Below are some pictures of the evaporator housing from a 1999 ford crown victoria



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Normally, there would be an accumulator drier assembly attached to the top port of the evaporator.

2000 crown victoria


1994 crown victoria




From
 To
 Inlet Size
 Outlet Fitting Size
 O.D.
 Length
 Service Port Size Comments
 Ford Part Numbers
1992
 1993
 3/4" Female Springlock 5/8" Male Insert O-Ring (M.I.O.)
 3.5" 8"

10.1"
 1/4" Male
(R12 low side guage port)

1/4" Male (Cycling Switch - 1992 only)
 Spring lock refigerant port at bottom of canister, loops in a "U" shape.

The cycling switch on 1992 crown vics is located on the accumulator.

The cycling switch on 1993 crownvics is located on the hose connecting accumulator to compressor suction port. 		1992
YF-1707
F1VY-19C836-A

1993
YF-2035
F3VY-19C836-A




From
 To
 Inlet Size
 Outlet Fitting Size
 O.D.
 Length
 Service Port Size Comments Ford Part Numbers
1994
 1997
 3/4" Female Springlock
 5/8" Male Insert O-Ring (M.I.O.)
 3.5" 8"

9"
 13mm R134a Quick Disconnect Fitting Low Side Charge Port Similar unit to the 1998-2002 accumulator except the low pressure cycling switch port is not present.

Cycling switch on 94-97 crownvics is located on hose connecting accumulator to compressor suction port.
 YF-2143
F4VY-19C836-A

F6AZ-19C836-AA

YF-2368
F6AZ-19C836-AB

YF-2450
F7AZ-19C836-AA




From
 To
 Inlet Size
 Outlet Fitting Size
 O.D.
 Length
 Service Port Size Comments Ford Part Numbers
1998
 2002
 3/4" Female Springlock
 5/8" Male Insert O-Ring (M.I.O.)
 3.5"
 9"

9.25"

9.5"
 13mm R134a Quick Disconnect Fitting Low Side Charge Port

12mm Male (Cycling Switch)
 Crownvics manufacured from 2/16/98 until the end of the 2002 model year had the cycling switch located on the accumulator.

1998 crown victorias manufactured before 2/16/98 did not have the a/c cycle switch port on the accumulator. On the early 1998 vehicles, the a/c cycle switch was located on the suction hose assembly near the accumulator junction.

Click this link to view TSB 98-9-11

Click here to view a pictures of an early 1998 crown vics with the cycle switch located on the suction hose.
 		(1998 only)
(no "dimple" on bottom of accumulator)
YF-2535
F8AZ-19C836-AA

1999-2002
YF-2571
XW7Z-19C836-AA

1999-2002
YF-2685
YW1Z-19C836-AA






From
 To
 Inlet Fitting
 Outlet Fitting
 Service Port Size
 Comments
 Ford Part Numbers
2003
 2009
 3/4" Springlock
 3/4" Springlock
 12mm Male (Cycling Switch)
 The accumulator on the 2003+ crownvics is located where the suspension idler arm used to be in prior vehicles.

This part is subject to a large amount of road-splash. In northern states where chloride salts are used during the winter to clear snow and ice, this part often develops leaks when the car gets older

Make sure that you use the appropriate a/c cycle switch for the accumulator that you choose

The ford motorcraft service accumulator part includes a new mounting bracket/thermal insulation cover. The aftermarket accumulators require re-use of your existing mounting bracket.
 3W7Z-19C836-AA

YF-2883
3W7Z-19C836-CA

YF-3098
4W1Z-19C836-BA

YF-3197
6W7Z-19C836-AA

YF-3243
6W7Z-19C836-A

YF-3357
6W3Z-19C836-B





#6 (3/8") O-Rings, Coupling Garter Springs Red
#8
 (1/2") O-Rings, Coupling Garter Springs Blue
#10
 (5/8") O-Rings, Coupling Garter Springs Black
#12 (3/4") O-Rings, Coupling Garter Springs Beige


