OgerisG321

I have a 97 Maxima SE and have been having an issue with it for almost a year and it is getting on my nerves because everything I try is ending up as a fail.

Whenever I turn my A/C on, my car starts squealing and does not stop for a good 10 minutes. I changed the pulley, the belt and the tensional like 3 times each and yet it is still making the noise. Could it be my A/C compressor causing the issue(A/C still blows cold air though)?!?!

I've taking it to like 3 mechanics and they have no clue why it is making that noise, but I just had one look at it yesterday and he told me that it could my WATER PUMP and also he looked at the belt and said that it looks like my alternator pulley is too far out.

Before I go through the trouble of doing all that work, I just wanted to know if this happened to anyone on here and did you manage to get it fixed. IF SO HOW?!? I need my A/C working without any noise during this summer heat.


PLEASE HELP ME OUT BECAUSE I'M GETTING WITH THE CAR AND EVERYTHING I DO SEEMS NOT TO WORK!!!!!!!

shadyonedeath

iTrader: (10)

Its not the belt, its the tension on the belt.

Keep adjusting till its just right.

OgerisG321

I remember doing that and nothing happened but I will give it another go tomorrow and let you know what happens.

ColombianMax

iTrader: (7)

Have you cheked all other pulleys? Power steering, Alternator? It sounds like wrong tensioning but hard to tell

stamar

ya obviously has to be the ac compressor itself.

It could be the added work causing the belt to slip but it sounds like a bearing inside the compressor.

could be some halfway of both, the ac compressor is wearing out and it overloads the tension on the belt.

Fasteddie01

Do you mean you changed the pulley - replaced it? - same with belt and ?tensional? - Why? Adjust the tension properly (look it up) and look at the pulley to see if the ?mechanic? is right about it being "too far out" - look up pics in FSM and here (search). If all that fails, it MIGHT be the compressor needing service. Have you gone to a A/C specialty shop. Just don't take a $100 'service' unless they guarantee that's what it needs. Also, see if anyone in the Org lives near you to get an 'informed' second opinion, lots of 'mechanics' out there don't know s--- about Maximas - you see it all the time here on the forum.

OgerisG321

I didn't check the power steering pulley but the alternator that's in my car is brand new from AutoZone and has been in the car a year so I don't think the pulley on it is bad, but one of the mechanics said that the pulley on the ALTERNATOR looks like it's a sticking out more further than the others and I don't know what he is talking about.


I mean the compressor blows COLD air and I was told that the only time they go bad is when they start blowing hot air. Now that you say that I don't know what to believe or trust.


Yea I replaced all that because me and my mechanic did the adjustment to the tensional and it was still making that noise so we thought that changing it would stop the problem, but clearing it did not.

And yea the pulley on the Alternator is a little bit further out than all the others. What is FSM?!? I think I'm just going to take it to an A/C Specialty shop and see what they tell me.

As far as my mechanics go, I know the 1st one that attempted to fix it personally and he knows his stuff. The one from the other, I just meet him while in Tallahassee for school and being 4 hours from my main mechanic.

stamar

well first


tighten the tensioner a few turns

its that thing above the idler pully....turn it clockwise.

fsm is field service manual

organ donor

FSM is also factor service manual and check that you belt is not too tight or not tight enough. also make sure you don't have any water or grease etc between belt and the pullys. take off first belt and see if it still squeals. if not your problem is with that if not proceed to the second belt. if it still squeals then it is probably your water pump cause thats driven by TC. Report back after trying suggestions.

OgerisG321

I know what the tensioner is and I've been playing with it by tighten and loosening it and nothing same result.

And I ended up figure out what the FSM last night but thanks.

I think I might have some grease on it, I'm going to give it a look at right now and see what happens.

OgerisG321

Tried everything and nothing worked.
Going to an A/C hopefully on Monday.

treefrog

http://forums.maxima.org/4th-generation-maxima-1995-1999/379856-who-has-experience-ac-compressor-clutch.html

I drove over a flooded road and about a day or two after, I heard the squealing. I found the thread above and am in the middle of doing the job. The reason for my squealing was that water got into the A/C clutch assembly and into the bearing. This caused rust and then the bearing went and the result is/was the squealing. This issue is extensively described in the thread. I highly suggest you read the tread listed above, but pay close attention to their description of the symptoms. If you feel that their symptoms match yours, I can assure that you will no longer be looking for an answer to your problem because it will be the A/C compressor bearing.

