2012 A/C Repair (no cold air)

So i just had my evap coil go out. Cost me $1300. most of the cost was wrapped up in labor removing the dash.

 

That expansion valve labor is a killer for labor. Seem to find mixed results on whether or not one needs to go through the dash. I am going to obtain two additional quotes; one from the dealer (might be a mistake). Dealer stated that they will run a "diagnostic" to determine what needs replacing and that 3500 for this kind of work is not unheard of. I could replace the central air in my home for that! I suspect that even if the expansion valve can be accessed its standard to remove the dash.

 

OP, I'm a bit late to the discussion but have a couple of comments that may or may not be useful.

First, the expansion valve is relatively easy to replace. Its done by access under hood and lives behind a rubber grommet. Two torx screws hold it on and a total of 4 O ring type seals are used. Not labor intensive by any means and aftermarket TXV valves are available for much less than the Toyota "kit".

Sometimes when the compressor goes it is known to throw debris backwards up the inlet line and get inside the evaporator under the dash. This is a big deal as the evaporator is extremely difficult to flush, if it can be done at all. If not flushed, it will then return some of the swarf back to the compressor and destroy a new one. A viscous cycle develops.

If if this were mine I would focus on whether the compressor has indeed grenaded before doing anything else at all. If You put a new compressor on there are some aftermarket inline filters that can be attached to its inlet so if a compressor goes its stops the transfer of its debris back to the evaporator as the evaporator is the biggest pain in all of this. I have put these filters on mine.

I have posted a complete OEM parts list with part numbers of all the seals that are necessary and other small parts you will encounter in another recent AC thread. If you like I will dig it up and link it here. Just let me know.

 

Found it easier than I thought. See my Post #2 here: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...sor-removal-replacement.557621/#post-18202341

 

Not hard to flush evaporator. Remove TXV, flush gun in 1 pipe, hose and catch can on the other pipe. Repeat till clean. Blow out with nitro till completely dry. Squirt 1 oz of pag oil in evap, re-install TXV and leak test, evacuate yada yada.

 

Good plan. Find the best auto AC shop in town. Your first shop/post would be a pretty unusual combination of parts.

Pretty much, at least price wise.

Not unless you live in a 'tiny house' and are using a wall shaker to call it central. If you can, I'd love to see the unit brand and specs.

 

IDK I'm sure you have more experience than me but I've taken apart a Tacoma evap. and inside the are many, many, many tiny tubes and places for small stuff to hide. My experience consisted of forward-backward flushing for an entire day using a flush gun and boatloads of AC solvents and I was still getting debris. Not very fun and I was never totally comfortable with the matter.

 

My point was it isn't hard to get to. No need to pull the evaporator. If it has lots of junk in it, yeah pita.

 

Thanks for everyones input. I have resided to the fact of having a shop do the work. Will work at obtaining quotes. Is it possible to minimize this from occuring again? Anything I can request to be done from the shop? Thanks in advance guys.