# A/C.... What am I doing wrong?



## Meaux (Jul 25, 2004)

89 Maxima, original owner
195K mi.
Evaporator was replaced by the dealer 8 years ago.
I have never had to add R-12 since I've owned this car. She's allways been a "meatcooler".

My wife's complaint was that the A/C wasn't cooling like it should.
In the past few days, I have replaced the Blower, (thanks Matt), the left side fan, and unclooged the evaporator.
I saw many bubbles in the sight glass, so I added about 12oz. of Freeze 12.
My gauges tell me that the high side is 325psi, and the low side is 60psi. This is with the engine running.
When I shut off the engine, the low side slowly goes up over 100psi, and the high side slowly goes down to about 150psi.
The whole time I was adding Freeze 12, the low side line would not "sweat", but the vent temp. was cold, no bubbles in the sight glass, I have condensation draining from the evaporator. Everything seems fine, just no sweat. Does it sound like I need a new drier? Is something plugged? Those gauge readings seem a little high to me, or is that just the way it is?
I still have the dash apart so I haven't taken it on the road yet, needs a radio/tape player.
Any opinions?


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## sxy92max (Jul 8, 2004)

*Maxima Stereo*

Hey man,

Not sure about the problem with the AC but I can help you with the stereo. I had a 92 Max that I recently sent to the grave b/c it needed a new motor and decided not to spend the money. Instead got a 04 Max and love it. I had a really good sound system in my 92 and right now it's just sitting in a box. All in really great condition. I have a JVC head unit that plays both cd's & mp3's and it's really colorfuly and nice. Also has a remote amongst other features. I have the wiring harness for that year maxima as well. I also have 6x9 speakers, tweeters, 4" mid range speakers, Sub woofers, Amplifers, and all the wires to go with it. So let me know if you have any interest in it via email [email protected] and we can discuss. Look foward to hearing from ya.

~Mike


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## Meaux (Jul 25, 2004)

Well, I bled off some pressure while not running and now I get 25psi low, and 180psi high. Vent temp is at 34-36deg.
Wife is happy, so I'm happy.

What the heck.........I reckon Freeze 12 is mixing OK.


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## Matt93SE (Sep 17, 2003)

yeah, I was going to suggest the pressures were too high.
I'm not an expert at this stuff, but there are definite pressure ratings in the service manual you need to follow. from what I remember from the glance at them two months ago, those numbers were way too high.


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## rcy (Mar 5, 2004)

Aye, dude. Those pressures were way too high. Your new pressures are more in line. The bad news is, if you were seeing bubbles in the sight glass, you probably have a minor leak somewhere. Now, whatever you do, don't put a sealer in. Most professionals rightly claim that most of these sealers cause more trouble than they solve. Do a google on 'black death' to see why, or check out www.airconditon.com. If you're lucky, it is a very small leak and it may take a long while before your wife notices the cooling is not up to par. If you're not (and most leaks tend to get worse with time) you'll soon find bubbles in the sight glass again. Time to add dye or get an electronic sniffer and find the leak. Hopefully, it's not the evaporator which is buried in the dash and a bitch to get at.

Good luck.

BTW, I wouldn't be doing too much bleeding if I were you. Freeze 12 is a blend of R134a and 142B (80% and 20% I think). When you bleed the system, you can't really tell which one you're bleeding out and you will change the proportions. Mind you, if your system is working well now, leave well enough alone. One other thing, if you ever need your system worked on by a professional shop and they have a refrigerant identifier (more and more shops have them) they may refuse to work on your car as you don't have pure R12 or R134 in the system and they won't want to contaminate their recovery systems.


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