Car A/C dying

[Illum]

the AC in my minivans going out as well, we charged the freon, so freons fine, the fan and compressors were inspected, so those are fine too...

On max cold the front vents blow out air at room temperature, but the back AC unit is freezing when its on max cold. Turning off the back unit and the front becomes warm air. Throughout the time being on the rear unit hisses and if driving over 30 minutes the inside air will smell a bit sour...I think its just the car getting old...being a 1996 Nissan Quest:candle:

 

[Quinn_Inuit]

That's a strange A/C you've got there.

Yeah, I'm trying to be careful around the window. We definitely don't want it stuck down as opposed to up.

We'd like to ditch the car now, but we'll probably get a much better deal on the used car we have in mind if we wait until November or so.

 

[Monocrom]

We'd like to ditch the car now, but we'll probably get a much better deal on the used car we have in mind if we wait until November or so.

There's also the very real issue of heat stroke. Many folks tend to dismiss it as just being mild, if they're not elderly. I'm only 35. My last job involved working outside. Despite being in good health, even a mild case of it can be brutal on the body. And I mean just a few minutes exposure to the heat. I drove around in a patrol vehicle that had working A/C. Had to get out for a few minutes at a time to complete my rounds.

Unless you're saving up a few paychecks over the next 3 or 4 months in order to put down a bigger down payment, in exchange for lower monthly payments, then it's not likely you'll get a better deal then vs. now. The only other possibility is if someone you know is currently driving the car you want, and has promised to sell it to you come November.

Honestly, the car industry has not fully recovered from the actions of the Mega crooks on Wall Street that caused the massive spike in unemployment. I got my new car a year and a half ago, and I can tell you that the sales associate was very happy when she realized I wasn't there just to look around. Things have gotten a bit better. But new or used, it's still a Buyer's market out there.

 

[Illum]

That's a strange A/C you've got there.

Yeah, I'm trying to be careful around the window. We definitely don't want it stuck down as opposed to up.

We'd like to ditch the car now, but we'll probably get a much better deal on the used car we have in mind if we wait until November or so.

some places have organizations that will take car donations and is tax deductable. National Public Radio around here has such feature.

 

[Quinn_Inuit]

I've never understood how the donation thing worked. Wouldn't selling it always make more sense?

Compressor's dead. So much for that.

 

[Monocrom]

If you don't mind me asking, which Make & Model is your car?

Sounds like a few too many problems for only an 8 year-old car that was purchased new.

 

[Quinn_Inuit]

2002 Honda CR-V w/105k miles on it.

The electrical system has never worked all that well, and it's had a fairly tough life as cars go. It spent its first three years parked in the open in Ithaca (cold and snowy), and the last five parked in the open in Virginia (hot and steamy). That A/C has been worked pretty hard.

 

[Monocrom]

I appreciate the reply.

Even with all that, you'd expect a bit more from a Honda.

 

[Quinn_Inuit]

Agreed. I can't say I'm not disappointed, but I suppose it's still getting me from Point A to Point B.

 

[Quinn_Inuit]

Um...not that I'm complaining or anything, but if the compressor's dead, why have we started getting cold air again?

 

[ANDREAS FERRARI]

What made you think the compressor was dead in the first place?

 

[Quinn_Inuit]

The mechanic told us so. We had them test it out, run dye through to check for freon leaks, etc. They said the compressor was dead. (My wife is positive about that. She's pretty sure they also told her that there was at least one freon leak, but she didn't pay close attention to that since the dead compressor made it moot.)

 

[LukeA]

The mechanic told us so. We had them test it out, run dye through to check for freon leaks, etc. They said the compressor was dead. (My wife is positive about that. She's pretty sure they also told her that there was at least one freon leak, but she didn't pay close attention to that since the dead compressor made it moot.)

A lot of mechanics and dealers take advantage of women and young people.

Or the accessory belt may have been slipping, which could also cause this problem and the intermittence.

P.S. It's not Freon (R-12), it's R-134a.

 

[Quinn_Inuit]

Oh, O.K. I'll just say "refrigerant" from now on, I think. That way the people who don't know won't be confused and the people who do know won't think I'm wrong.

Hmmm, how would I confirm it's the accessory belt, and is this something I could fix myself? I know very little about cars, but am fairly handy with tools.

{Off topic rant about the mechanic}
We picked this mechanic particularly because they got great Angie's List reviews from female customers (my wife works from home and has odd hours, so it's a lot easier for her to bring it in). This is the last straw, though. They tried to mess with her about something else awhile back (she firmly put that attempt down), and I'm 90% sure that they forgot to refill our antifreeze after a routine flush last year. The system was empty a couple of days after we took it in, there were no leaks, and not once (before or since) has this car had its antifreeze level even fluctuate. I don't see any other reasonable explanation for the missing antifreeze. I'm just glad that my wife hadn't been in stop-and-go traffic before we noticed the problem--the airflow around the engine must have been enough to prevent overheating. Even I didn't notice any heat fluctuations until we got stuck in a traffic jam on the highway, and I keep an eye on my gauges.

We'll keep using them till we get rid of this car in a few months, but that's it.{/rant}

 

[LukeA]

Oh, O.K. I'll just say "refrigerant" from now on, I think. That way the people who don't know won't be confused and the people who do know won't think I'm wrong.

Hmmm, how would I confirm it's the accessory belt, and is this something I could fix myself? I know very little about cars, but am fairly handy with tools.

If it was me, I'd open the hood, start the engine and have a helper turn the a/c (not the fan) on and off. Watch for a drop in belt speed or slipping at the compressor pulley and a lack of cold air. That would indicate a bad spot in the belt or the compressor clutch/pulley.

Changing a belt is pretty simple, but IMO, now is the time to go find your new mechanic. If your wife takes it to a new place and asks them to change the belt, it'll be a good test of their virtuosity if they don't "find" any new problems. Right now you've got a good vehicle to test mechanic honesty. It's got some problems that you already know about and you're going to get rid of it soon. If they try to scare your wife with "worn out tie-rod ends" or some other BS "safety issue" (before they even have the damn thing up on the lift! - And here you thought you were safe from my rant. Ha! But I digress...), you'll know to leave and find another place. Life's way too short to deal with sleazy mechanics.

We recently sold a car with a flaky power window (rear driver's side). It was $300 to repair and $65 for the state inspection and we got more than every penny back in the price the car sold for. IMO given a single car in passable shape, no movement in driver's window = junker, working power windows = college kid's car (more valuable). Same with the a/c. A working a/c typically adds more to the selling price of a car than it costs to have fixed. People don't usually like to buy liability, they like you to have already had the problem repaired, and then they pay you for the service, but YMMV.