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A/C blowing hot air, jut wanted to know if its worth paying $100+ for dealership/Firestone to handle or should I "Do It Myself"....lol
I'm guessing you turned the temp down to 60 and are still getting hot air ?
Do you have the gauges to determine how much refrigerant is in the car ?
AC compressors don't use refrigerant so if low 134A is the issue you also have a leak to find and fix
EDIT , by "use refrigerant" I meant the system is sealed...........if you have low refrigerant you also have a leak to find and fix as refrigent will never be low unless there is a leak.
Last edited by 13Maximasv; 05-12-2015 at 02:38 PM.
I'm guessing you turned the temp down to 60 and are still getting hot air ?
Do you have the gauges to determine how much refrigerant is in the car ?
AC compressors don't use refrigerant so if low 134A is the issue you also have a leak to find and fix
Yes hot air all the time. been about a month but the temp just started rising so i need to fix asap. no guages but if i was to attempt i would buy everything i need. Just wondering what the best course of action is or how much work to fix.
Yes hot air all the time. been about a month but the temp just started rising so i need to fix asap. no guages but if i was to attempt i would buy everything i need. Just wondering what the best course of action is or how much work to fix.
I would see if there's anyone around town that would offer better prices than the dealer. I did this, & had good luck with a guy with a mobile shop. He worked out if his truck...he had everything in there, including compressors. He fixed the a/c in my car, then later my mom's car. He offered a warranty & the prices were very reasonable.
Originally Posted by Lilfatz301
Anybody know why my max sometimes blow cold air and then fir no reason star with some hot air anybody have the problem
You may have a faulty switch or some other part. Best way to know would be to get it checked out.
Yes hot air all the time. been about a month but the temp just started rising so i need to fix asap. no guages but if i was to attempt i would buy everything i need. Just wondering what the best course of action is or how much work to fix.
All you need is a recharge kit. You can buy them at any auto parts store. Just know that if it is low on refrigerant there is a leak and the problem will continue...
Yes I know 134a is the refrigerant modern cars use, they used R-12 before 1993 I believe.
What I meant by " use refrigerant" is that the system is sealed, if it's low there is a leak that has to be fixed, sort of like how a car that burns oil is sometimes referred to as "using oil". Simply adding 134A won't fix the problem long term.
I should have been clearer but I figured anyone who knows HVAC would realize what I meant from the entire context of my statement.
Last edited by 13Maximasv; 05-11-2015 at 12:25 AM.
Yes I know 134a is the refrigerant modern cars use, they used R-12 before 1993 I believe.
What I meant by " use refrigerant" is that the system is sealed, if it's low there is a leak that has to be fixed, sort of like how a car that burns oil is sometimes referred to as "using oil". Simply adding 134A won't fix the problem long term.
I should have been clearer but I figured anyone who knows HVAC would realize what I meant from the entire context of my statement.
I didn't take it that way and I have 25 years in the HVAC biz... Carry on...
Weird that everyone jumped to a particular MAJOR problem giving the year of your car (Add freon). If you said it was a 95 Max, or something I would've honestly would've said your compressor and or lines could be shot due to the age of the car.
Not impossible but I am finding it weird that your A/C might have leaked being that it is only a couple of years old if not newer (I don't know the year of your car).
Think of adding freon the same as adding break fluid to your master cylinder.. YOU SHOULDN'T, if you are doing that then you have a leak so why waste the money putting more freon back in there??????
It is not as easy as these guys are making it. You don't want to just add freon to your car without knowing what is the problem is to begin with. I've advised people many times over after they have wasted money on freon to find out either it wasn't the problem or their lines had a hole in it and they was just shooting that crap right back out. Yes, car will be cold for a day MAYBE, and you will say "YES cheap and easy fix" then by the second day nothing.
If there is a leak in the line the ONLY WAY you will know is from a leak down pressure test.. unless you have a sniffer (used to detect leaks for gas)
I am going to assume you didn't so much trouble shooting so I will try to start from the top here.
