[webbch]

Hold on a minute. We're talking about two separate issues here:
1) Evaporator is leaking (supposedly)
2) Smell from blower

These are two separate issues. If the refrigerant (not sure what R134a smells like) were leaking at rate sufficient for your nose to pickup and be anonoyed with, it should have all leaked out in about a day, which means your A/C would not be working worth a hoot by now. Something tells me that the tech may have mis-interpreted the sniffer response.

Secondly, even if the smell was coming from the evaporator, as long as your A/C was still working fine, it would imply more that the evaporator needed to be cleaned (although if I went through that much trouble to pull it out, I'd replace it anyway), not that it had a leak. I'd be wary of a mechanic who pointed at a refrigerant leak as the source of stinky vents. If his intent was to replace the evaporator and planning to find and fix the source of the mold/mildew smell during the job, then he should have said that. I'd be skeptical about you having a leaking evaporator though if the A/C still cools well.

If you remove the blower resistor, would that give a small amount of access to the evaporator? If so, I've heard of people connecting a garden hose to some 3/8" tubing to make a miniature pressure washer and blast the evaporator. Then spray it with bleach water to kill any mold or mildew. Then make sure all the drains are clear.

If you do replace the evaporator, be aware that you need to have the refrigerant evacuated prior to disconnecting these lines so you don't vent the existing charge into the atmosphere. You'll probably need to stop by an a/c shop to have them evacuate the system using their recovery machine. After you're done replacing the evaporator, you can stop by the a/c shop again to have them recharge, or rent a vacuum pump and gauges and charge yourself.

Get yourself a factory service manual if you're dissatisfied with the content in the Haynes manual. Well worth the added cost in my opinion. It's the first thing I buy after acquiring a new-to-me vehicle.

Chad