Do A/C evaporators go bad?

I've got to bleed the system and change out the heater core, and I never ever want to have to dig through my dash again.

Is there much chance that the A/C evaporator would go bad in the next couple years (it's held up fine for the last 10) that would justify spending $200 bucks on a new one now?

If it was $50, I'd do it just for peace of mind, but 200 is too steep unless they have a pattern of dying after a certain amount of time.

Thanks!

..Alternatively if someone knows where to get evaporators cheaper (without sacrificing quality), I'd love to hear that too. Autozone doesn't seem to have them, NAPA is 200, AdavncedAuto has one kind Ready-Aire(tube and fin) for $225 and a "plate and fin" Visteon for $25. The price on that looks good, but makes me suspicious..

Edit: Hmm .. google searching suggests that "plate and fin" is superior to "tube and fin" and that OEM is plate and fin ..

Yes they do go bad, you never know when, and the job is a pain in the arse.
Got mine from napa. Works great.

Tough decision, evaporators don't have any moving parts, they don't wear out. But, they are a thin wall aluminum construction, its not uncommon for a pin hole to develope and then they leak and the AC doesn't work.

Most of the evaporators that fail early, like within the 2 or 3 years, were defective from manufacturering. Chyrsler was stung by that, their supplier wasn't cleaning the evaporator well enough after manufacturering and acid was left in the bottom of the evaporator, after a couple of years the acid ate thru the aluminum and created pin holes. Chrysler lost a lot of money replacing those under warranty.

Do NOT replace good OEM AC parts with cheapo AC parts, take it from someone that has done it, the replacement AC industry is a rip-off, there are lots and lots of cheapo parts that are bad out of the box or will fail or perform poorly right away. Ask any part store or AC repair shop with a good rep, they only carry or use one or two brands of AC replacement parts, they'll tell you they have lost far too much money from using other brands, that they are rip offs.

Your 10 year old evaporator will probably last longer and perform better than $50 no name replacement you find somewhere on the internet.

AC systems are hermatically sealed, they can last a long long time with only a little wear. The pressurs and temps the refrigerant goes thru, will cause chemical reactions with air, water or just about any contaminate, usually they will form acids that eat away at the components. Its when they get contaminated with air or moisture that they fail, damage all the components and continue to fail again and again, from the damaged components failing one after another from the original damage.

*If your AC system has been working great for the last 10 years, you have NOT opened the system and did amaeture poor quality repairs and servicing, then most likely your Evaporator is in good shape and will last. IMHO, I'd leave the original evaporator there and save the money.

*If your AC system has been troublesome, its had to have major components replaced, or its had several ameature repairs and servicings, you suspect that its gotten air or moisture in it. Then its possible acids and contaminates have either eaten away at the metal or coated the inside and effect performance. In that case, I'd consider spending the money on a quality replacement, with a new filter drier and have the system properly serviced.

If the repairs had been professionally done with quality tools, then its very possible that everything in the AC is still good and there were no contaminates. If the AC system has been working flawless for years, there is no reason to suspect that it won't continue that way for several more years.

97+ have the evap problems for sure, there have been a few done here on and it's a major PIA. My 98 has a bad one, was tough to find the leak too, put the dye in and it took 2 dye fills before the dye showed up in the drip hose on the firewall. It will be going into the dealer shop next month for a replacment to the tune of $600 or so bucks and thats with a hefty club discount at our sponsor dealer. I'm considering having the heater core done too while it's all apart and out anyway.