well,
after months upon months of it only having that one short thread, i figure i'll ask to see if anyone has any advances with this. they sell for cheap on ebay and i know a few members have bought them because it was discussed in the f/s section a while ago. you'd think it would be not too difficult seeing that people can install turbos, superchargers, convert their automatics to 5spds, so getting a few sensors from the junkyard or wherever would be a piece of cake. i understand it's not a big priority to anyone really, but would like to know if any of the innovative people on here have attempted to tackle this project.
i bet when our cars were on the assembly line or however the rest of the stuff was installed, it wasn't too difficult to add these sensors and simply bolt in the auto climate instead of the manual one. so many people have stripped their cars down completely for one project or another, has anyone actually seen all the little parts needed for it? i think it would interest many people if this project was completed and would benefit many members. anyone else agree or up to the challenge?

 

I'll have to agree with your statements wholeheartedly.

It would seem that he could be done.

Arthur C. Clark's Rule (2001, A Space Odyssey author) stated that "When a scientist states that something is impossible, he is most probably wrong."

I wish this could be done by us .org members too!

White96MaxSE

 

I was planning to do the swap, but I can't find any junkyards that have maximas in my location. I have the haynes manual and highlighted the differences between the manual and auto climate controls. The manual climate control electrical system of all years matches up with best with the 95-97 auto climate control. You will need the 4 temperature sensors, fan control amp, intake door motor, air mix door motor, push control unit, along with the auto climate control head unit. I would recommend you try to find a climate control along with a cut wiring harness so you can match colors. Then you will have to do a ****load of splicing and soldering the wires. Or you can find a maxima at a junkyard and pull out what you need with all the wiring intact.

Also, it would be a ***** trying to locate all these parts from within the car. If I can find a totalled maxima, i will attempt this.

 

there are a few junkyard dogs on here who go all the time and have access to many max parts cars. we should try to see if they'd be willing to help. it would be cool if we could get some sort of kit together once someone figures it out. any idea on how much those parts would cost? it's funny because it probably doesn't really change the value of the car that drastically but the parts probably get pricey. but then again, that's where auto companies and dealerships make a lot of their money.

 

everything is possible given the money and the time. i just got a loaded max and did it the easy way.

 

I know I'm gonna sound discouraging, but here goes:

The auto-climate control in the 97 Maximas seems to be buggy. It's the least reliable of the auto-climate controls avaible on the Maxima.

In 1998 and later Maximas, The auto climate control was updated to a newer verison which seems to run very reliably, since it's in the 99 and later Maximas.

In my 98, I had a chance to compare the 97 auto climate control panel to the 98 one. The 97 had 13 or so wires in its harness. The 98 one has 30+ wires. BIG difference electronically. If you decide to tackle this project, keep in mind that it's a major over-haul of your dashboard.

Also, don't beleive the hype. My auto climate control, I almost never leave it at the same temp, I usually end up adjusting the temp manually anyways. The 2 BIG advantages to auto climate control are:

It looks great, very sophisticated and modern looking.
The 98+ have outsdie temp available as well.


Other than that, they are not really worth sweating over

DW

 

I'm glad to see others wanting to tackle this too. I read the FAQ...that it wasn't worth it....and that bummed me out. I was driving my moms 2k1 GLE with the cliamte control and I'm just like "man, this is sooooooooooo much better". I would LOVE to do this project. I should look through the factory manual and see what the dilly is. 30+ wires sounds a little tricky...but how nice would it be to just set the freekin temperature and not be fidgeting with the stupid slider all the time...totally worth it if we could get/create a writeup.

 

i have auto. having just replaced my expansion valve (need to rip out the entire dash, EVERYTHING). I highly recommend that you do not attempt this. There are too many sensors and it took me two days to take it apart and put stuff back in. There is a sun sensor by the passenger side defroster vent. Ambient sensor by the hood latch and grill. Sensors everywhere. Then there is a diagnostic that the system has to go through and pass for anything to work. You would have to buy a new blower moter, hot\cold, face\feet director, i forget what that is called. but it is a HUGE PITA to do. however, it is possible, and if any of you attempt it, take lots of pics, make a list of parts needed, etc. people will thank you. but overall, IMO, it is not worth it.