Hey everyone my AC isn't working as well as it used to. It's not too bad, but you have to get the car going before it gets really cold. IF you just start the car and let it idle the AC won't get really cold at all. You have to rev it. At lights I rev it to 3k so it will stay cool. I am assuming that I need just a regular AC service, I mean the car is 5 years old w/ 80k, and there hasnt been any service done to the AC yet. Does anyone know about how much it costs to get more refrigerant put in? I am assuming that's the problem here. If it was broken I am assuming it wouldn't work at all. I tried a search but didn't get anything....Thanks!

 

Instead of taking it to a shop to recharge the refrigerant, you should have them check for any leaks in the system first because if there is any, it would be wasting money recharging it only to have it leak out over time. My ac doenst seem cold enough too but I hooked it to a pressure guage and seems like its holding well and I found no leaks. Its at 50 deg.

 

Hey man if you have time, and I'm able to come by to your place in a few weeks, could you show me how to hook up a pressure gauge on mine? It seems like whenever I'm on high RPMs in 4th, or cruising at around 80 on 5th, my A/C dies.

 

This sounds typical of a slight loss of refrigerent. It happens over time. K-Mart and other like stores sell a small can of R134a called Maxi Cool. It's got 3oz of R134a and some conditioners for your compressor. I've used this in a friends car and it worked excellent.

Total cost was about 6 bucks. The can has a quick connect fitting already on it. Just push in onto your low side, take a few minutes to charge into your system and your done. ICE COLD AIR!

 

A friend of mine has the same problem. We'll be riding in her car, and everything is icy. Then we pull up to a stop light, or stop sign, and it just blows air, like if you just had the vents on. Is that a sign of a leak, or low refridgerant?

 

And here I thought all this time that the a weak A/C was normal due to the fact that Nissan uses "Environmentally Friendly" chemicals for cooling. My A/C does the same thing when driving. I always thought that coolant would be expensive. NjMax are you sure about $6? I mean, isn't there a charging system that needs to baught first or something?

 

What do you mean your "low" side? Is it that easy to do?

 

I'm 100% positive, about 6 bucks. R134a is cheap. I suggest finding a K-Mart because I know they carry this brand. Maxi Boost or Maxi Cool.. It's a small can with the quick connect fitting already on it that fits right onto the fitting on our cars. It only took us 5 minutes to put the can in and it made my friends car ice cold again. It's a small can with only 3oz of charge in it. Make sure you only buy the small can of A/C boost and not a full charge. Over charged systems will not preform well either.

MaxedOut - The low side is the larger pipe that gets cold. The cap on the charge port as an L on it as well. This is all explained on the can.

 

Could anyone help us on the symptoms stated above? Such as A/C turning off at stops, or in my case, on 4th/5th gears?

the previous owner of the car said, "you have nothing to worry about, I just got the A/C recharged very recently." It's great on the local streets, but once I get on the highway, it turns on and off.

 

Check high side and low side pressure. I wouldn't be surprised if it isn't overcharged. The symptoms you describe sounds to me like your evaporator is freezing up and not allowing any air to pass through it and be cooled at high RPMs. I shot this bug before.
Be well!!!!

 

thanks for the tip. how do I check the high/low side presure?

and you wouldn't be surprised it if 'isn't' overcharged or 'is'?

 

 

sorry man but I dont have the guages at home. I used the schools.