I posted this on TorontoMaxima.com, but I thought it may prove useful to others who are not on the Toronto forums;

Ok so I posted just yesterday about a problem I had with the car not starting. You can read about it here:

http://www.torontomaxima.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3086

So today I decide to start trying to figure out what is wrong. I started by checking all the fuses, nothing, all were just fine. But I noticed after checking the fuses by the battery that the terminals had a lot of corrosion on them. I figure can't hurt to clean them up a little, and by a little I mean a lot. I get out my dremal and attatch a small cylindrical grinder bit and sand away all the white stuff on the terminal and connecter. After which I thought I would give the car a try.........it starts, in fact started better than ever.

I thought this could be a fluke so I turned it off waited 20 mins and tried again, again another great start. Next I drove around for about 20 mins stopped and started the car again with no problem. Next stopped put the stereo on loud AC on full without the engine on left it like that for about 10 mins and tried to start the car again, another perfect start.

May just be the placebo effect but I feel the car is just more responsive now too.

So my message here is, add to your in car emergency kit SANDPAPER! If I had had it in my kit I probably would have thought to give it a try last night than be stranded at school for 2 hours waiting for a boost. Throw some sandpaper in your kit and it may save you some trouble. And as a side note clean those battery terminal and connecters, may just make your Maxima feel a lot smoother.

- Steve

yeah it wasnt the placebo affect, that oxide buildup prevents good electrical contact, since yoru doine doing that, you might wnat to spread some dielectric grease so it donest build up often, i used to used coca cola, a capful will dissolve that oxidization completley and quickly

Thanks for the advice, I will look into getting some of that grease.

AC on full without the engine on is a BAD IDEA. You can overheat it very quickly.

does the compressor even engaged if the engine isnt on? you need the accessory belt turning dont you....if so, then the AC isnt on, correct me if im worng

you are dumb if you get stranded on the road because of YEARS of not looking at the engine. If you see a huge white ball where a terminal is, scrape that sh/t away...

Coke will dissolve it pretty quick too

no the AC wont work when the engine isnt running

1. Calling me dumb, thats uncalled for and rude.
2. I wasn't stranded on the road, I was stranded in a parking lot.
3. There was not a huge white ball there. There was a fair amount of corosion in between the connector and the terminal which was farely hard to see with the sun going down and evening setting in.
4. Did I say it was years since I cleaned it....do you personally know me and how well I take care of my car? I actually clean the engine bay and battery terminals often, in fact the last time I cleaned those was about 6 months ago which was when winter set in. So I apologize for not cleaning those terminals during the -20 degree months.
5. Thanks for the coke suggestion even though someone more mature than yourself mentioned it already.

Go to AutoZone and buy some terminal protectant spray. Clean the terminals, and spray alot of the protectant on the terminals. Do this every 6 months and your batt will last a long time.

Ah, now this is good advice, thank you for taking the time kevlo.

No the AC doesn't work 100% when the car is off. However it still heats up the coolant with no benefit of blowing air through the radiator, which can lead to overheating.

Also you could do what most people do. Baking Soda every so often and water will pull all that off.


Weird I know but it works.

Thanks a lot more Formz and Prophecy1 both good and useful pieces of information.

No problem. I learned not to do this the hard way when I was about 10 years old. Parents went into a store and me and a friend stayed in my parents blazer, I turned the AC on because it was hot outside, my Dad turned the car on and the temp gauge skyrocketed haha.. never did THAT again.

You seem to confuse coolant with refrigerant and condenser with radiator. With the engine OFF, the compressor will not engauge. therefore no Air conditioning when the engine is off period. AC system and cooling system are not related

Tell that to the overheating car that was in my driveway. Turn your AC on with your car off, you'll see you still get cold air. (although not as much.) But yes condensor is the proper term, not radiator.

If you had just turned of the engine with ac blower still running, you will get some cold air but just for a few seconds, untill the air passing through the evaporator will have heated it up to ambiant air temperature. The engine drives the Ac compressor. It has to be running for the ac compressor to work.

It's a LOT more than just a few seconds. Refrigerant is VERY cold and will stay cold long after the car is shut off.

dude, seriously go try it. if its like 70 deg outside, and you had your ac going for awile driving around, turn off your car in the sun, and keep the ac and blower on. see how long you can sit comfortably : )

that is neglect if you're car can't start because you have so much corrosion on the battery...imo...

You can get a can of battery terminal cleaner at autozone too, works just like cola. Just spray it on and it foams the crud away instantly

vinigar... works perfectly. better with baking soda no need to buy stuff from autozone

If the engine is overheating if anything, the overheating is proably the cause of a faulty thermostat or other non ac related thing. The AC compressor will not enguage if the engine isnt running period no matter what anyone says, shure you will feel some cold air for a short period of time after its been used previously but thats due to the fans pulling the remainder of the cold air when the compressor was running.

know what works just as well as battery cleaner? coke! grab a can of coke and dump some on it, boom.. gone

Then tell me why a car (that wasn't overheating when it was running) would overheat with it shut off but the AC on.

And I'd LOVE to test it at 70°, however CT/RI is having a little bit of a cold snap, and it will be about 55 for another week ATLEAST