Bought my 96 Max SE (black/black leather, 5sp, auto climate control) last week and found a slight issue.

If the car is going over 30 mph, day or night (I'm in S. Florida), the AC can blow in the 40's. Once I come to a stop, only when its hot out, I can't get any lower then 65 degrees. But at a stop, at night, blows in the low 50's.

When it is blowing cool (65) during the day, I feel the ac lines and they are not much cooler. Once the car is moving, cools back down to the 50's (during the day).

I check the pressures, their good, drained the system, put a vacuum on it for 30 min, recharged it, no difference.

Their is no blockage at the condensor or radiator.

Could the compressor be on its way out or could this just simply be the nature of the Maxima.

Thanks,

Doug D

 

Same with mine.

 

I've been following the A/C threads for a while and it seems to be a common complaint. If your pressures are good then you're compressor should be good. It seems like the low side pressures for most people are too high. I just replaced my compressor, drier, and evaporator last week and I'm just getting approx. 50 vent temps. I'm not real happy with these temps but it's better than the 65+ temps I was getting. Don't know what to try. The car was a lot cooler when it was newer, but it also had tinted window (tint was removed due to wrinkling).

It's interesting that the service manual has long list of problem/symtoms for pressures, but does not tell what the problem is when the low side is too high and the high side is OK.

 

mine seems fine except for the large loss of power seeing as humidity in NJ kills my cars performance but the A/C still blows cold.

 

Same here. Have you felt the line TO the condenser? I nearly burnt my finger on mine, it was blazing hot. Although the compressor appears to be working as far as that goes, my line to the evaporator is really not that cold.

On a side topic, does anyone else think this is crazy? Read on..
Follow the line from the condenser exit (driver side) to the receiver/dryer and then watch how it wends its merry way all around the RED HOT ENGINE before going to the evaporator!! I think the refrigerant should exit the condenser on the passenger side so it has a shorter/cooler route to the evaporator.

Anyway back on topic - Obviously, if I need a 50mph wind to get it working properly, then enough heat is not being lost to the atmosphere, which I can only think (but hope not) points to the compressor not doing its job. Some people talk about faulty expansion valves, but I don't have the first clue how to check something like that.

I've done about as much as I can without taking it to a repair centre - thankfully I live in Canada so I won't be needing it soon and I can save up during the winter...

 

There's a simple explanation to this variation. The a/c system does not only cool the air, it also dehumidifies it. In hot and humid Florida especially during the day the temp may not go down as much. This is normal operation, 65F is not bad for your climate. Think the Maxima has a bad a/c? Try a Honda, it's much worse. I think your problem is your choice of car color.

 

i uderstand all of you.. i wish my a/c would just work for more then a half of hour..... i brought my car in to be serviced and the whole 9yards my buddy at the shop is pulling his hair out because he has no idea why it only works for about 30mins then blows hot again! i read once here that someone had the same prob so is it just max? or is there a simple fix to my hell?????!!!!!

 

the A/C is the most important thing especially in FL. I've noticed that Nissans take a little while to cool down.

 

davey6693 - The lines in and out of the condensor will be very hot. This is normal. You should be able to tell a difference between the line going into the evaporator and the line coming out. The line going in should be cool and the line out should be cold. As far as the need for a 50mph wind to get it to cool, isn't because of the compressor but because the condensor needs the air flow to bring the pressures down. This can also be simulated by running water over the condensor.

 

Similar situation here. Before the a/c went south completely, this was exactly what would happen to me. Turned out that there was a leak somewhere, and after about 5 - 10 minutes the refrigerant would run out (I guess) and it would start blowing hot again. They just recharged the refrigerant.

Eventually, Nissan replaced the compressor, condensor, and evaporator after the a/c went down in the hottest and most humid weather in the last 10 years...

Hope this helps.

Quack 2x

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by DougsfastZ
[B]Bought my 96 Max SE (black/black leather, 5sp, auto climate control) last week and found a slight issue.

If the car is going over 30 mph, day or night (I'm in S. Florida), the AC can blow in the 40's. Once I come to a stop, only when its hot out, I can't get any lower then 65 degrees. But at a stop, at night, blows in the low 50's.


I have a 97 and it blows 39 degree air even when outside temp is in high 90s. I keep an AC round thermometer in center vent all the time so I can monitor performance continually. I also do my own AC work on our cars. What you are experiencing just doesn't sound right!

 

What I have found out here in South Ga when it's really hot I run the recirc on the A/C instead of pulling in the hotter air from outside trying to cool it. It makes a world of difference. Try it see if you can tell the difference.

 

Sorry, I meant to say the line from the evaporator was not cold. I understood that the compressor was at least doing something right by the statment of the line being hot. It's just confusing that evaporation of the refrigerant is not happening at the rate it should (my theory is that the low side pressure is too high, which points to the compressor). Most other cars I've been in can keep the car cold when stuck in traffic because of the 2 auxiliary fans providing airflow over the condenser. It seems that a/c problems are some of the trickiest to diagnose....

 

One thing I found when I was working on my A/C last week was that my evaporator was extreemly dirty. There isn't a mesh cover like some of the other cars. I would assume that a dirty evaporator would contribute to less evaporation (just a guess) and therefore less cooling. Check some of Miasma's threads about his a/c problems. He's replaced compressor (twice), drier, and expansion valve and still having the problem. I assume that mine went OK (not great cooling), but I need to recheck my pressures on a hot day. It was 50 degrees when I finished charging around midnight.

 

This is something I got from the SE-R mailing list. A SE-R member used a thermal wrap on AC hose which (he commented) works really well, especially the part that nears the engine.

I don't think my car has AC problem so I didn't give it a try. Anyone want to try it out and let us know?