Expansion Valve Replacement

[jwaldon]

Hi, Guys. I think this forum is great. We have a 95 ES300, Pearl White with 200,000 mi. Love the car. Been having the disappearing air problem. After searching everywhere and talking to a mechanic.I decided to take the forum advice that it was probably the expansion valve. Bought it at Autozone yesterday for $37. I downloaded the manuals that Toysrme has on this site. Very...very helpful even though mine is a 95 and a few things are missing. Much thanks to Toysrme... Due to be written for the professional the manual is very sketche on how to do things. Below are the steps I took, use them in conjuction with the manual. It took me about 7 hours to do the job with some breaks to rest the back. I don't know if it fixed my problem yet but should find out today on a Fathers Day drive. It does to appear to have fixed the issue. Thanks.

Happy Fathers Day to All....

1. Remove the battery cable.

2. Remove the freon from the system.

3. Remove the Right side kick panel by unscrewing the plastic nut at the floor board.

4. Remove the under dash cover by pulling down on the front edge.

5. Remove the trim rail below the Glove box by removing two screws, one on each side toward the back on trim piece, then pull down it to pop it loose.

6. Remove three acorn shaped nuts to remove Glove box lid.

7. Remove three screws in top edge of the Glove box. Pull Glove box straight out, carefully. The Passanger side airbag connector is fastened tothe left side of the box.

8. Unplug the Glove box light on the back.

9. Carefully remove the airbag conector the the side of the Glove box.

10. Unplug the wiring connectors on the ECU box and the others to the right of the blower box. Don't worry they will only fit the correct box.

11. Remove the ECU box and brackets. Two screws at top and a few nuts at the bottom for all of them. You will need this working room.

12. Remove the air plenum to the the left passenger side vent. The center piece will remove by pushing to the left. The right piece has a screw holding it straight above. You need this out of the way to get to a blower housing bolt.

13. Unplug the blower motor and the plug high on the right side of the blower housing.

14. Remove three screws holding the blower motor and set it aside.

15. Pull the carpet back as far as you can get it. Careful with the piece holding it on the console side.

16. Remove nut on left side of the blower housing(toward console).

17. Remove nut at floor board holding blower housing.

18. Remove bolt holding the top of the blower housing. This is the one I could not find until I removed the air plenum.

19. There are two plastic studs on the left side of the blower housing. You should be able to disloge them by pulling and wiggling the blower housing to the right. It will be a tight fit but you should be able to work the entire unit out from under the dash.

20. Remove 6 or 7 screws(can't remember this morning) from the evaporator end panel. (Where the pipes are coming out of it to the firewall)

21. Remove the rubber insulating material from the pipes. Be carefull to keep it if you can. If you can't you can get new at the parts store or use foam pipe insullation from the hardware store like they use on home ac units then wrap with duck tape.

22. Remove the two bolts holding the evaporator lines at the firewall. Pull them gently to disconnect. Be careful not to damage the rubber "O" rings. I have not had much luck in matching them and had to reuse them.

23. Slide the entire evaporator core to the right and remove.

24. Lay the evaportator core flat on some heavy cardboard.

25. Make a special note as to how the lines and old expansion valve is positioned.

26. Remove two allen head bolts. They go all the way through the bracket and valve into the pipe bracket.

26. Remove any rust or corrosion from these bolts.

27. Install new expansion valve.

28. Reinstall in the reverse order.

29. Attach a vaccum pump and pull the system down to -25 to -30 psi.

30. Close gauges.

31. If system holds vaccum to 30-45 min then you should have no leaks.

32. Recharge system.

CONGRADULATIONS.