1992 Toyota Celica AC Expansion Valve

1992 TOYOTA CELICA
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VVAL
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  • 1 POST
My a/c is not working so I took it to a garage and technician told me that my car needed an EXPANSION VALVE, which would cost me $300+.
I did some research for an expansion value on the net and the most expensive price I got was $60.
Is the technician correct with this price quote?
(also my a/c was converted to the latest a/c, if that helps any)
Aug 7, 2006 at 7:32 AM
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MIKEYBDMAN
  • ✓Experienced Mechanic
  • 623 POSTS
[quote:bdd3b12767="vval"]My a/c is not working so I took it to a garage and technician told me that my car needed an EXPANSION VALVE, which would cost me $300+.
I did some research for an expansion value on the net and the most expensive price I got was $60.
Is the technician correct with this price quote?
(also my a/c was converted to the latest a/c, if that helps any)[/quote:bdd3b12767]

It looks like to replace the valve, recover your freon and recharge the system along with a flush of the system while it is apart, the book rate is right at 3 man hours. If the shop rate is $75 and hour, you are talking about $225 in labor and then add the $60 in parts and you are approaching the $300 mark. If you can find someone who will recover your freon and recharge it after you do the repairs, then that may save you some. But you will need to do the work and flush the system while you have it apart. This may cut your repair bill in half, but you probably need to be mechanically inclined to complete this task.
Aug 7, 2006 at 9:24 AM
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The roughly $300 quote is reasonable if it includes about three hours of labor to recover refrigerant, flush the system, replace the expansion valve, and recharge. The part itself may cost around $60. A mechanically skilled owner can lower the bill by replacing the valve and flushing the system after a shop recovers and later recharges the refrigerant.

Conversation Summary

The owner of a 1992 Toyota Celica with a converted A/C system was quoted more than $300 for an expansion valve, while online parts cost about $60. The expert explained that book time is about three hours for recovery, flushing, replacement, and recharge, so labor plus the part can approach $300. Doing the mechanical work personally after a shop handles refrigerant recovery and recharge could reduce the cost, but requires mechanical skill.

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