Your car or truck's AC system is under extreme pressure and the thermal expansion valve or orifice tube monitors the amount of pressure and the temperature of your A/C system. It calculates the precise amount of refrigerant that can safely go into the evaporator. A failing expansion valve or orifice tube often causes a vehicle's air conditioner to blow hot air.
Replace or Repair
- Expansion Valves: Too much refrigerant causes your evaporator to get too cold whereas too little refrigerant would result in inadequate cooling. The expansion valve is a complex valve that regulates refrigerant flow. This process of metering the refrigerant adjusts the flow according to the temperature of the refrigerant in the evaporator coil. Talk to one of the pro mechanics at Gary's Full Service Auto Repair, as this part can be replaced on its own and does not require the entire replacement of the AC assembly.
- Orifice Tubes: Unlike the expansion valve, the orifice tube is a simple fixed device with no moving parts. It therefore cannot vary the flow of refrigerant into the evaporator, but rather causes a permanent restriction in the system. However, like the expansion valve the orifice tube regulates refrigerant flow through the system and filters debris which may come through in its screen. Often fixing a "bad orifice tube" requires replacing the entire evaporator assembly.
Partners
What our clients are saying about us
We have established longterm and stable partnerships with various clients thanks to our excellence in solving their automotive needs!
Joe and Kirsten were very honest and straightforward about the price and procedures of what they were doing to my Japanese import. Vehicle safety was their number one priority. After being turned away by several 'full-service' Toyota garages that claimed my car’s issue was too complex or outside their scope, Joe diagnosed the problem immediately and handled the repair with total confidence. It’s rare to find a mechanic with this level of technical expertise and problem-solving ability. If you have a job that no one else seems able to fix, save yourself the stress and bring it here first. Truly a master of the craft!
I've been going to Joe and Kerstin for awhile for my 2014 Chevy Equinox, which has been a relatively solid car despite the model's notorious problems (burning oil, especially). They recently checked out the car before I had a road trip and gave me a couple of "yellow flags" that could wait awhile but said I should be good to go, including my brake pads. My sister was driving the car into Santa Fe when she said the car was shuddering when she braked. Worried we were about to have something really bad happen, I pulled into a local place. Welllll…they totally swindled me: new pads, warped rotors, a torn boot, all sorts of stuff. The car was about to fall apart and strand us in the desert, clearly. Eager to move on to my next destination and not be stuck, I reluctantly gave them my credit card. I texted with Kerstin and let her know what happened. She called me back right away and explained in no uncertain terms that I was to go find a second opinion and not pay for anything (whoops, too late…I guess it's a norm at a mechanics not to pay for anything up front, unspoken rule). She checked with Joe about the recent diagnostic and talked me through the possibilities of what was actually happening with my car and supported me going up there and requesting a refund and only paying for what had been completed (new brake pads and rotors in back, still a ripoff for probably fine rotors and pads that were at 3.5mm but a more doable one). Yes, I felt like an idiot. Yes, initially they refused the refund and "had to call corporate", blah blah blah. But I probably saved $1700 in the process. Then, Kerstin stuck with me for doing basic troubleshooting for the shuddering. Joe proposed that it could be "bad gas", at one of the random stations we'd stopped at. He said that we could test filling up the balance of the tank with high octane Maverick gas (no ethanol). Would you believe that did the trick? All the car's symptom's disappeared (turned out it hadn't been shuddering upon brake, just shuddering in general). I completed my road trip without any issues and soon after went back to Gary's for a different test (discussed awhile back before all this went down for my aging car). They double checked the shady mechanic's work and said that they saw very little that needed addressing, and certainly nothing in the thousands. The car has driven fine since then. Anyway, highly recommend Gary's. They stand by their work!