The A/C is blowing hotter air when the button is pressed than when its not engaged. The button engages the A/C- i can hear it switch, but I dont think it winds up. I asked my mechanic to recharge the A/C a week ago and $100 later I had cold air. 2 days later it was gone - hot air again.

Now it's 100 degrees outside, the a/c blows hot air and the driver side motor died.

I'm looking for a pic or anything of where to check the refrigerant pressure and what the optimum pressure should be, and if its available - the safety shut off pressure? I wanna see where I'm at before I dump more money into this.



...side note...I read somewhere on here that someone had a cone filter modification and it rubbed on one of the metal pressure lines. Im glad I read that cause I installed a K&N full air filter kit ( K&N Item Number 57-6013 ) about 6 months ago and today I saw the metal housing of the filter is rubbing on a line. I'm going down to inspect it again and I'll post pics but from what I can tell it's not rubbed through.

 

Get the service manual section ATC for your year car. All the info you need is there.

 

Got manual - looking through it now. Just seeing 1.21 lbs of coolant required, ill keep lookin.

Here's a link to the 350z service manuals : http://www.*********.com/wiki/index....n_350Z_Manuals

Just made sure compressor clutch engages - ya ... it does. Blows air a couple degrees hotter than without the a/c engaged. Its about 70 out tonight.

FWIW about the air filter rubbing on the lines - here's a few shots of how its affected - i'm going to get a clamp on there tomorrow - should solve it.

Blue arrows are the affected line - yellow is where its rubbing on the filter kit.


<a href="http://s81.photobucket.com/albums/j207/Therearenogoodsc/?action=view&amp;current=Z.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j207/Therearenogoodsc/th_Z.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a>

 

Can't see the picture in photobucket. I just a message that it's a private album.

The link needs to look like this:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/10...sCannon109.jpg

Or just post the picture using the IMG code from "Share this photo".

In either case, you'll probably need to make your PB account un-private.

 

There's a chance there's nothing wrong with the AC system itself. In the Z, hot coolant is constantly flowing through the heater core. There's a door in the heater box that diverts air to the evaporator coil when you want AC. If the motor that drives the door isn't working properly, you'll only get hot air.

Is there any oil film around the place where the air filter touches the AC tubing?

 

I took it in again after I got the shop manual, ran a self diagnostic to stage 2, passed everything but I didnt have the machines to do the rest.

A sensor test showed R134a refrigerant leakage at the evaporator core under the passenger side dash and we concluded thats what it is - leaky evap core.

The line is not ruptured from the air filter box but it was close. I put styrofoam there temporarily to protect it.

The quote to fix is $350 labor and just got the core new for $116 with my dealer discount. They wanted to get me fore $400 on the part which makes me weary about the labor charge.

Is an evaporator core something I can fix myself or should I let the shop do it for safe measure?

 

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...nogoodsc/Z.jpg

I can see it on a friends computer - are you able to see it?

Regardless - this is a low pressure line and the K&N filter shroud would have cut straight through it if I had not read a random comment about it on this forum.

 

I can see the pics now.

Dealer shop rates are a rip, but finding someone else to do anything right for a decent price nowadays is rough. Sorry, I can't offer any advice on that. I've got someone good that works on my cars for free in exchange for the welding and machining work I do for them.

 

Ya its tough out there thats why I don't blame him for trying to stick me.

Retail on the part was $233.99, so with my $300 shop quote and $515 dealer quote I'm happy walking away at $116.99 for a new part.

I've even tried trading I.T. work for this install but not finding any luck - all my clients own German auto shops. Bummer.

Is the evaporator core an install that should be left to a pro, or is there anything I could do to reduce the labor cost like remove some parts of the dash to get to the evap unit? As far as I understand the system needs to be depressurized before removing the unit...which requires a machine and special computer that I dont have.

 

Sounds like the system is already depressurized, or mostly so. I suppose you could replace the evaporator, and then have a shop charge the system for you. You might have trouble getting someone to do that, though. I'd certainly check first to get a commitment.

I'd be inclined to just let them do the whole job if you have any doubts about it. They probably won't stand behind a partial job, since they could always lay the problem on something you did.

Tough call.

 

Following up

The issue was a seal on the evaporator core. I paid the shop $400 to install the new core and $50 for some seal leading to the core.

The coolant line to the air conditioner was rubbed through by the K&N cone filter shroud. It was my fault. I didn't install the metal brace around the saddle bracket so it sagged. What a bother. Ah well live and learn.

It's starting to warm up in Cali - glad I have my A/C. It'd been blowing cold air for 3 months now so I'm positive the problem is fixed. Before it ran out in a day after charging.

For anyone who needs their evap core replaced...shop around. I suppose that goes for everything but I've never been tried to be ****ed so bad. Seriously, it was like open season on my wallet. Dealership quoted $2200 including parts. Later "talked them down" to $1000 for labor only. Another shop wanted $1600 labor only. FWIW the dealership shop manager did say it was the only time he'd ever heard of a 350Z evaporator core needing replacement and really drilled me about why I wanted it replaced.

I really wanted to do this one myself but everything about it was out of my league and I'm sure I'd have made some sort of expensive mistake. Definitely better left to a pro.