Was driving on the highway and out of the sudden I start hearing strange noises coming from the engine area, not sure how to describe the sound kind of whine/maybe some grinding type noise.

Car was running and driving fine otherwise but the A/C stopped working, it still blows air but the air is no longer cold.

Also when I have the car at idle I can hear weird sounds coming from in the engine bay, to the right of the engine, even with A/C off and not blowing air.

Not sure what happened exactly, no engine light code.

 

Can you check a couple things then report back?

When you turn the A/C on and off, does the sound change?

Check to see if the compressor is turning with the A/C turned on or off.
The compressor is located low on the driver's side.

 

kinda sounds like the compressor took a dump.... do what david said, if it is working you will see it engage

 

https://my350z.com/forum/maintenance...lutch-bad.html

 

Just to update this thread,

Yes it was the Compressor, clutch was done, had to replace the compressor with a new one, an unfortunate expense.

I think it's pretty crappy that it died so early, my car only has 62K KM (38K miles) on it, poor quality from Nissan. The unfortunate part is that I am a year out of warranty.

 

One of the things that drivers can do to prolong their AC compressor is to be sure to engage it only at low (idle, preferably) RPM.

Imagine if you let out the clutch into gear @ 3500 RPM. How long would your clutch last?

If Z owners turn on their air when cruising on the freeway @ that high RPM, that's exactly what you're doing to your compressor clutch.

I have 191K on my Z - AC is still going strong (after replacing the condensor, which got a stone in it).

 

That makes perfect sense. Why haven't I ever thought of that before?