Posted: Aug 28 2012 at 1:01pm | IP Logged

  Looked all around for a solution and finally got a tip from a guy in Australia. I have a 2008 Frontier LE and the AC stopped working on the freeway going to work. When going back home from work it started working again. The first thing I checked was if the clutch was engaging and it was not. I checked the voltage on the wires leading to the clutch (Very painful) and saw no voltage. I then checked all the relays and temperature amplifier etc and found nothing wrong so I then checked the voltage on the clutch wires again and found 14 volts (Dooh!).  to check this time, I pulled the connector off and pulled the two wires to the top of the engine compartment where I could get at them much better with my meter.

  I proceeded to remove the clutch while the compressor was on the car so as not to have to open and contaminate the AC system having to buy a new dryer, recharge etc. The AC was working fine before it quit. You have to get to the compressor from the bottom of the truck so I put it on ramps. I found you can remove the 2 plastic pans easily on the bottom of the car and then pull the bottom part of the fan shroud off.  I then detached the top fan shroud so I could get to the compressor. There are 2 screws on the top of the fan shroud on either ends of the radiator.  I then removed the fan with the 4 bolts (10MM) on the front of the fan with a quarter inch drive ratchet. This gave me plenty of space. I took off the front of the compressor with an allen wrench. I was able to hold the front with my hands while loosening the bolt with allen wrench (size???). With my hands, I could take the front off the clutch with no special tools.  I removed the serpentine belt with a 3/8 inch drive ratchet on the tensioner and guided the belt forward off the fan pulley.

   After inspecting the compressor front plate and seeing there was nothing wrong, I used outside spring clip pliers to remove the pulley from the compressor.  I was able to guide the pulley off with my hands with no special tools. There is another outer spring clip holding the clutch coil. I removed that and the coil after removing the bolt that holds the wire connector to the body of the compressor. I used a very long phillips screwdriver to remove the wire connector bracket.

   Inspecting the coil I could find nothing wrong other than there was a broken connection inside the coil by using the ohm meter.  It should read about 3 ohms. I went online and found the gentleman from Australia whom had said something about a thermal fuse. There is a bump on the front of the coil that holds the fuse. I broke that open with a screwdriver. I checked the fuse with ohm meter and it was an open circuit. The existing fuse will tolerate up to almost 300 degrees fahrenheit.  I found one at Radio shack that will go about 360 degrees fahrenheit. I soldered it in with solder that can tolerate 400 degrees and JB welded the fuse to the front of the coil. JB Weld is supposed to be good to 600 degrees for short periods. Make sure the JB Weld and fuse do not protrude to far out as to drag on the pulley.

   I reassembled the compressor doing everything I did before in reverse and put all the car parts back. I also replaced the battery on my car. It was low and the starter was dragging. I have had no problems since. I have driven to Houston and back worth no AC issues.

  My hypothesis is that the low battery caused the coil in the clutch to slip and heat up blowing the fuse.  I am publishing this so as to save people some money, time and keep from contaminating their AC systems etc.