Couple of questions, have you notice the A/C giving you less and less cold over time? I understand if you didn't use it over the winter and your now noticing it. I will assume that your A/C button is depressed (orange) and your temp is set to the coldest (60 degrees), make sure you turn off your duel settings.
When you put your A/C on turn OFF the A/C by pressing the "A/C" Button so the light is no longer orange. Wait a second or two.. Two things should've happened. When turning off your A/C you will notice an increase in for a second and a decrease when you put it back on, that is the compressor and the condenser fan going on. We all should know what this feels and sounds like. If the clutch in the harmonic balancer is not activating or deactivating it could be the compressor.
If your are NOT noticing a "turn on" action when you turn on your A/C check the fuse that activates the compressor.
Open your hood while your A/C is on and check to see if the cooling fan is working (spinning)
Check to make sure for some ODD reason the plug to your compressor didn't detach.
The clutch on your compressor have to activate to move the freon through the lines past the condenser bla bla bla. So if a signal is NOT sent to your compressor to turn on then start there.
Just a little tip here and again, I am assuming you were unaware of the trouble shooting measures and came here for answers, which is why we are here in the first place.... But don't jump to the major problems first, which can be a busted compressor or leaking freon hose. Check the obvious first then work your way to the motor (lines and compressor).
If you don't know much about A/c lines in a car I say find an independent shop that will only charge you a service fee to "check" your system.
Refer to your Car Manual for what the proper freon you should put into the motor or call your local Nissan dealership so your not here reading all kind've confusing what to use opinions.
Sorry if some of my instructions seemed elementary but its good to just to go over the obvious sometimes.
I hope this helped in some way and whatever the problem is / was please inform us so we know what to do if one of us run into the same problem. We are all always learning...
If there's a jiffy lube near u they will do a pressure test and quick trouble shoot for like 20 bucks. Good idea to start here as previously mentioned before adding costly freon. They also will properly evacuate and refill it with freon or whatever the heck they use now. Mine didn't work in my other ride, a Z28, and I made the mistake of first trying to add freon before going there. The problem was actually that there was air in the lines hindering it from working properly. After the pressure tested it and evacuated it and refilled it it now works great. Well worth 20 bucks to find out what the problem really is first off. Just my humble opinion tho.
BTW to the previous poster, great write up.
If there's a jiffy lube near u they will do a pressure test and quick trouble shoot for like 20 bucks. Good idea to start here as previously mentioned before adding costly freon. They also will properly evacuate and refill it with freon or whatever the heck they use now. Mine didn't work in my other ride, a Z28, and I made the mistake of first trying to add freon before going there. The problem was actually that there was air in the lines hindering it from working properly. After the pressure tested it and evacuated it and refilled it it now works great. Well worth 20 bucks to find out what the problem really is first off. Just my humble opinion tho.
BTW to the previous poster, great write up.
I didn't take it that way and I have 25 years in the HVAC biz... Carry on...
Originally Posted by 13Maximasv
I'm guessing you turned the temp down to 60 and are still getting hot air ?
Do you have the gauges to determine how much refrigerant is in the car ?
AC compressors don't use refrigerant so if low 134A is the issue you also have a leak to find and fix
So basically after I mentioned refrigerant possibly being low you thought I meant 134A wasn't refrigerant and that the A/C compressor doesn't use refrigerant and it's leaking something else ?
I was also a HVAC guy ( local 777) in a past life
I edited my post as I don't want to confuse any newbies or seasoned verterans
Last edited by 13Maximasv; 05-12-2015 at 02:36 PM.
Weird that everyone jumped to a particular MAJOR problem giving the year of your car (Add freon). If you said it was a 95 Max, or something I would've honestly would've said your compressor and or lines could be shot due to the age of the car.
Not impossible but I am finding it weird that your A/C might have leaked being that it is only a couple of years old if not newer (I don't know the year of your car).
Think of adding freon the same as adding break fluid to your master cylinder.. YOU SHOULDN'T, if you are doing that then you have a leak so why waste the money putting more freon back in there??????
