leaking. They said it would cost $1750!!!! to fix it. They also charged me $138 dollars just to diagnose it. My question is how many hours does it take to replace the evaporator? Does the whole dash have to come out? Also, is it possible that breathing R134 could have caused the heart problem. I have been just fine for the past 3 weeks. I have heard that the evaporator fails in many chrysler cars and trucks. Is this a weak spot? Has this happened to anybody else here? Any feedback on this would be appreciated. Thanks guys, Ron.

I think alot of newer mopars have fail prone cheap evaps, but you may be extra sensitive to the 134 aroma. My 2000 intrepid needs a couple 12 oz cans of 134 every year and smells funky inside car some of the time. I have not put a sniffer to it, but I suspect evap.

6-7 hours book time is my guess including evac and recharge. Yes they do have evap core problems. This can also be made worse by parking under trees and having the evap case fill with leaf debris. $1750 sounds about right (expensive none the less) and yes, for all practical purposes the dash will be removed... Layed back in the seat to gain access to the case for R&R
Curt
Actual working time is irrelevant for the labor charge on standard labor operations.

This issue is not unique to Chrysler GM has had a lot of trouble as well R134 will leak from smaller holes then R12 did, that said its a big job the first time you do one.

IIRC book time is 8 hrs +

I did one a while back when I worked at a dealer and it took me well over 8 hrs to do it.

I agree the whole dash comes out.The 134 when they first came out with it most instructors told you not to breath it.There was a few cases of people having heart problems from inhaling the stuff.If its a tiny leak some sealer might seal it.We used one that Advanced sold and it worked in most cases.Rocky

Out as assmebly and fix on the bench then lube the blend air doors and back. Not worth 1700 bucks the whole car maybe worth 2.5 K if it has miles on it or less

Both my 01 Ram and 00 Town and country had the evap go at around 80-90K miles..
Chrysler ate the T&C, which also need blend door work Dealer said that job was near $2K billed to old Chrysler..
My 01 Ram was my nickel about $1200 at a local shop including a new heater core..Yes the heater core is a time bomb as well..do it while it is apart.