I took their advice and got a belt that bypassed the A/C compressor (this was in late winter). Since it has been quite hot and humid, I decided to begin the project tonight. I was able to take the clutch assembly off and then I was able to pull the pulley/bearing off using a two prong puller. The clutch assemble was a pain, but I used info from another thread to do that. I took one of the bolts from the idler pulley assembly and placed it in one of the holes on the clutch wheel. I then positioned a long screw driver in between the body of the car and the screw. This allowed me to to stop the motion of the clutch wheel and loosen the center, 10mm bolt. I then used a flat head screw driver to carefully pry around the clutch wheel and it eventually came off. At this point, I could see the bearing (the culprit). The problem was there was a retaining pin holding the bearing around the center spindle. Since I didn't have a retaining clip tool, I used an awl and pryed one of the sides of the clip until it hung over the edge of the bearing. I was lucky and was able to flip it around the edge of the bearing without damaging it. I read another thread about someone who damaged this retaining ring and I can see why. I then removed the plastic fender cover (should have done this earlier) and turned the front wheels all the way to the right. This exposed the compressor pulley/bearing assembly. I hooked the prongs of a two-prong puller around the outer rim of the pulley wheel, attached a socket to the center nut and pulled the pulley wheel/bearing assembly of the center hub. The brainchild behind the thread listed above (skyjumper) mentioned that he was able to pry the pulley/bearing assembly off with his hands...I don't know how that happened! It would have been impossible to get off without the two-prong pulley.

So, I am now going to try to find a replacement bearing. I will check partsamerica.com and some other places. Once I buy the replacement, I will find a shop to extract the old one and press in the new one. I will go out on a limb and say the reassembly should be quite easy and then I won’t be sweating in this August type weather we are experiencing.

I have pictures of some of the techniques that I used, but I do not know how to post pics here and am not going to spend the time to find out, unless someone tells me how. If you provide me with an email address, I can send them to you.

-Chris

treefrog

http://forums.maxima.org/4th-generation-maxima-1995-1999/379856-who-has-experience-ac-compressor-clutch.html

I drove over a flooded road and about a day or two after, I heard the squealing. I found the thread above and am in the middle of doing the job. The reason for my squealing was that water got into the A/C clutch assembly and into the bearing. This caused rust and then the bearing went and the result is/was the squealing. This issue is extensively described in the thread. I highly suggest you read the tread listed above, but pay close attention to their description of the symptoms. If you feel that their symptoms match yours, I can assure that you will no longer be looking for an answer to your problem because it will be the A/C compressor bearing.

I took their advice and got a belt that bypassed the A/C compressor (this was in late winter). Since it has been quite hot and humid, I decided to begin the project tonight. I was able to take the clutch assembly off and then I was able to pull the pulley/bearing off using a two prong puller. The clutch assemble was a pain, but I used info from another thread to do that. I took one of the bolts from the idler pulley assembly and placed it in one of the holes on the clutch wheel. I then positioned a long screw driver in between the body of the car and the screw. This allowed me to to stop the motion of the clutch wheel and loosen the center, 10mm bolt. I then used a flat head screw driver to carefully pry around the clutch wheel and it eventually came off. At this point, I could see the bearing (the culprit). The problem was there was a retaining pin holding the bearing around the center spindle. Since I didn't have a retaining clip tool, I used an awl and pryed one of the sides of the clip until it hung over the edge of the bearing. I was lucky and was able to flip it around the edge of the bearing without damaging it. I read another thread about someone who damaged this retaining ring and I can see why. I then removed the plastic fender cover (should have done this earlier) and turned the front wheels all the way to the right. This exposed the compressor pulley/bearing assembly. I hooked the prongs of a two-prong puller around the outer rim of the pulley wheel, attached a socket to the center nut and pulled the pulley wheel/bearing assembly of the center hub. The brainchild behind the thread listed above (skyjumper) mentioned that he was able to pry the pulley/bearing assembly off with his hands...I don't know how that happened! It would have been impossible to get off without the two-prong pulley.

So, I am now going to try to find a replacement bearing. I will check partsamerica.com and some other places. Once I buy the replacement, I will find a shop to extract the old one and press in the new one. I will go out on a limb and say the reassembly should be quite easy and then I won’t be sweating in this August type weather we are experiencing.

I have pictures of some of the techniques that I used, but I do not know how to post pics here and am not going to spend the time to find out, unless someone tells me how. If you provide me with an email address, I can send them to you.

-Chris

posmax22341

I've been having this problem for over a year and the other day I threw a belt and noticed my crankshaft pulley was F'ed up. By that I mean the thing that holds the belt for the A/C, gen had shifted over and shredded half of the power steering steering belt(The crankshaft pulley is actually two pieces). and a month before it happened i noticed my crankshaft pulley had a slight wobble. Bought a new crankshaft pulley and it fixed my problem, hope this helps.

Check to see if your crankshaft pulley isn't just sitting more inward than the one he says is too far out.

Vqpwred

spray some belt conditioner on it ,And the belt could be to tight or too loose

OgerisG321

So I'm going to try treefrog's idea because I replaced the condensor in the car the nver charged up my a/c and there was no noise until I either rode over a puddle or when the car/belt was wet. Then last night I decided to charge up my a/c and the minute I put my car in drive the squealing came right back So today I'm going to a a/c shop and get the free a/c check and tell them what's going on and hopefully they have the answer that I need