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 Affordable Automotive 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!
I had been having issues, check engine light (CEL) had been coming on for some time, didn't seem to effect engine performance, boy was I wrong. The issues started out with the notorious "loose gas cap", I did a little on line search and saw where it was an easy fix, so I replaced the gas cap. Well, wouldn't you know it; that didn't fix the problem. The next "code" that popped up was "small evap leak". I figured I'd find the leak myself and bought a smoke machine. Well, long story short, I never used the smoke machine, I'm getting to old to crawl around on my truck searching for some small leak in the evap system. The easy fix was disconnect the battery, problem fixed, for a while. The problems went from loose gas cap, small evap leak, to misfire on #2 cyl. It seemed that every time I disconnected the battery, the truck seemed to run fine, for a while. I've been taking my vehicles to Affordable Automotive for years for inspections, I took my 2015 Ram 1500 in and told them the story, seems that the issue was the injectors were starting to fail, James called me and gave me the diagnosis, James and the people at Affordable Automotive are the greatest, can't say enough about them, my truck runs like new! I will definitely be bringing my vehicles to Affordable Automotive in the future!
Great customer service! This is what I remembered from previous visits in the past to Affordable Auto Repair. They are friendly and courteous. They take the time to explain everything up front and answer all your questions. Matthew handled everything concerning my service from beginning to end. James also followed up to make sure things were right and was a great listener. Just good people to deal with. Oh what did I have done? Had my 2007 Toyota Highlander inspected there today. Inspections are always a necessary pain and I hate it when it comes around. I was there when they opened at 8am and they took my car in right away. I had a couple of items that needed to be fixed to pass which Chris the inspector explained to me and showed me. Matthew, who checked me in, said if I got these fixed, they would slip me back in to verify the fixes, remove the Rejection and replace it with a new inspection sticker. Done deal! Just as they said! I couldn't have asked for more. Thanks Matthew, James, and Chris!
