AC blows cold only on drivers side.

So, I figure I share some info on what I had going on with my 2015 tacoma AC.

Several weeks ago my AC decided to blow cold only on one side, the driver side ONLY. I thought a recharge on the system would fix it. Also found out through the process that my AC hose from the compressor was leaking, so replaced that in the process. Took the truck to the dealer, mechanic ran the codes and nothing came up. He never worked on a truck that had this kind of issue he tells me. He also talked about the air mixing box/actuator that might be the issue. But to do that job requires taking out the entire front dash of the vehicle and that and dealer would charge at least 2k. Long story/short I found a couple old videos of people talking about this issue, they ended up replacing the AC Expansion valve on the system that ended up fixing their problem.

So I decided to purchase the expansion valve kit for $110.00. Had the ac system evacuated and then spent about 1.5hrs in the morning replacing the valve and filter. Turned out to be the problem. The spring/valve in the old expansion valve seemed to be stuck if you look at the comparison. It was driving me crazy trying figure out what the he'll the problem was, talking to mechanics and all were talking about replacing the entire AC system, hoses, compressor....... Anyways, pictures below.

Side by side pic of old and new expansion valve, along with filter and diagram of the kit.

 

Nice fix, yea most of the time when a single zone system blows cold on only one side it's a refrigeration problem not a blend door problem. Failed expansion valves can be kinda tricky to diagnose.

 

Great fix!!. Thanks for sharing