Does anyone know what that microphone-looking thing is to the right of the climate control on a '96 GLE? Is there a thermometer there that measures the temerature? If that's what it is, I am surprized they pit it there.....

any ideas, anyone?

Thanks
Roman

 

i think that it is a thermometer, but all i know is mine is all dusty inside

 

Yeah, that thing is to measure the interior temperture when you hit the Auto button on the climate control. It works hand in hand with the photo sensor on the bottom edge of the windshield (passenger side). That sensor tells the system how strong the sunlight outside is, and then the interior thermometer feeds the info to the climate control computer, which then can figure out how much you are suffering, and what the temperture is in the car. It will then do some work, and figure out what it should do as far as temperture of the air outputted, and how fast...

Pretty cool actually...

 

Yep, and it's a good idea to clean every few years or so. When I took apart my center dash console after 6 years of driving my Maxima, I took a nice hunk of matted dust off of the photo sensor behind the mini grille. Not sure, but it may have improved the auto temperature accuracy.

 

The in-vehicle sensor is located just behind those slits.

The automatic climate control is a sophisticated computer-controlled device. It relies on signals from four sensors.
- The in-vehicle sensor, attached to the A/C control finisher.
- The ambient sensor, attached to the radiator core support.
- The sunload sensor, located on the right defroster grille.
- The intake sensor, located on the cooling unit housing.

 

I believe my 96 Maxima GXE and 94 Altima GXE have that mic thing somewhere nearby the A/C control, and none of them are auto climate, just manual A/C. Does manual A/C have sensor too? If it does, how does it work with A/C?

My very old 86 Sentra has manual A/C. there is a push-push button to toggle between MAX and ECON settings. I think MAX means no matter what, the A/C will run all the time; ECON means A/C runs on and off depending on the sensor?

Thanks

 

No.

 

I think that's for cost saving purpose; nobady wants to make two panels, one for auto climate the other for manual.

I believe my Max's manual A/C sometimes stops running for a short while then start running again, if I leave A/C on long enough. Is it normal? I notice it from what I could hear and also from the RPM.

 

As a side note:

My 94 Max with manual A/C has one on top of the dash on pass. side while my 99 does not. Do the 4th gen manual A/Cs take sunload into account by some other method?

 

It is normal for the compressor to cycle off and on. You might notice this as a change in sound and idle speed. You should not notice any change in the "coolth" coming from the A/C supply vents.