AC issue

1137 Views 8 Replies 3 Participants Last post by surfahjammer, May 13, 2010

surfahjammer

Discussion Starter · May 2, 2010

What's up all. I have an 01 Frontier XE V-6 5 spd. Recently my ac compressor has been cycling off and on too much. It shuts off too much. When the compressor is on it puts out ice cold air. I notice when im idling the engine it's usually ice cold but when i'm driving over about 20-30 mph it loses its coldness. Then when I pull over and check the compressor it's off but then it starts up again a few minutes later and gets ice cold. I recently put in a new thermal amplifier so it's not that. Does anyone know any tests to see if the ac belt is not loose and if the compressor clutch is going bad? Any other ideas?

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nissanmadness

· #6 · May 9, 2010 (Edited)

surfahjammer said:
Hey all I just checked my low side pressure and it's actually down to about 40psi when the compressor is running and 50 psi when the system is off. I'm going to recharge it and see if that helps. I inspected my compressor clutch and noticed some oil residue that apparently dropped down from one of my air intake lines over time. The residue is between the clutch and the inner compressor pulley. Can this cause the clutch to slip at higher engine rpms? Being that below about 20 mph my ac stays ice cold but over 20 mph it cycles between warm and cold.

The low pressure side only tells half the story. You need to know what the high side is too. The residue your talking about is probably compressor oil from the shaft seal. Your clutch is not slipping, its cycling. It's going on and off, on and off. Your system sounds like its low on refrigerant. You can charge it to see if it cures the problem, (don't overcharge it) then you need to fix the leak.

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nissanmadness

· #8 · May 10, 2010

surfahjammer said:
Hey thanks all. I checked the low pressure side and it actually reads 45 psi w/compressor on and 60 psi w/ system off. Which is actually pretty good. So I did'nt recharge it. It might have a very small leak but I have'nt recharged it in a long time.

As far as the oil residue by the clutch maybe that's where it's leaking out oh so slowly through the seal. Could low oil cause the compressor to cycle off too much or cause the system to lose coldness? If so, should I charge my system up with one of those that pag oil recharge cans from Napa? They have one there that's made for my truck that also has ring and seal conditioners that can prevent leakage. Could that help?

You said you re-charged the system a long time ago. If it held up, charge it again. Don't put any more oil into the system, or use that mechanic in a can stuff. Once a leak starts it will only get worse over time, till it no longer holds any pressure. Your best bet is to pinpoint the leak, and repair it.

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