This one comes from a service call in east Fort Myers in late June. I'm writing it up because it's a perfect example of why a careful diagnosis matters, and why you should always ask about your parts warranty before anyone talks you into a new system. Customer details stay private; the repair is exactly as it happened.
The complaint: running, not cooling, in the worst week of June
The system was running constantly and barely cooling the house. On an older system, those symptoms get a lot of homeowners a replacement quote on the spot. This system wasn't old enough for that conversation, so the job was to find out what was actually wrong.
The diagnosis: a stuck electronic expansion valve
The expansion valve is the small component that meters refrigerant into the indoor coil. On newer high-efficiency systems it's electronic, an EEV, controlled by the system's board. When an EEV fails or sticks, the coil gets starved of refrigerant. The compressor runs, the fans run, the electric meter spins, and the house stays warm. From the thermostat it looks like a dying system. On the gauges it tells a different story: the pressures and temperatures don't match what a worn-out compressor would show, they match a metering device that isn't feeding the coil.
That's what this was. The EEV assembly had failed and the coil couldn't get the refrigerant it needed.
The part that saved this customer real money
Before quoting anything, I checked the equipment's warranty status. The EEV assembly was covered under the manufacturer's parts warranty. Most major brands carry a ten year parts warranty when the equipment is registered, and a lot of homeowners either don't know that or are never told.
So instead of paying for the part, the customer paid for the labor and the refrigerant work. Replacing an EEV is not a quick swap: the refrigerant charge has to be recovered, the valve assembly cut out and the new one brazed in, the system pulled into a deep vacuum to remove air and moisture, and then recharged by weight. This system took eight pounds of R-410A to come back to factory spec. After the recharge I verified operation and the coil finally got fed the way the engineers intended.
The outcome
Cold air, normal runtimes, and a repair bill a fraction of what a system replacement costs in Lee County, which typically runs $8,809 to $20,897. The equipment gets to live out the rest of its life, and the homeowner knows exactly what was done and why.
What Fort Myers homeowners should take from this
Two things. First, running-but-not-cooling has several possible causes, and the difference between a capacitor, a refrigerant leak, an expansion valve, and a genuinely tired compressor is measured with instruments, not guessed from the driveway. Second, before you approve any major AC repair or replacement, ask one question: is this part still under manufacturer warranty? If the person quoting you doesn't want to check, that tells you something.
If your system is struggling anywhere in Fort Myers, we do same-day AC repair throughout Fort Myers. Call or text (239) 810-2500. The phone is answered 24/7, and estimates on replacements are always free.
True Care Air LLC | Florida License CAC1824801 | Owner-operated by Derrik Speck | Fort Myers and Southwest Florida | TrueCareAir.com