Exterra A/C gone..

[Billy Blaze]

I got a call from the wife says the A/C has gone out, so I went to her work checked the belts, hoses, coolant...everything seemed ok.
The compressor seemed to come on ok but nothing but Hot air.
I am thinking the Compressor has bit the dust, or the Heater Core.
Any ideas?
Its an 03 model and out of Warranty, this is gonna hurt....just by looking in the engine bay it looks like Nissan just threw up under the hood.
So anyone know a good A/C person
I could use some help if anyone might have an idea on what it might be.

[POS Racing]

There should be a pressure switch that will not allow the compressor to cycle if the freon is low.

[POS Racing]

Also this forum was quite helpful when I was having a brake issue with my sisters Xterra!

[Billy Blaze]

Thanks POS!

[channelmaniac]

I'd think there should be a looking glass somewhere... look at it while someone turns the AC on... It should go from milky to clear.

Also, is the compressor running? In other words, is the clutch engaging on the compressor? If not, check the freon level... Like POS said, there's a pressure switch to keep from running the system if there's a leak.

RJ

[Billy Blaze]

Thanks Channel, will check that this evening.
I have been reading on the Forum POS suggested and obviously there is a LOT of A/C problems with this vehicle across many years.
The engine Bay is really intimidating.
I am going to break out the manual and have a closer look at what all that junk is tonight...lol
Why can't it be as simple as the Miata
Thank goodness the days are getting cooler.

[Kestrel]

Its an 03 model and out of Warranty...

The car is something like 2 years old and it's out of warranty? Remind me not to buy a Nissan if they only come with 18 month warranties...

[Treibenschnell]

Perhaps it was purchased used?

[Billy Blaze]

Nope I bought it new, it only came with a 36,000 mile warranty.
And when I bought it I was driving 156 miles round trip to work everyday, and used it for hauling the band's equipment to gigs after work for two years so I racked the miles up quick.
I think it has like 38K now.
It has decent gas millage and good power, really this is the only trouble so far so I am still happy with it.

[Radio-Active]

The car is something like 2 years old and it's out of warranty? Remind me not to buy a Nissan if they only come with 18 month warranties...

The past two cars I have owned only had 18 month warrenties. Nissan Frontier 140,000 at 5 years, 04 Honda Civic Hybrid 38,000 18 months, sold at 19 months.

05 MX-5 4,900 since Aug 31.

[Treibenschnell]

The Hyundai's are looking great with their 100K mile warranties... not that I would want a Hyundai.

[Billy Blaze]

Well goes to show you how much I have been driving the Exterra, millage is right at 41K.
I had my wife hit the A/C while I was listening under the hood and the Compressor made a sound like electricity arcing, but only for about 2-3 seconds this happens consistantly with every engagement of the A/C button.
Now I am thinking it's more than likely the Compressor.
Does this sound on target?
I also read on the Exterra forum one guy with the same year model has went through 4 of these Compressors, sounds like a defect to me.

[sammm]

I also read on the Exterra forum one guy with the same year model has went through 4 of these Compressors, sounds like a defect to me.

It's a long shot, but were there any recalls on compressors?

[Billy Blaze]

There was a mention of a Recall, that the fellow said he knew nothing about...but he didn't say what it was.
I too have had a recall on the truck for an aluminum heat shield.
I am going to do some more diging to see if I can find out more, I was notified of the recall about the heat shield so I just figured if there were another I would have been notified of it, but sometimes things get lost in the mail etc.
I have not had any luck on finding out worst case scenerio how much a new compressor would cost either.

[POS Racing]

I had my wife hit the A/C while I was listening under the hood and the Compressor made a sound like electricity arcing, but only for about 2-3 seconds this happens consistently with every engagement of the A/C button.
Now I am thinking it's more than likely the Compressor.

Sounds allot like the A/C's clutch has died. The clutch can normally be replaced without having to open the A/C system to the environment but it may require some special tools to remove and replace it. Like these = http://www.autozone.com/in_our_store...nditioning.htm

Here is a writeup on how to replace the A/C clutch on a Dodge (Didn't find anything about Nissans)

[Billy Blaze]

Kewl Thanks again.
I checked the fan clutch and radiator and various things yesterday to make sure things were not clogged and worked properly.
That's a likely problem, and would be a lot cheaper than a Comp., priced them yesterday $530.-$570. OUCH!...lol
It's a real good thing its getting cooler!
Heat still works fine, so I am likely going to start saving to get this fixed over a couple of months.
I will be checking the recalls today, might get lucky.
Funny thing is I think the Miata is in better shape than the Ex.
I guess it's time to start re-directing my attention on the workhorse of the family...lol

[Kestrel]

I had my wife hit the A/C while I was listening under the hood...

Ah, my favorite type of maintenance... percussive!

[Sharpie]

Sounds allot like the A/C's clutch has died. The clutch can normally be replaced without having to open the A/C system to the environment but it may require some special tools to remove and replace it. Like these = http://www.autozone.com/in_our_store...nditioning.htm

Here is a writeup on how to replace the A/C clutch on a Dodge (Didn't find anything about Nissans)

Good advice, I was thinking of that too. Hope it's cheap and easy.