How Do You Diagnose And Fix Faulty Car A/C Expansion Valves?
The car A/C expansion valve manages how much refrigerant flows through the system. It controls the flow depending on the temperature levels in the evaporator and how much cool air that the system needs. Its purpose is important in making sure that the evaporator will not freeze up for being too cold. It also helps avoid overheat from happening because of a core that got too hot.
With this in mind, you have to acknowledge how important it is to keep the expansion valve in the best condition. Here are several problems that involve the expansion valve and how to fix them.
Warm Air From the Vents
The A/C vents are supposed to blow cool air. When warm air is blowing out, it could mean that the refrigerant in the evaporator is not enough. One possible reason is a clogged expansion valve. As the valve can’t distribute the refrigerant, it will start to freeze up especially when moisture is able to seep in and eventually lose its ability to let the refrigerant flow.
Frosted Vents
A car’s A/C should be cold but not too cold that you can actually see ice frosts forming on the vents. This is a key indicator of a freezing evaporator. The expansion valve is most likely to be the reason and that it was unable to control the overflow of refrigerant into the core. Although it is great when the A/C is cold, having this scenario all the time can damage the whole unit.
Compressor Does Not Stop Working
When the expansion valve is broken and it stays open instead of occasionally closing once the refrigerant level is enough, refrigerant will keep flowing causing the compressor to work continuously. The compressor will be stressed up to a point that other components of the A/C system start to wear down and subsequently fail to work.
Inconsistent Airflow
You may notice that your A/C intermittently blows cool air. Sometimes, only warm air comes out from the vents. On better days, they blow our very cold air. This inconsistency means that the expansion valve is having trouble adjusting itself according to the temperature level thus an incorrect gauging of how much refrigerant should be used for the right temperature.
A/C Unit Failure
Most would think that there is no problem even if these symptoms are present in the A/C. In fact, a too cold air from the vents is very much welcome during a hot day. But, if these symptoms are kept ignored, the whole A/C system will be damaged. Instead of having a problem only on the expansion valve, there will be a need to fix a much bigger problem since other components have to be repaired too.
Expansion valves are delicate. It can easily get damaged once other parts of the A/C are broken. Leaks, the presence of debris, and pressure problems can make the expansion valve fail too. The most sensible solution for a faulty expansion valve is a replacement. But you must consider having a high quality expansion valve replacement from reliable sources, like the R & Y A/C Compressors, as well as other replacement parts for the A/C system like the compressor and evaporator to make sure that it will last long and will not require another round of repair or replacement any time soon.