It is not as easy as these guys are making it. You don't want to just add freon to your car without knowing what is the problem is to begin with. I've advised people many times over after they have wasted money on freon to find out either it wasn't the problem or their lines had a hole in it and they was just shooting that crap right back out. Yes, car will be cold for a day MAYBE, and you will say "YES cheap and easy fix" then by the second day nothing.
If there is a leak in the line the ONLY WAY you will know is from a leak down pressure test.. unless you have a sniffer (used to detect leaks for gas)
I am going to assume you didn't so much trouble shooting so I will try to start from the top here.
Couple of questions, have you notice the A/C giving you less and less cold over time? I understand if you didn't use it over the winter and your now noticing it. I will assume that your A/C button is depressed (orange) and your temp is set to the coldest (60 degrees), make sure you turn off your duel settings.
When you put your A/C on turn OFF the A/C by pressing the "A/C" Button so the light is no longer orange. Wait a second or two.. Two things should've happened. When turning off your A/C you will notice an increase in for a second and a decrease when you put it back on, that is the compressor and the condenser fan going on. We all should know what this feels and sounds like. If the clutch in the harmonic balancer is not activating or deactivating it could be the compressor.
If your are NOT noticing a "turn on" action when you turn on your A/C check the fuse that activates the compressor.
Open your hood while your A/C is on and check to see if the cooling fan is working (spinning)
Check to make sure for some ODD reason the plug to your compressor didn't detach.
The clutch on your compressor have to activate to move the freon through the lines past the condenser bla bla bla. So if a signal is NOT sent to your compressor to turn on then start there.
Just a little tip here and again, I am assuming you were unaware of the trouble shooting measures and came here for answers, which is why we are here in the first place.... But don't jump to the major problems first, which can be a busted compressor or leaking freon hose. Check the obvious first then work your way to the motor (lines and compressor).
If you don't know much about A/c lines in a car I say find an independent shop that will only charge you a service fee to "check" your system.
Refer to your Car Manual for what the proper freon you should put into the motor or call your local Nissan dealership so your not here reading all kind've confusing what to use opinions.
Sorry if some of my instructions seemed elementary but its good to just to go over the obvious sometimes.
I hope this helped in some way and whatever the problem is / was please inform us so we know what to do if one of us run into the same problem. We are all always learning...
Nice write up. I started him out slow asking if he had the gauges to test the high and low pressure lines and only said if he had to add 134a he has a leak that needs to be fixed When he said he would buy the guages I knew he was better off taking it to a shop but didn't want to argue with the people who said buy a can of 134 so I left it at that
Nice write up. I started him out slow asking if he had the gauges to test the high and low pressure lines and only said if he had to add 134a he has a leak that needs to be fixed When he said he would buy the guages I knew he was better off taking it to a shop but didn't want to argue with the people who said buy a can of 134 so I left it at that
To be honest I don't know any weekend garage warriors that own these gauges. When I removed engines we just made sure the lines were tight and refilled it with freon. The only gauges my friends had were cylinder compression test gauges, i've never own either ....
Non-the-less, lets hope he gets this problem fixed.. Heat in a car in the summer is NO joke...
Typicall, if the A/C system is opened up for any reason (including a leak), i was under the impression that you have to evacuate the system before refilling because water vapor is bad and causes freezing amd blockage.
Easy trick to check the A/C clutch on newer Nissans. Called the auto-active test.
Turn ignition ON, press door jamb switch 10 times rapidly, turn ignition OFF, then turn ignition back to ON. Horn will chirp and oil pressure light will flash. It will go through a series of tests at 5second intervals and will repeat 3 times. It will run windshield wipers for 5 sec, turn park lights on, flash high and low beams, CYCLE THE AC CLUTCH ON AND OFF, then cycle radiator fans....then repeat.....then repeat. When the AC clutch is cycling on and off, just listen for a distinct clicking...if heard that will tell if the AC clutch circuitry is working properly.
So basically after I mentioned refrigerant possibly being low you thought I meant 134A wasn't refrigerant and that the A/C compressor doesn't use refrigerant and it's leaking something else ?
