lexis lexus Posted July 9, 2011 Share Posted July 9, 2011 Hi, similar prob to many, ac works for a while, gets warmer and then doesn't work at all. based on search this seems to be the expansion valve problem several question for any out there who might be familiar w/ this problem, before trying to do the replacement. 1. i've noticed that when running ac, the car idles ok at 750, but if i turn off the ac the idle drops down to about 500. if i restart car with ac off, the idle sits nicely at 750. i know there's an ac idle up switch somewhere, that may be a problem (altho i'd expect the reverse prob, i.e. idle dropping if ac kicks in...) could this prob be causing the ac to stop working vrs the expansion valve? 2. it appears from the manuals i have that the evaporator can be removed by first taking out the glove box, then the blower motor then sliding out the evaporator w/ valve. has anyone done this and can you provide any advice on this job? 3. i believe my '94 runs w/ r7 -- based on my not being able to connect r134 hoses to recharge, but there is little info about which coolant the '94 uses, anyone know for sure? LL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sump Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 so change the EV then...the parts are not expensive...My compressor is going but I leak tested with nitrogen, vac'ed out and installed oil and R134...Works mint and the issue is there was a leak at the dryer (based on oil around fitting) and leak testing. But I would leak test it first...Compressor opertaing? ...Not much to an AC system at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexis lexus Posted July 11, 2011 Author Share Posted July 11, 2011 compressor works fine, but shuts down after about 20-30 minutes. ya, think I will do the valve and see if that fixes things. just wonder if any one has pulled an evaporator before and if so, how long a job is it, etc. LL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexis lexus Posted August 10, 2011 Author Share Posted August 10, 2011 The rest of the story. I continued to "sweat" it out over the last few weeks. Noted idle dropping became more noticable over time, as the ability to cool decreased. Finally when it was idling, I saw the compressor and/or clutch seize, dragging the belt over the pully leading to idle drop. So decided to dig in and replace both expansion valve and the compressor. Got a good deal from rycompressors in FL, just less than $300 for these parts plus a drier and shipping. I spent an hour or so one night going back through the archives and found a very good step by step description (from 2007) of how to get the evaporator out to replace the expansion valve. It involves some spelunking under the passenger side dash, took me about 1 1/2 hrs to get the evap/expansion valve out, but 3 hrs to get it back in -- things are tight. Flushed each line, and replaced all the orings (napa has a good selection..) then put it all back together. Down to the local mech to get it evac'd and recharged. Now it's real cold! LL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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