And an excerpt from the factory service manual about the original equipment ford accumulators:
Fluorescent refrigerant system dye is added to the refrigerant system at the factory to assist in refrigerant system leak diagnosis using a Rotunda-approved UV blacklight. It is not necessary to add additional dye to the refrigerant system before diagnosing leaks, even if a significant amount of refrigerant has been removed from the system. Replacement suction accumulators and receiver/driers are shipped with a fluorescent dye "wafer" included in the desiccant bag which will dissolve after approximately 30 minutes of continued A/C operation. It is not necessary to add dye after flushing or filtering the refrigerant system because a new suction accumulator or receiver/drier is installed as part of the flushing or filtering procedure. Additional refrigerant system dye should only be added if more than 50% of the refrigerant system lubricant capacity has been lost due to a fitting separation, hose rupture or other damage.

http://www.tracerline.com/dyesforacr_tracerwafer.html







Inside the lower evaporator tube is the orifice tube expansion device.

All 1992-2009 crown victorias use an orange orifice tube. But there are other sizes avaliable too.

Ford Service Part Number
 Motorcraft Number
 Legacy Part Numbers
 Color
 Inner Diameter (Inches)
 Used In
F39Z-19D990-A YG-320 F09Z-19D990-A
 Brown
 .047
F52Z-19D990-AB YG-347 F42Z-19D990-A
F52Z-19D990-AA		 Green
 .052
F5DZ-19D990-AB YG-343 E8UZ-19D990-A
E8TZ-19D990-A
F2DZ-19D990-A
F5DZ-19D990-AA		 Orange
 .057 1992-2009 Crown Victoria
F5UZ-19D990-AB YG-346 E5UZ-19D990-AA
E69Z-19D990-A
F4UZ-19D990-A
F5UZ-19D990-AA		 Red
 .062
F5XZ-19D990-AB YG-345 E0VY-19D990-A
E1FZ-19D990-A
F3XY-19D990-A
F5XZ-19D990-AA		 Blue .067 1980's "Box Body" Crown Victoria
XC4Z-19D990-AA YG-380
Black
 .072

Aftermarket, there are also variable orifice tubes (VOT) from the Nartron Corporation avaliable. There is a "severe duty" VOT marketed for 95-105 degree ambient temperatures. And another "extreme duty" VOT for 105+ degree temperatures. In the northeastern united states, where 90+ degree temperatures are seldom seen, the fixed orifice tube (FOT) works well and there are no moving parts inside the valve to wear out either.

http://www.aircondition.com/vov
http://www.imcool.com/articles/aircondition/VOV1.htm








In the factory shop manual, there is a section about use of specialty orifice tube removal tool set. But the orifice tube in this particular evaporator slid out easily using a pair of needle nose pliers.






Note that you may have to clean off the orifice tube to acurately determine it's color. For example, a red tube with lots of debris on it might appear brown at a quick glance.





Here is the rubber tube which provides a continuous supply of moving air to the blower motor bearings and electrical windings to cool the motor.



And here is the back of the evaporator housing flipped upside down with the blower resistor removed



And with the blower resistor present







Here is a peice of shattered evaporator housing from a wrecked police cruiser. This portion is where the air adapter for the interior temperature sensor would attach if the vehicle has EATC.





And a couple eatc hose assemblies. One with the interior temperature sensor attached, one without.






Here's the EATC evaporator housing air adapter (Part # F0VY-19C800-A)











And here's the bottom of the evaporator housing





In the 2003-2005 crown victorias, the evaporator housing will have an additional cutout in it for the evaporator temperature sensor thermistor. Starting in 2006, the evaporator temperature sensor was deleted and clutch cycling is controlled by the low pressure switch like in the earlier vehicles.



The cutout in this particular evaporator housing is for the blower motor speed controller that's installed in EATC equipped vehicles.

Vehicles with manual climate controls will have a different shaped cutout for the blower motor resistor. And part way into the 2005 model year, a new resistor cutout was introduced for manual climate controlled equipped crownvics too.








