Ok first off I have never really had my A/C working properly but it worked good for awhile a couple of years ago. Last summer I survived w/o A/C but I dont think I can survive again in HOTATLANTA traffic which gets bad sometimes. I need to be able to take people in the car(like women for dates) and have a good A/C system.

I took it to a good A/C place here in Atlanta that I know is good and they said I needed a new retention valve. Before I took it to the shop I tried to change it over to the new stuff but apparently the kit I got was cheap. They said it would be around $400 labor I was look GEEEEEZZZZZZZZZZZ. You know that have to take the dash apart and stuff like that the labor just kills me. It just blows hot air right now and I believe the belt is lose but it wants to shut off the car when I try to turn it on.

As anybody had these problem on their 3rd gen Maxima. If you did your feedback would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

First of all, WHO DA FLOCK told you $400 labor to change your A/C over to the "new stuff"?? They must've seen you coming when they quoted you THAT price!

Bro, I got quoted at $175 to change my r32 over to r134a (don't quote me on that freon number - I'm quoting off the top of my head), which I thought was high.

And you say you got a kit before you went to the shop, but it was cheap. "Cheap" how? Price?? Quality?? I'm confused there, cause I got a conversion kit from Wal-Mart for somewhere in the range of $35-$40 - and it included the fittings AND the freon.

Now, my only thoughts as to why they quoted you that much would be:[list=1][*]They missed their mortgage payment that month and needed some QUICK CASH to make up for a bad month, or....[*]They're replacing/repairing some major component to your A/C system (compressor, etc...)[/list=1]
Otherwise, all you'll really need to shell out would be MAYBE $100. And that's factoring in the $60-on-average price to get your system checked for leaks, and the $40 (maybe???) to buy the kit I bought and put that puppy in.

No offense, but if you let them do that to you, then YOU will be the next one getting this on your sigblock:

 

I too got a $30 kit from PEP boys like you did from Walmart nubiannupe. I had that installed with the new fittings and stuff but something went wrong and it did not do the job it was supposed to do. So the $400 was for the labor to fix the stupid A/C because the retention value has gone bad. That is a major part of the A/C but only cost like $40 it is located in the dash like on the right side I believe but I was like forget that Im not paying $400 when I could probably pull the dash out myself just could take a while.


Has anybody ever put a retention value in their self???

 

Either he said it wrong or your heard him wrong, it's called a expansion valve. Even though I've never changed a expansion valve on a Max I've done some Japenese and American cars. "Most" foriegn cars doesn't require removal of the dash to replace the exp valve, unlike "most" american cars that does require dash removal. AC jobs at a shop can be very expensive due to parts and labor, you'll be surprise what some are willing to pay to be comfortable. There were times at the shop were we'll estimate a bill for AC repair between $200-$1000 depending on parts and labor and those were legit estimates without screwing the customer. And to my surprise over 90% of the customers wanted there AC repair regardless of cost. We also gave them a 2yr warranty which caused us to be very precise/accurate on our diagnosis/repair and use quality parts (suppliers who stood up to their parts)

I would question that dash removal quote in-order to get to the valve. Again I've never done a Max so it could be possible.

 

my question might be similar to the one on this thread but i also had a similar problem to this except that i went to my engine bay and pulled out the 2 hoses where water goes into the the heater i believe and i just stuck to big azz bolts in those hoses to block off the water. i did that just so that i can get cold air blown into my car. now above those hoses at least a little to the top right there is some sort of valve i think that has a small lever that goes in and out and has a few vacuum hoses is that part of the a/c system??? i was told it is but im not sure. they told me that it controls the cold and hot air and that the lever goes in and stays in to either throw cold or hot air. if one of u guys can answer my question i would appreciate it.

 

The Maxima expansion valve is located inside the same air box under the dash as the heater core! We all know what type of hell that makes it to replace. Your $400 dollar estimate could be right on target -- all the $$ is for labor -- the valve itself is only around $40 bucks. The expansion valve meters the freon entering into the evaporator. If its clogged or not allowing much freon to flow through, then your a/c system does not cool well or at all. I had this problem on my Max -- The air worked fine when the car was at idle, but when I would drive around the compressor would click on and off constantly -- the faulty valve was causing my high pressure line to build too much pressure because the freon could not easily pass through the valve, almost 400psi at higher engine rpms. Thank goodness the compressor has an overload switch which immediately causes the compressor to shut off -- before it blows the hood off your car!!

Anyway, good luck...