People are often prompted to replace the expansion valve (and receiver drier) in order to satisfy the requirements of a compressor warranty.

I did not have this level of difficulty on my 300SD. The job was done without disturbing any brackets or air ducts. It did require purchase of a set of Craftsman crow's foot wrenches, plus an on-line order for one larger one that is required on the top side. The pricing of this single one led me to comment that it must have been the crow that set the price for their foot.

One thing you get when the expansion valve is out is a much more forceful flush of the evaporator. I used a flush gun (fill with flush and pressurize with shop air) in one port and the other port had a piece of old garden hose over it running into a small bucket. Got lots of black stuff out of the evaporator.

There's no room whatsoever for regular wrenches to work. I used the crow's foot wrenches to get the fittings snug, then tightened them up with a long extension and socket wrench.

Ken300D

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1982 300D at 351K miles
1984 300SD at 217K miles
1987 300D at 370K miles