AC Question

I have a 2000 Maxima SE, and the AC stopped blowing cold air the other day. I know in the old days we would have to pay someone big money to fill the thing up with free-on (spelling) but pretty sure these days its much easier, is that true, and if so where do I buy the stuff and how hard is it to do?

Thanks for any help

John

 

Well there's the right way and the shade tree way. The right way is to measure the low and high side pressures and add R134 to get them to where they should be. It could be many other things besides being low on refrigerant.

The shade tree way is to visit your local Walmart or auto parts store and buy a can of R134 and a recharge hose. Dump the can in and see if it starts cooling. Most of them also sell a low side gauge of some sort or even a kit with the gauge, host, and a can of R134. That's better than blind guessing.

 

If you recharge it, make sure to measure the high side pressure in case there is blockage and the pressure gets too high. This could be dangerous. I only have the specs for my car 1998 Maxima, so I don't know if that would be applicable to your car or not. Let me know if you want the info.

 

Could you please post the specs for the 98'. Thank you very much in advance.

Andrei

 

This table comes from the factory manual.

Ambient Air Temperature vs. Pressure Table
(Relative humidity 50 - 70%)

Air Temp (F) High Pressure Low Pressure (psi)
59 78 - 95 26 - 31
68 98 - 119 24 - 30
77 122 - 149 26 - 33
86 149 - 185 31 - 37
95 181 - 220 38 - 47