I am a new member to this forum (located in northern New Jersey) and recently acquired a 1995 Lexus ES300 from my Dad. The car is in very good condition and has 105,000 miles on it. I have been experiencing intermittent A/C operation over the last several months. After observing it during this period, the A/C seems to work fine on slightly cooler days and blows extremely cold air, while it does not work at all on hotter days. Also, it appears to change states (from working to non-working condition) between ignition starts. I am seeing a solid green light on my A/C dashboard control unit at all times. Before checking the freon levels, I tried replacing the A/C compressor control relay (which did not fix my problem), since this is a very common problem with mid-90's Lexus models. Also, I ran the Lexus ECU HVAC diagnostics and received only the 00 code, which indicates normal working operation. Next, I measured the A/C system freon pressure levels and found 105 psi on the high side and zero or very little pressure on the low side. Essentially, there is little if any vacuum in my A/C system. I tried adding freon, but the car did not appear to take any more than about a half of a can (if any) freon. Also, when i turn on my A/C unit, the compressor clutch appears to be turning (engaging). After reading through these forums, it appears that my problem may be due to a bad (stuck) expansion valve (a common problem with mid-90's Lexus models), which is consistent with my pressure readings and driving observations over the last several months. However, before proceeding any further, I wanted to solicit other opinions to confirm that my expansion valve is the likely root-cause of my problem.
Here are a few questions that I have:
(1) Are there any additional tests that I can perform to further isolate my problem and confirm a defective expansion valve?
(2) Which front dashboard items (besides the glove box compartment) need to be removed in order to replace the expansion valve? Excluding removing the freon and recharging the system, how much time is involved in actually replacing the expansion valve?
(3) Should I also replace the drier (or any other parts), since it connects directly to the expansion valve?
(4) Would you recommend genuine parts from Lexus or are 3rd-party aftermarket parts OK for this job?
Thanks in advance for your guidance! Any help on how best to change out this part would be greatly appreciated!