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Ramses ii
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Posted: Jun 07 2007 at 11:30am | IP Logged Quote Ramses ii

I'm having an odd AC issue w/ my Nissan Frontier King Cab, 2001 (manual Trans.).  I'm in Southern AZ, and it gets H-O-T here.

Last September I noticed an issue w/ my AC.  When my Truck was left in the sun or in the heat, the AC would blow hot for a little while, then cold for a little while, then hot for a little while, then cold for a little while, and so on.  It does not correlate to accelleration or anything else.  Sometimes I'm accelerating and it blows cold, sometimes hot.  Sometimes I'm at a complete stop and it blows cold, sometimes hot.

As winter came in (winter in Southern AZ is warm in the afternoon 55-65 degrees) my AC worked fine, no issues.  As the weather warmed up again for summer this issue resurfaced.  ONLY on hot days or when left out in the sun for a while.  So, in the morning when I get up for work, my AC works great and consistent. Nice and cold.  Eventhough I park in a garage, the afternoon drive home is awful w/ hot and colt, hot and cold.  Subsequently, the cab never gets cool and I'm sweatin' it out in triple digit degree weather.

About a month ago I took it to a local chain mechanic w/ excellent rating from the BBB & has won awards for service and ethics.  I've used them to service my vehicle (never serviced AC before w/ anybody) and I've been happy with em'.  So, I brought it in and explained the problem.  After they had a look see.  They said that the performed their service, flushed the AC system.  They saw no leaks or operation issues (compressor OK, etc.) The freeon or whatever was a pound low, so they filled it and added a dye to it.  The dye was added, so if my problem continued they could easily see if there was a leak.  Well, after a couple of days the problem resurfaced.  So, I brought it back in.  They looked at it for several hours unable to find any issue with the AC.  No leaks, no compressor problems. nothin'.  Finally, they decided that my battery poles had been corroded (and they had) and they said that the AC needed more juice from the battery in hot weather and couldn't get it due to battery pole corrosion.  So, they cleaned off all the corrosion, made sue the battery cells had water and reattached the battery to the truck and said they got it to run cold consistently.  I drove (mid-afternoon) stopped at the grocery store for an hour and came out to the same old situation.

What do I do now?  I'm afraid to take it to the dealership and hear that they will just replace the whole unit for $ 1 billion Zillion dollars.  There has to be an issue somewhere.

I had the transmission and clutch rebuilt in April, but I was having this issue before and after that, so I don't think it can be connected.

Any thoughts?

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lakota
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Posted: Jun 07 2007 at 5:16pm | IP Logged Quote lakota

..

Ramses ii;

I don’t use the defroster very much. BUT, what really hacks me off is adding heat to the A/C! We noticed in our 95 Quest, ’95 King Cab and ‘99 Frontier heat was flowing automatically when the A/C was running, how stupid is that?… I’m using extra fuel to cool the vehicle and the system is adding heat to it! Maost the other car brands besides Nissan are doing this. I don’t know the answer to your question but here’s what I do to reduce the problem. I run the A/C wide open (max cold) and manually turn the compressor on and off. I turn the compressor off going up-hill and back on during the down hill run… This seems to conserve power, fuel and seems to stop the heat flow.

I’ve thought about putting a adding a separate on/off switch to the compressor but worry that it might confuse the trucks computer causing it to go into self destruct mode!

It might be that the door to the heater core compartment is not completely closed or Falsely opened by the computer. Most ALL modern cars mix hot air with the cold air when the A/C is on to keep the temperature at an even setting. Several of the Nissans and our Grand Cherokee I’ve had will get a hot spot on the middle of the floor close to the dash if the A/C is not set for maximum cold. Our ‘04 Sentra automatically turns the A/C on when we use the defroster and it won’t turn off until the ignition switch and engine is turned off. We no longer use the defroster, we just turn on the A/C and it will do the summer time defrosting.

Though drying the air with the A/C on is a little more efficient and might be needed at times (like you have seven passengers breathing heavily) it takes extra gasoline to run the A/C. My mechanic friends tell me that (A) all late model cars are set up using the A/C with the defroster and (B) I can cut the wire to the A/C pump clutch and add an off-on switch in that wire.

Well the wife’s ‘04 Sentra has the same defroster problem. The A/C pump will shut off when the blower fan is turned off but will restart if the fan is turned on. The only way to stop the process is to turn the ignition switch off and restart the engine. We have not contacted the dealer about this. It’s kindda like a Micro-Soft XP programmed computer.

Have a good one while you can still laugh about it.. Don S..

There was a time when some people got rich buy providing a better product at a lower price.

