HVAC - AC TXV Thermal Expansion Valve Replacement?

[kama]

Hi Y'all!

Has anyone replaced the Expansion valve in their Vibe? Or knows of any resources (ideally with photos or video!!) to aid me in my repair?

I'm the owner of a 2004 Pontiac Vibe. I've been able to do a whole bunch of little fixes and maintenance to my car over the years, but now I'm stumped.

I've recently been having issues with my air conditioning (just in time for the Texas "excessive heat"!) and after various troubleshooting and diagnosis, I'm almost certain the TXV is bad / or stuck. I was able to order the part, and I've got the service manual information (thank you so much AZgl1800!!).
While the repair looks pretty straight forward... but how in the world do I get to the TXV?? The service manual doesn't specify anything needed to be "moved out of the way" in order to make the fix, but on the parts manual it almost looks as though it is under the dash. but when I peak around I don't see where it might be. Ideally I don't have to take my entire car apart to fix one thing, but if it comes to that, I'd at least like to know what I need to take out and in what order.

Thanks so much for any assistance!!

[joatmon]

I don't have a Vibe to check, but from this picture out of a 2003 Vibe factory service manual, it looks to me like it's in the engine compartment mounted to the firewall

TXV is #2 in the pic

txv.jpg (52.4 KiB) Viewed 1229 times

[joatmon]

I hope its that easy on a Vibe, the procedure for an 03 Matrix involves what looks like a complete dash disassembly The procedure PDF is 750K, and although this site's attachment section says file size limit is 1 MB, it still says the attachment is too large to upload ( viewtopic.php?p=505646 )

[Pattiba]

I'm working on my 05 Vibe and have been very successful with YouTube University to help me, but this expansion valve has me stumped. I've tried getting it out from under the hood but couldn't release the hose bibs from the valve, hoses came off but there are still bibs sticking out of the firewall.
Soooo, in pulling the dash, vent manifold and blend door assembly now I'm stuck on trying to remove the part that covers the TXV.
Does anybody have a link to help me?

[Pattiba]

Welp, got it figured out, after pulling all the parts in the above post and seeing more needing yo be removed, I returned to underneath the hood, struggled a little with the grommet and it finally released, 8mm sWell, on two long screws on the expansion valve, jiggled it back and forth with needle nose and voila'. Now to move onto the rest.

[joatmon]

Well, you've certainly learned a lot about how the dash goes together.

Do you think you needed to take the dash apart, or was it something you can do from just under the hood?

I sure hope that after all that trouble, you can get your AC working again. Keep us posted