How much should it cost to replace a 2001 Nissan Sentra expansion valve?

Is this even what I should be replacing? I have a 2001 Nissan Sentra that has under 85000 miles and as of this summer the AC has stopped working. Air still blows out, but it is not cool as the compressor is not turning on. If you open the hood and take a listen, you hear no difference from when the AC is on or not. Innitially, I tried using an AC charger kit and obviously that was not the problem. Then I thought that the compressor needed to be replaced, but I think it is much too early for that to go on the car. I brought it to a mechanic that specializes in foreign cars and he said that it was the expansion valve that needed to be replaced and that it would cost $440.00. I've found the part online for $40 - does labor really need to be that high?|||Always get a second opinion, but it really could be that high. Depending on your location (hourly labor charges vary) the labor could be something like $65 and hour. On many cars this valve is located in the dashboard, in a box, connected to the a/c cooling lines.





So this basically means, taking the coolant out of the lines with a recovery machine, taking apart the dash (in the area around the glovebox) and taking the part out, replacement of the part, pumping the system down to a vacumn to get any air out, and then refilling the coolant.





This is a pretty intensive procedure, but I really cant figure out how the mechanic would determine that it was the expansion valve from what you wrote. If you tried a recharge kit, did you disconnect the battery for a while? There is a low pressure switch that keeps the compressor from starting, some of these have a memory. If you disconnect it the bat, and then try starting the a/c it should work for a minute, and then you might see if recharging makes a difference.