Hey all.

Just two days ago the AC in my 2006 maxima started doing something different. It blew cold air when I first started the car in the afternoon but within a minute or so it began "cycling" or "surging" from cold air to warmer air and back to cold.

I turned the AC off but kept the fan blowing and waited a minute or so. I turned the AC back on and it did the same thing blowing cold then warm then cold.

The AC finally stayed cold after turning the AC off the third time.

It did this two days in a row.

Car has 161,000 plus miles on it. I know the serpentine belt needs to be looked at because it makes a noise.

Could it be the serpentine belt slipping? Or is it more likely the solenoid for the AC compressor clutch?

 

you my friend are low on coolant, nothing more nothing less.

Are you hearing the creeping refrigerator sound or ac compressor when you turn the ac on? The reason why it keeps switching from hot to cold is the fluid you do have gets sucked up and goes through the tubing cooling the air, and when it hits the reservoir to be compressed again air fills the tubing and it gets hot. A simple recharge bottle from autozone will fix it. If you have a leak the recharge may not last very long. There is a harmless leak sealant in the refrigerant you buy and if the leak is very small it will fix it, if its big, you will have to bite the bullet and get a new hose. The high pressure hose is usually the one that goes out on our maximas.

 

I thought it was the low pressure/suction hose.

 

How hard is it to use the refill bottle?

 

You're right, it is.

 

My mistake, it is the low pressure hose. I replaced both my high and low just a few months ago.

As for the refil bottle, it's as easy as using your eyeballs and pressing a button. If you mess up you are truly unique.

 

I know our low pressure hose could be cheap material, but a silent culprit of leakage (because it's too tucked away to be seen) is the compressor shaft seal. Following a TSB, I changed the "O" ring of the low pressure hose, but there was no improvement. I then replaced the hose altogether, still no dice until I looked further to discover it was the shaft seal of the compressor that was leaking.

 

Good info...