I was also a HVAC guy ( local 777) in a past life
I edited my post as I don't want to confuse any newbies or seasoned verterans
Just a misunderstanding. There have been some changes in the industry over the last 15-20 years and believe it or not we get the question quite a bit. People think refrigerants are gone and replaced with some magic product. When you said compressors don't use refrigerant I took it as 134a wasn't a refrigerant... Thats all... Only because 134a and 410a are still considered new and people not in the know don't associate them with being an actual refrigerant...
Weird that everyone jumped to a particular MAJOR problem giving the year of your car (Add freon). If you said it was a 95 Max, or something I would've honestly would've said your compressor and or lines could be shot due to the age of the car.
Not impossible but I am finding it weird that your A/C might have leaked being that it is only a couple of years old if not newer (I don't know the year of your car).
Think of adding freon the same as adding break fluid to your master cylinder.. YOU SHOULDN'T, if you are doing that then you have a leak so why waste the money putting more freon back in there??????
It is not as easy as these guys are making it. You don't want to just add freon to your car without knowing what is the problem is to begin with. I've advised people many times over after they have wasted money on freon to find out either it wasn't the problem or their lines had a hole in it and they was just shooting that crap right back out. Yes, car will be cold for a day MAYBE, and you will say "YES cheap and easy fix" then by the second day nothing.
If there is a leak in the line the ONLY WAY you will know is from a leak down pressure test.. unless you have a sniffer (used to detect leaks for gas)
I am going to assume you didn't so much trouble shooting so I will try to start from the top here.
Couple of questions, have you notice the A/C giving you less and less cold over time? I understand if you didn't use it over the winter and your now noticing it. I will assume that your A/C button is depressed (orange) and your temp is set to the coldest (60 degrees), make sure you turn off your duel settings.
When you put your A/C on turn OFF the A/C by pressing the "A/C" Button so the light is no longer orange. Wait a second or two.. Two things should've happened. When turning off your A/C you will notice an increase in for a second and a decrease when you put it back on, that is the compressor and the condenser fan going on. We all should know what this feels and sounds like. If the clutch in the harmonic balancer is not activating or deactivating it could be the compressor.
If your are NOT noticing a "turn on" action when you turn on your A/C check the fuse that activates the compressor.
Open your hood while your A/C is on and check to see if the cooling fan is working (spinning)
Check to make sure for some ODD reason the plug to your compressor didn't detach.
The clutch on your compressor have to activate to move the freon through the lines past the condenser bla bla bla. So if a signal is NOT sent to your compressor to turn on then start there.
Just a little tip here and again, I am assuming you were unaware of the trouble shooting measures and came here for answers, which is why we are here in the first place.... But don't jump to the major problems first, which can be a busted compressor or leaking freon hose. Check the obvious first then work your way to the motor (lines and compressor).
If you don't know much about A/c lines in a car I say find an independent shop that will only charge you a service fee to "check" your system.
Refer to your Car Manual for what the proper freon you should put into the motor or call your local Nissan dealership so your not here reading all kind've confusing what to use opinions.
Sorry if some of my instructions seemed elementary but its good to just to go over the obvious sometimes.
I hope this helped in some way and whatever the problem is / was please inform us so we know what to do if one of us run into the same problem. We are all always learning...
I am having a/c issues with a 2012 SV. It actually started when I was passing some other cars on a 2 lane. Didn't see an oncoming car and had to drop the hammer in order to get around them. Suddenly, the a/c, which had worked perfectly up until that time, completely stopped blowing cold air. Compressor does not engage at all. I have checked all fuses in the cluster, all good. Any ideas, I need help! It's hot!
In addition, I do hear a bit of "clanging" when its at idle. Maybe the clutch?
there is a part that gets clogged sometimes it is called an orifice tube and I am not being funny it is true its like a little filter in the line if it blows cold the hot other tomes I bet that is clogged, problem is you need a new line it does not just get replaced!
If you have 0 psi in the low pressure side that indicates a leak in the system. Meaning all your r134a refrigerant has leaked out. Keep us posted. No need to pay some high school dropout to check your car lolz.
