A/C work - condenser, expansion valve

[Irenicus]

Got a $1700 quote to replace the A/C expansion valve, condenser and serpentine belt plus a recharge for my 2016 GS

I'm looking at the parts and the amount of work involved and my dad thinks we can handle the part swap ourselves in his shop. I know a fridge guy at work and as far as I know we need to get the system drained and recovered all the freon 134A safely before we can do anything.

Depending how much experience these fridge guys have at work I may see if they can handle the re-charge, or if it's higher risk I may end up taking it back to the shop. I figure I'll save about $800+ on labour just doing these 3 parts myself.

Any thoughts on this? I know the expansion valve is behind the firewall so that seems annoying. Everything else seems straight forward

 

[HyFlyer]

... I know the expansion valve is behind the firewall ...

Hmmmmm, I wonder if you have just stumbled on the "why' behind the $1700 estimate. Have you checked the workshop manual to see what it'll take to get to that expansion valve ? Also, how much do you trust the diagnosis that the expansion valve needs replaced?

 

[dan25man]

A/C work is harder that you think. If you do it yourself and there even a very very minor leak anywhere you touched, you are going to lose your r134 and have to do it again. If you get a shop to do it then A) they will probably do it right and B) if there's any other leaks or issues they would repair it in their own $ and time. People forget that parts + labour rates take into account rework (if needed) $1700 seems fair for the work being performed. Cars are expressive Yo.

 

[Irenicus]

A/C work is harder that you think. If you do it yourself and there even a very very minor leak anywhere you touched, you are going to lose your r134 and have to do it again. If you get a shop to do it then A) they will probably do it right and B) if there's any other leaks or issues they would repair it in their own $ and time. People forget that parts + labour rates take into account rework (if needed) $1700 seems fair for the work being performed. Cars are expressive Yo.

I mean if a shop recovers the refrigerant isn't most of it just straight forward mechanical work - seems like the most crucial part is PAG oil and O-Ring replacement.

Labour is like $1100 at the shop to do this.