[joefrontier2]

I really did not care so much if the AC came on with the defrost, but after discussions on this board and verifying it on my 2003, the AC will stay on until you turn off the truck or the fan. This is such a silly engineering design in that the AC stays on even when you switch off defrost.

So last night I fixed it. Now I have to press the AC button if I want the AC on w/defrost.

If you have big hands you will need to find someone to do this for you.

At least on the 2003/2004 you have to remove the glove box and the housing around the radio and gear shift. Removing the radio housing will allow you to get a couple fingers at the screwdriver to hold it while your other hand can turn it.

Once you have the housings off you need to look up under the dash where the glove box was to the back of the AC controls. Now turn the A/C knob to defrost and watch how the mechanical system works when you do it. You will see the plastic mechanism move to the right and trip a switch. The switch is black and looks about the size of a piece of Chiclets gum with two green wires coming off it.

This is the switch you need to remove. So get the smallest screwdriver you can find and undo the screw (this is a pain). Once off, I do not recomend letting it dangle because if it were to ever get wedge into something back there your A/C would be on all the time. I took the switched turned it around and put the screw back in it.

There all done, full control of the AC.

 

[RogueWagon]

Whoa, sweet.

 

[shakedownstreet]

Thanks, I need to do this before winter. When I warm up and defrost my truck in the morning, I'd rather the AC not kick on when the engine is cold and it's 0 degrees. That can't be good for it.

 

[kenyonja]

It's the same stupid setup for the 05+ trucks. I have been a little frustrated with the setup, and I think someday I will go to the trouble of hooking up a switch to the compressor fuse instead of tearing into the dash. Anybody think this would be a decent alternative?

 

[joefrontier2]

Personally I would not modify the electrical system if it all possible. Reason is because this mod is a simple removal of a switch. However, I do not know the 2005+ model and could be a royal pain to get the dash apart. The reason I say this is because on the 1st gen the AC controls do not come out unless you tear down the whole dash. The housing around the radio and AC controls is all one unit but the A/C controls are behind more plastic which requires a full tear down. It's just so lucky that there is a small enough access by removing the glove box that you can get to it.


I agree that this is a poor design. However, they build these vehicles for the person that just wants things to work without going through all the hassle of thinking to turn on the AC to defrost windows. I think they should have built it to automatically come on and show the illuminated light but when you switch it off the AC gets turn off.

 

[XE_KING]

This is going to be done to my truck soon/!!!! I HATE having the ac pump running all the time while the defrost is on.. These things have little enough power as it is. Let alone when the AC pump is cranking!!

 

[zoomzoom]

It's the same stupid setup for the 05+ trucks. I have been a little frustrated with the setup, and I think someday I will go to the trouble of hooking up a switch to the compressor fuse instead of tearing into the dash. Anybody think this would be a decent alternative?

Taking the dash apart on 05+ takes a few minutes at most.

 

[XE_KING]

LOL I just looked at my 01 and It looks to be 2 screws.. thats it! But my dash is way different than yours Im sure.. Plus Im a 5spd...

 

[BORNGEARHEAD]

I was actually looking to see if anyone had done this on the 05+ Frontiers. I did the mod on my wife's 04 Sentra. Works great. Having the a/c compressor running all the time in defrost mode is just bad gas mileage.

 

[Jet-fumes]

The AC kicks on to help draw moisture out of the air thus allowing the defroster to work more efficiantly. Just a thought.

 

[joefrontier2]

Yes you are correct the AC helps clear moisture from the inside, however, with this mod I push the AC button instead of it coming on automatically and not turning off when I move the knob to a different setting.

 

[BORNGEARHEAD]

On the 4 cyl. vehicles, having the a/c compressor on constantly while using defrosters greatly effects gas mileage and just isn't needed to be on. I'm not really sure why Nissan started doing this. Before this "feature", I never had a problem with the windows fogging up as long as I had the defrosters on and had it on "fresh air".

 

[shakedownstreet]

The AC kicks on to help draw moisture out of the air thus allowing the defroster to work more efficiantly. Just a thought.

Oh sure that's true. But if I see moisture building up, I am perfectly capable of pushing the AC button & turning it back off once the excess moisture clears. It takes very little time to clear up.

That's why I drive a stick. I prefer to be in control. I could see having such automatic features in a huge V8 luxury Cadillac, but it's certainly unneeded in these little trucks.

 

[kenyonja]

For all of you who have 05+ Fronty's, do you agree with me that the control knob might be 100% electrical? When I turn it, it feels that way to me, like all contacts, no mechanical things happening behind the knob. The reason I ask is that it would be a difficult proposition (atleast for me) to figure out how to disable the automatic A/C by messing with the control knob. Any guesses out there?

 

[XE_KING]

On the 4 cyl. vehicles, having the a/c compressor on constantly while using defrosters greatly effects gas mileage and just isn't needed to be on. I'm not really sure why Nissan started doing this. Before this "feature", I never had a problem with the windows fogging up as long as I had the defrosters on and had it on "fresh air".

4 cyl's??? My 6 opens its mouth and drinks when that damn compressor turns on...

 

[WeeHooker]

Anxiously waiting for a reasonable bypass option for 05's. I like having my controls set to defrost all the time, i just hate runnignthe A/C when I do't want A/C dehumidification.

 

[Bootsakah]

I recently removed the switch on my 2000 xe 4cyl king cab that does the same thing (turns on the ac when any of the defrost settings are chosen, including the mixed floor/defrost). It was quite simple and I pretty similar to what you described here.

 

[NewBee]

another AC mod write up w/ pics

Greetings All,

First off thanks to JoeFrontier2 for the original post. Being a cold regions lover, this "feature" has bothered me for years on various vehicles.

So here's a wordy how-to for a 2003 manual CC LB 4x4

I recommend disconnecting the vehicle ground before working around airbags. $0.02

Pull the 6 screws holding on the glove box, you can leave your junk in there as it will come out in one piece. Pull the left side out first and then there's a friction fit tab on the upper right side.

Now would be a great time to replace the cabin air filter. I was disappointed to see that mine was missing and there was a bunch of pine needles in its place. The air filter cover has some brittle plastic tabs holding it in place, remove carefully, as I broke a tab in the process. Anybody know if you can drop the bottom off of that housing and leave the rest of it in place?

The plastic cover around the shifter pulls straight up, leave it dangling by the fabric boots.

Remove the two screws holding down the lower portion of the radio housing. Two more screws hold the cover on just above the radio. Pull up on the lower right and left portion of the cover (I had to give it a good tug) and then pull the top part out and back. It can dangle also (and will still be connected through the cigarette lighter)

Now put your head where your passengers feet would be and look up at the switch.

Get that tiny philips screwdriver out and do your mechanic yoga to get it on the screw. you can watch it/guide it from the front. I put a little funnel of tinfoil around the screw driver so the screw couldn't drop into oblivion.

I am not nearly as dextrous as Joefrontier2, because there was no way I was going to "turn it around" and put the damn thing back.

The switch is closed at rest, so I decided just to solder the wires together apply some heat shrink and be done.

And now I too get to decide when the AC comes on.

Sorry I couldn't figure out how to get the images to come up inline with the text.

 

[CRDLIBERTY]

There is a how to at noffroad.net

sticky section, they just pull off wire on back hvac

http://www.nissanoffroad.net/how_to/auto_on/99_auto_on.asp

 

[Black1Diamond]

If i'm understanding it right, you just completely cut the switch out of the system, correct?

I'll probably understand better once I get the dash apart and actually see the setup, but what is meant by just "turning the switch around" to eliminate the connection?