The evaporator on my 855T recently expired, and I had it repaired. I called multiple dealers near me, and got quotes for replacement (By the way, quoted prices ranged from $1100 to $1500). I negotiated price with the closest dealer to have the work done. They claimed they would install the "evaportor kit", with a new cabin filter that "fixes" the problem (I installed the filter years ago).

After getting my car back, I notice that the parts inventory listed P/N 9171781-9 description "evaporator". I asked my independent mechanic if this was the P/N for the "evaporator kit", and he looked it up and said it was for the evaporator only. When I called the service manager back, and asked if they replaced the accumulator during the repair, he replied "we didn't need to, the system was not open long enough". My indy mechanic says that you can open the system for a minute or two (to replace an o-ring) without contaminating the accumulator, but they should have replaced it. A visual inspection of what I think is the accumulator (below the ECU housing, behing the radiator), confirms an old part.

My questions to the forum are: Is the part number above for the evaporator only, or the kit. Is it reasonable (or even possible) to replace the evaporator and have the system open for a short enough period of time to not contaminate the acculator (especially in the DC area last week). Is it standard volvo practice to replace the accumulator during the repair? (references would be great) My understanding that once the accumulator is contaminated, it no longer removes moisture from the system, which can result in the production of acids that corrode the A/C system from the inside?

Jim