Here's the evaporator housing opened up to reveal the evaporator core














The plate & fin evaporator cores come in a couple different sizes between the years
Height
 Width
 Depth
 Inlet Fitting
 Outlet Fitting
1980's
 1991
 7-1/2" 9-1/2" 4" #8 Female Springlock #12 Female O-Ring (F.O.)
1992
 1997
 8-1/4"
 8-1/2"
 3-5/8"
 #8 Female Springlock
 #10 Female O-Ring (F.O.)
1998
 2002
 8-1/4"
 10-1/2"
 3-1/2"
 #8 Female Springlock
 #10 Female O-Ring (F.O.)
2003
 2009
 8-1/8"
 10-1/2"
 3-1/2"
 #8 Female Springlock
 #12 Female Springlock


The 1998-2002 evaporator core won't fit inside the blower motor portion of the 1992-1997 evaporator housing. But you can swap an entire evaporator housing assembly with the evaporator core inside from a 1998-2002 crown vic into an earlier 1992-1997 vehicle if you want an evaporator core with some additional surface area.

#6 (3/8") O-Rings, Coupling Garter Springs Red
#8
 (1/2") O-Rings, Coupling Garter Springs Blue
#10
 (5/8") O-Rings, Coupling Garter Springs Black
#12 (3/4") O-Rings, Coupling Garter Springs Beige





If you own a 1992-1994 crown vic and notice that a/c performance is poor at idle but good on the highway, you might also look at the condensor fan setup.  The 92-94 crown vics rely solely on a mechanical radiator fan to move air across the condensor. In the 95-97 crown vics, an additional low speed electric radiator fan was added to improve a/c performance at idle.




1992-1993 crown vics had a factory fill of r12 refrigerant. 1994-2009 crown vics have r134a refrigerant factory installed





















Sometimes, the evaporator sticks in the other half of the evaporator housing when disassembled











Removing the blower motor from the evaporator housing is straight forward on the 1998-2009 crown victorias:
-remove the four retaining bolts
-push the fender liner down a little with your hand
-slide the blower motor our

1992-1997 crownvics have a radiator coolant reservoir located on the rear of the passengers fender liner which complicates this process. The factory shop manual procedure is to remove the nuts which hold the coolant container to the fender splashshield and then move the bottle out of the way. But in the northeast, these nuts are usually seized to the studs and refuse to turn. In such cases, an alternate procedure is often effective:
-use hydraulic jack to raise the front passenger side of the car
-remove front passenger's tire
-remove fasteners for fender-liner
-lower rear of fender liner some to have sufficent space to remove blower motor

















The 2003+ crown vics use the same evaporator as the 1998-2002 vehicles except the top fitting has been changed to a springlock and the accumulator relocated to where the steering idler arm used to be.











Here's a 2000 crown victoria with the engine removed. Take note of the evaporator housing on the passenger's side firewall









And here's a 1994 crown victoria with the passenger's fender liner removed.

(picture courtesy of Steve83 on www.crownvic.net)


(picture courtesy of Steve83 on www.crownvic.net)


And a 1998 lincoln town car with the engine out







A 1998 ford crown victoria with the engine present, but the evaporator housing removed





From underneath the car, there is not much space to access the two nuts that retain the evaporator housing to the firewall. It's more productive to remove the fender splash shield or slide it back some and then access these nuts through the passenger's side wheelwell of the car.







If you remove the engine, the evaporator housing is really easy to get off of the firewall too. But this step is very time consuming and most people would probably prefer to gut the passenger's side fender liner rather than pull out their crown vic's motor.





The crown victoria is designed differently than many other vehicles. The evaporator housing is under the hood. The heater plenum and recirc door box are behind the firewall underneath the dashboard.














Notes:

-make sure to put some rtv sealant around where the two evaporator refrigerant tubes pass through the case. if you don't, you will have a massive air leak into the engine bay whenever the blower motor is spinning.
-an 11mm ratcheting gear wrench would be useful for removing the lower nuts which retain the evaporator housing to the firewall
-spray some penatrant oil on the lower studs/nuts which hold the evaporator housing to the firewall, and run the nuts up/down the threads a few times to break away the corrosion prior to reinstalling the evaporator housing
-while you have the evaporator case apart, it's a good chance to remove debris that may be lodged in the drain system