We’ve discovered a few anomalies in repairing cars. The later model Yaris is one of them
Do you have a Toyota Yaris? (The model seems to be new enough that all years apply) Does it make a sloshing sound from the dashboard when you’re driving along? Is your floorboard wet with water?
So we’ve seen this failure enough times now that we’re starting to consider it a recommended service at certain intervals. The drain tube for the heater core on late model Yarises seems to get plugged from the inside of the evaporator assembly and water builds up until you have a small pond inside of a plastic box under the dashboard. Which, of course, makes sloshing sound when you’re going down the road, noticeably during turns. We’ve heard some customers say that it sounds like marbles rolling around behind the dashboard, but we think it sounds a lot like rushing water. But it isn’t just the Yaris that is susceptible to this kind of failure. The issues that create this needed service are common to every car sold in America.
The problem lies in a combination of politics, cost-effectiveness and poor design centered around the evaporator core of this (and other) models. The cabin air filters are noticeably not present on later models and the compact design of cars is forcing the cowl to be nearly directly vertical to the evaporator. It’s not just about the execution of a quality built car anymore. It has to meet requirements of so many outside agencies to be able to be profitable for any given car manufacturer to produce. And some of this (like C.A.R.B. E.O. numbers and Smog requirements) we’ll leave for another time.
The politics has much to do with the rental car industry. Companies like Hertz, Budget and Enterprise base a great deal of their purchasing decisions on the cost of maintenance for any given car. That can make a huge difference in the total cost of ownership of a car. Everyone knows that the parts and service for a Mercedes is more expensive that the parts and service for a Honda or Chevrolet or similar design and size. So they use that information when deciding on making a purchase for their company. And they’re nationwide. So you can see the motivation for manufacturers to lower their cost of maintenance. If Toyota can have a lower cost of maintenance on their Camry than Chevrolet can manage with their Malibu, then the rental companies are going to want to buy the Camrys. So they’ve been making cabin air filters an option for cars that are clearly provisioned for them so as not to make them part of the 15,000 mile service. Which saves 25-75$ every 15,000 miles. That combined with other previously “normal service” items such as fuel filters and multiple belts has kept cost of maintenance down. On paper. Unfortunately, this often causes problems down the road. (Literally)
Even though it’s a small cost, the 15$ filter can add up over the production of a hundred thousand of these vehicles. So another reason to omit the cabin air filter is to make production costs cheaper and therefor profits higher. Even if it’s just to make the sticker price more enticing that another marque of vehicle with similar features. It’s all about the bottom line it seems. Sell more cars, with fewer dollars invested in each, faster than anyone else can. It’s the American way, right? (What happened to quality before quantity?!) But it’s about the cost of the part and whatever time it takes to install it at the factory during assembly. Then they can sell you a cabin air filter “installation kit” at the dealer and they’ve succeeded in charging you for a part that should have come from the factory anyway. The kit is really just the paper element filter and sometimes the latch for the door that seals the access hole to the paper element. Most cars come with the latch and door anyway, so they really just need the filter.
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But lastly, and not least importantly, it has to do with design. The government is pushing for more fuel efficient ratings on every vehicle and manufacturer-wide averages. So vehicle manufacturers that sell cars in the United States have been scrambling to keep their average miles per gallon over their product line up. Part of that is making engines better. Part of it is making cars smaller. Part of it making cars lighter. Part of it is making cars more aerodynamic. So we’re starting to see more subcompact cars come into dealership lots for both lighter and smaller. We’re also seeing a resurgence of hatchback cars, because they’re generally more aerodynamic than coupes or sedans. But this complicates the repair procedures: cars have less and less space around the engine/transmission assembly (we worked on a Scion that needed the engine pulled just to get the water pump off the front of it because there was so little space) and the dashboards are becoming cramped. Thus, the vents to air for cabin that used to have flues and channels that would prevent water entry are now directly above the climate control boxes they feed. Which means there’s a direct downward path for water and moisture to travel into the evaporator assembly. The engines are shoved so close to the cabin and the windshields at such a steep angle to prevent wind drag that the cowl vents are right above the foot well that the climate control boxes reside in. And even beyond that, the drainage tube and channels for these evaporator boxes are so small or so indirect that often times the water has hard time escaping through the tiny passage or around all the bends and curves.
All this to say, the majority of the problem is that these newer vehicles, specifically noticeable in the Toyota Yaris, need their cabin air filters installed before the water gets trapped inside the housing. The very nature of cooling the car, or defrosting the windows or heating the cabin often times pulls the moisture out of the air and collects it. So water is inevitable in the evaporator cores. But when there’s foreign debris introduced from broken up leaves or dirt that should have been caught by the cabin air filter, the chances of creating your own dashboard pond grow larger. And the remedy to this is almost never cheap. The callout time for pulling one of these evaporator boxes out of a Toyota Yaris is 6.7 hours. That doesn’t include time to clean/wash the drain tube channels and unclog the drain tube. It’s nearly 7 hours just to get the box out of the car. We’ve even seen the water get so built up that it ruins the blower motor. So not only do you need the evaporator core pulled out and cleaned, you need a cabin air filter installed and new blower motor. It’s very nearly 1000$ in service! (Yikes!)
Dashboard removal on Toyota Yaris
Beyond the heavy hitting solution, you can always start with prevention and get your cabin air filter replaced or installed with us here at Cj’s Garage. We usually check them if you come in for an oil change or any other mileage oriented service. But we don’t mind tearing down the dashboard either, if it means we can fix the car correctly, and keep it problem-free for years to come.
