Thanks for considering to help. I have a 2011 Maxima with about 65k miles, gently driven and maintenance always kept up. Lately, the a/c is not cooling properly. I noticed when I opened the hood, the compressor is going off and on quite often which makes it cool sporadically. I have searched and found nothing except the freon might be low. I bought a can of a/c pro and the gauge showed it to be filled but on the lower side. As I charged it a little, the compressor shut off and on and was doing what I am asking about. Any ideas?

 

Well did you charge it to normal? Might need a new compressor....might have a leak.

 

Replace the fuse in the fuse box. Might help

 

 

So in the first post you said the freon might be low..... then you won't charge it up for the same problem your having.......charge it up first, then take it from their.....its either gonna fix the problem or not, at least you can eliminate one thing.

 

My guess is you didn't fill it up enough.....like when it detects normal it kicks on.....and when it goes low it goes off.

 

Ok, I quit filling because I just assumed if it's cycling off and on I won't know when it's full. It goes from the green to low. Where is the correct reading? I will try and refill.

 

You think it could be a fuse even though the compressor IS coming on?

 

I wonder if you actually had the ac on manual and on max when you tested/filled and the fan came on? If you left it on auto, cycling is normal. If you did follow the instructions, i am going to say the compressor or one of the pressure switches went bad ( honestly though in 45 years, i have only seen one switch go bad and that is because some vamint chewed the cable.)

if it really is cycling while filling going green to low, you are indeed low on freon. It should be in the green when running and going high when not.

Best of luck and please let us know what you found.

 

I did have it on manual, not auto, turned all the way cool and recirculate. I just checked it again. I hooked the ac pro gauge back up with it running, max ac, manual, and the compressor didn't even come on. The gauge was all the way into the red this time with the ac not coming on.

 

I am not that familiar with the AC Pro's gauges but I would assume that your compressor is toast. It would take some real gauges to confirm unequivocally but RED usually means BAD. Of course I don't know how you added, and I am NOT telling you to do the following as it violates a million EPA rules, but if some refrigerant were to escape, you could tell it it is overcharged by seeing if the compressor kicks on. Normally a Pro would reclaim any refrigerant as they troubleshoot/repaired and kept the hole in the ozone in check.

 

^
Quoted for truth. A/C systems are one of those things best left to pros, plain and simple. You'll be money ahead to take it to a qualified air conditioning shop.
ANYTHING else is wishful thinking and throwing money down the drain.