hit a road block when replacing the expansion valve - help! - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

ghettosled · 07-22-2011, 10:04 PM

background - long story short. my o-rings were leaking at the condenser. since the system would have to be vacuumed and re-charged, i decided to replace the dryer and expansion valve too. dryer was easy to install. one bolt holding a line to the condenser sheared, so since it is already in bad shape i going to the salvage yard tomorrow in hopes of finding a decent used one.

now when i go to replace the expansions valve (the hayes manual is worthless, and **********s is very little help) im trying to figure this out on my own. to open the access panel for the evaporator, the blower motor and case are in the way. i removed the blower motor itself, but cannot for the life of me remove the case. i believe i removed all of the screws, but i can not get the duct to disconnect from the evaporator cover. what am i missing? ive spent the last 1.5 hours looking for missed screws or clips, even tried giving it a good tug, but was afraid to break it if i pulled harder. i am almost to the point of just leaving the old one in place but im hoping someone here can help.

evaporator cover is on the left:

blower motor removed and you can see where the duct work connects:

just to post another photo, here is the old condenser removed:

Stillrunning · 07-23-2011, 11:30 AM

Not sure if your 96 is like my 95 but my FSM says:

(a) Remove 2 bolts for liquid and suction tube
(b) Remove 8 screws and evaporator cover.

chronoti · 07-23-2011, 12:40 PM

loooool, you only removed the blower motor, you have to remove the housing too, eaisest way is to remove the air bag to get one bolt holding it, ot get a ratchting 10mm wrench and bruse your hand a little

ghettosled · 07-23-2011, 05:20 PM

thanks for the info. i will remove the airbag - i didnt realize it was blocking any more bolt(s).

the salvage yard was also a disappointment. either broken condensers, or sheared bolts. even though mine isnt pretty, it still functioned so i drilled and tapped the hole where the bolt broke for me. everything under the hood is done, now its onto getting the expansion valve.