Since I couldn’t find any info on the location or replacement of a 5th gen 4Runner AC expansion valve I figured I do the logical thing. Rip open the wife’s dash until I found it.
Backstory - The wife said her AC in our 2016 SR5 wasn’t keeping up with the Texas heat. Stuck gauges to it and noticed pressure weren’t right. Found a small leak at the high pressure port. Recharged her system and she was happy. But I wasn’t. I noticed pressures never equalized when the car was shut off. Indicative of a line restriction. Common culprits are expansion valves and condensers. I’m lazy and decide change both since $100 isn’t too much to make me diagnose further.
Come to find out there’s not much info on 5th gen expansion valve replacements. Everything I saw said a full dash removal to get to it. I called BS and I was right. It’s not far behind the glovebox. A screwdriver and 10 mm socket are all you need to get to it.
Step 1. There’s panels on either side of the passenger foot area that need to be removed. Right side has a screw farther back and the left side is just clipped in.
There is also a small plastics cover on the left hand side of the knee airbag that needs to be removed. It’s clipped in but is also clipped behind the climate control knob panel (on my SR5 it’s a silvery colored trim piece and it just pulls away from its clips)
Step 2. After the small trim piece is removed the knee airbag is held on by 3 10mm bolts. It is also held in by 4 clips on the top and pulls away after unbolting.
Step 3. There are 5 bolts holding in the glovebox. 2 under (one on the far left one on the far right) and 3 inside the glovebox at the top under 3 separate tabs. After that is removed the glovebox pulls out with a firm tug. Make sure the climate control trim is still pulled away because the glovebox tucks under slightly.
Step 4. Once the glovebox is out the led light needs the be removed. The wiring is held in by 2 clips and the light will easily come out of its housing/hole. Then you can toss the glovebox to the side for now.
Step 5. Next is the passenger foot air vent. It’s held in by (1) 10mm bolt at the bottom and a clip on the left side.
Step 6. After the vent is removed there’s some plastic piece that seems to only hold electrical connections. (1) 10mm bolt at the bottom and (2) 10mm nuts at the top and it easily pulls out. There’s one connector at the top I uncoupled to get it to move out of the way.
Now you’re home free. The expansion value is easily accessible. Mine was covered in some weird insulation. Almost felt like tar but came off unexpectedly easy. It’s not easily removed to where you can reuse it so I just found some other insulation to wrap back around the new valve. I’m sure the engineers had a reason for insulating it. It’s held on by 2 torx head bolts and reassembly is just as easy
https://imgur.com/gallery/5th-gen-4r...-valve-EKot4n7
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