[arobot]

Measure twice, cut once

Here's some free advice to anyone contemplating this procedure:

Pay particular attention to the passage in the instructions which stresses the importance of positioning the bypass valve as far to the passenger-side as possible.

Somehow, I completely forgot this part, and also forgot about the corrugated air tube which connects the evaporator to the cabin ventilation system . Imagine the "oh ****" moment whereupon completing installation of the valve, I realized I'd placed it directly above the opening in the evaporator and that the corrugated pipe could no longer be installed -eek-

In the end, I'd turned a two hour job into a two day job. I had to replace the input and output heater core hoses- this isn't someone you want to do. While not technically difficult, the spaces involved are so tight that there were at least a couple moments where I was sure I was going to have the whole thing flat-bedded to my dealer.

In the end, I got it done. Since I'd replaced the heater hoses, I had more latitude with respect to placement. I installed the valve on the far right (driver's side, near the vacuume reservoir) where there exists lots of space.

I'll test the effectiveness of the change later today.

 

[arobot]

Holy Cow! It works!
I performed the bypass mod along with removal of the driver's-side footwell vent cover.
I drove 70 miles today in combined highway and city stop and go traffic. Humidity was ~100%. 40 miles of sunshine, 30 miles of thunderstorms, high 80's.
Half way through, I left the car parked in the hot sun for about 30 min.
The result (and many of you won't believe this): once it began to rain I had to turn the fan to "1" (too cold on 3), and even so the rear window fogged up- on the OUTSIDE!
The ride was cool the entire trip- the AC seemed (sorry, no thermometer with me) to retain its original cold temp the entire trip. In addition, during stops the temp likewise seemed rock solid.
Wish I had done this three years ago!