I just had my 9 year old 2 1/2 ton home Carrier Air Conditioner inspected by a service man. I does not put out hot air in heat mode nor cold air in cool mode. It runs a long time in response to the thermostat. The charge (F22) is good. The units are clean. When checking pressures, the suction is around 60-70 psi. The discharge stays around 70-80 psi. He stated the Sporlan TXV model # EA36YD030 is stuck. The suction line by the valve is cool/cold. The discharge line is barly warm. His quote of $950 is beyond belief. His recommendation was to install a new system at $5K.

How difficult is it to pump down the system, remove the screw cap on the back of the valve, and clean/replace the power component inside? Isn't it just a spring and valve?

Guessing: A $250 part with markup. Recovery and Evacuation (Hurry up and wait). Pressurization with Nitrogen, Leak down check (Hurry up and wait). Charge system. Maybe $30 of refrigerent, not including overhead.

Might take 3 hours or longer. About 2/3 of the time waiting.

Usually you will need to replace the entire valve assembly if it has a sticking problem. The numbers for suction and discharge do not look like there is any pumping going on. I would suspect a compressor and do a pump down and see how it goes before I would replace the valve. But that is only my opinion and what do I know about it since I am not there to see what is actually going on.

Disassembling the valve and replacing it's components is not as simple as it sounds. The expansion valve works on pressure equalization principles. I doube if you have the expertise to correctly calibrate it once you replace the parts. The whole valve cost ($100 - $175) depending on it's size and use. Some are adjustable and some are not. The expensive part is installing the valve. If it is the outside unit, you'll have to evacuste the system (reclaim the Freon). Then unsoldier the old valve and soldier in the new one (Very Tricky). The system then needs to be purged (nitrogen), and checked for leaks (vacuum test). After all this, you can then recharge the system. The price for a professional is in the neighborhood of $600 to $1200 depending on where you live and the labor rate in your area. Of course, if you can do it yourself, the charge is much less ($150 to $300) for the nitrogen charge, freon, reclaim, and soldier). Good luck... Of course, you could solve the problem by purchasing a complete outside unit for about $1200 to $1600) and just soldier in the suction and discharge lines yourself.