1997 4 cyl AT with 228k miles...it's been a reliable vehicle. However, the a/c recently quit working. I added some R134a and noted the low side was <10 while the high side was rapidly approaching 300 psi. I immediately shut it off concluding that it was time to replace the expansion valve ( and filter/dryer). Haynes manual says the dashboard needs to come out and I don't want to do that unless it's absolutely necessary! I removed the glove box yesterday to take a look...it looks to me that if I remove the blower assembly the expansion valve should be accessible. ( I can just see it in the gap between the blower assembly and the evaporator housing). Has anyone done it this way?

 

Toyota apparently changed the design in 1997 which required removing the dash.