I am having a/c issues with a 2012 SV. It actually started when I was passing some other cars on a 2 lane. Didn't see an oncoming car and had to drop the hammer in order to get around them. Suddenly, the a/c, which had worked perfectly up until that time, completely stopped blowing cold air. Compressor does not engage at all. I have checked all fuses in the cluster, all good. Any ideas, I need help! It's hot!
In addition, I do hear a bit of "clanging" when its at idle. Maybe the clutch?
108k miles
Same happened to me. Lost AC while merging into highway. Got a rattling noise coming from compressor. Clutch won't engage. Had pressure in the system.
So i decided to replace the compressor. Got a Denso unit made in Japan. Bought it at autozone for $ 270. Recovered refrigerant. Ran a pump. Removed old compressor. Was a pain in the @ss. Two bolts holding the compressor were really hard to get to. Used a torch to loose them. 14mm. Took off serpentine belt.
Hardest part was taking off the L and H lines connected to compressor. Had to use tiny 10mm wrenches. Took out old compressor and installed new denso unit. Repeat backwards. Reinstalling was a breeze. Less than an hour.
Ran a vaccum again for 1hr. Put the belt back on. Turned AC on and added 20oz of r134a refrigerant. Result: got fresh cold air. Total cost $350. Took 6 hours and lots of sweat in Texas heat lolz. Totally worth it though.
If you have 0 psi in the low pressure side that indicates a leak in the system. Meaning all your r134a refrigerant has leaked out. Keep us posted. No need to pay some high school dropout to check your car lolz.
I took it to my local shop that has gauges and it does have pressure in the system. He seems to think the clutch is bad. He doesn't have the equipment to properly evacuate it though. I am going to take to a specialized shop, have it evacuated, and attempt to change the compressor myself if that's what it needs. Have never changed one out, so fingers crossed.
I am having a/c issues with a 2012 SV. It actually started when I was passing some other cars on a 2 lane. Didn't see an oncoming car and had to drop the hammer in order to get around them. Suddenly, the a/c, which had worked perfectly up until that time, completely stopped blowing cold air. Compressor does not engage at all. I have checked all fuses in the cluster, all good. Any ideas, I need help! It's hot!
In addition, I do hear a bit of "clanging" when its at idle. Maybe the clutch?
108k miles
You every find out what this was? This happened to me the other day. I was driving a little aggressively, then all of a sudden the A/C stops.. Fan works, low pressure reading works, but the compressor does nothing. Seems like its something electronic to me, i wouldnt have thought that a compressor would go so quickly.
You every find out what this was? This happened to me the other day. I was driving a little aggressively, then all of a sudden the A/C stops.. Fan works, low pressure reading works, but the compressor does nothing. Seems like its something electronic to me, i wouldnt have thought that a compressor would go so quickly.
132k.
cheers,
It was the compressor. Wasn't too hard to change it out. I took it to a shop, had the system evacuated. There is one bolt difficult to reach, but not bad. Total time for the changeout, including 45 min of drive time to and from the shop, was about 5 hours. $450 for everything. Ice cold a/c... Totally worth it... Good luck!
It was the compressor. Wasn't too hard to change it out. I took it to a shop, had the system evacuated. There is one bolt difficult to reach, but not bad. Total time for the changeout, including 45 min of drive time to and from the shop, was about 5 hours. $450 for everything. Ice cold a/c... Totally worth it... Good luck!
Are you talking US dollars or Canadian?
... im getting quoted double that..... part apparently $480.00 plus a dryer? plus labor ... about 2-300 worth... perfect.
[QUOTE=13Maximasv;9045158]I'm guessing you turned the temp down to 60 and are still getting hot air ?
My AC was working great in the 100 degree south Ga heat and stopped blowing cold suddenly. It happened when I left a store and mashed on it pretty good and the ac went hot. After hours of reading online about everyone else’s issues, I decided to order a replacement clutch assembly on Amazon for around $50. Turns out it was all I needed. See attached picture as to why the clutch stopped. The relay/fuse whatever burns up under the cover
THANK YOU for that, I really appreciate you taking the time. It sounds like exactly what happened to me and your explanation makes sense. I'm going to try it and report back.
05-08-2015, 06:09 PM
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