Now they get rich by ripping us off and paying off the politicians. Can you spell DEREGULATION



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PLEASE >>> A SIG similar to mine can be VERY HELPFUL to all the members!
'99 4x4 3.3 Frontier Se KC Auto, 48,000 miles
'76 4x4 401 Wagoneer QT
'04 FWD 1.8 Sentra '08 FWD 2.4 Camry LE
Fort Worth
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dcsmith
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Posted: Jun 09 2007 at 11:45am | IP Logged Quote dcsmith

My wife's frontier has symptoms similiar to those of the original poster.  Is this forum designed to help people find answers to problems or is it just a forum to vent frustrations.
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BlueCrew
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Posted: Jun 19 2007 at 10:56pm | IP Logged Quote BlueCrew



I had this exact thing happen once last summer then not again until last week we were in Phoenix and it happened exactly as described in the original post. Cold, hot, cold hot. I found if I turned the fan off for a few minutes it would blow cold again. Finally it stayed cold. Nothing is "wrong" with the A/C, fully charged etc. Any help would be appreciated.
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lakota
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Posted: Jun 20 2007 at 1:15pm | IP Logged Quote lakota

dcsmith wrote:
My wife's frontier has symptoms similiar to those of the original poster.  Is this forum designed to help people find answers to problems or is it just a forum to vent frustrations.

..

dcsmith;

... Sadly we have many "Indians" and too few “Technician Chiefs”.

As a pre-computer ex-line mechanic I can only define the principles of an A/C system. Prior to A/C integrated into the computers.

Automotive Air Conditioner 101

The components of an automotive air-conditioner are:

Electro Magnetic Clutch is belt driven that causes the

Compressor Pump to draw low pressure (gas) refrigerant from the

Suction Hose that has a

Dryer and a

Sight glass in the line. The pressurized refrigerant is pumped into a

Pressure Hose into the

Condenser Core to be cooled and then into another

Pressure Hose that delivers the refrigerant to the

Expansion Valve spraying the liquid refrigerant into the,

Evaporator Core for cooling and controlled by the,

Thermal Coupler and

Dash Temperature Control that directly controls the Electro Magnetic Clutch .

The process of compressing the refrigerant creates additional heat in it much above the ambient temperature even though it may still be cold in the suction hose. The condenser attempts to lower the refrigerant temperature to the ambient temperature of the air passing through the core. The refrigerant is then delivered to the Expansion Valve that is at the entrants to the Evaporator Core. The refrigerant is under positive pressure entering the Expansion Valve and becomes a negative pressure as it exits the valve. The large drop in pressure as the refrigerant enters the Evaporator causes a large drop in temperature inside the Evaporator Core. A blower sends warm air over the core where the heat is extracted into the refrigerant and the cooled air is distributed into ductwork.

Hope I didn’t leave anything out!

Have a good one while you can still laugh about it.. Don S..

Most of the countries we import our food and goods from hate our guts… do you think for a minute they treat the food and merchandize with loving care? I also wonder if the ‘aliens’ picking American crops ever wash their hands. Globalization Sucks!



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PLEASE >>> A SIG similar to mine can be VERY HELPFUL to all the members!
'99 4x4 3.3 Frontier Se KC Auto, 48,000 miles
'76 4x4 401 Wagoneer QT
'04 FWD 1.8 Sentra '08 FWD 2.4 Camry LE
Fort Worth
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bc01rm1
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Posted: Jul 05 2007 at 11:00am | IP Logged Quote bc01rm1

You may want to do some research on a part called a “thermal control amplifier” This is a small electrical part that is located behind the glove box stuck in the evaporator coils.  It tells the computer if the system freezes up.  If this part malfunctions like mine did it will be cooling fine one minute and blowing hot the next. The TCA turns off the compressor so when it stops cooling check that first.  Replacement part at Nissan $45 and if you get in the floor and look behind the glove box you can see the little white three pin connector . 

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dcsmith
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Posted: Jul 05 2007 at 3:11pm | IP Logged Quote dcsmith

I appreciate that information.  I don't know if she has been running the ac lately.  It's hot enough; she just doesn't think it works.  I'll have to check it out.
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PaperBoy
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Posted: Aug 09 2007 at 1:59pm | IP Logged Quote PaperBoy

I had this problem with my 98 Frontier.  The A/C would blow hot once in awhile for no apparent reason.   I replaced the Thermol Control Amplifier.   $40.00 part.  and it fixed the problem.
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dcsmith
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Posted: Aug 10 2007 at 5:16pm | IP Logged Quote dcsmith

I can't find that part on the internet.  Is it by another name?  The Nissan dealer I called said they had something listed as "thermal amplifier."  Is that it?  I looked under the glove box and saw a three pin connector but I'm not sure what part to replace.
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S.A.R.Tech
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Posted: Aug 10 2007 at 9:11pm | IP Logged Quote S.A.R.Tech

it might be called a "freeze switch" or a "anit-icing switch_", or something along those lines.  Anything to do with icing up.  Just look for anything actually lodges inside the evaporator core.

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