Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community  

Go Back   Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community > Interests > Tilted Motors


 
 
LinkBack Thread Tools
Old 07-15-2009, 08:33 PM   #1 (permalink)
Addict
 
Ratman's Avatar
 
Location: Somewhere... Across the sea...
Air conditioner kills engine. Any ideas?

I have a 1995 Nissan Sunny (Sentra to those not in Japan). When I turn on the A/C, the engine dies. If I turn it off and start it again, it runs a bit rough at first, then everything is normal. Until I try the A/C again. I can push the button for the air if the fan is off, and there is no problem. It only happens when the fan is on. If I rev the engine while I do this, it will stay on until I let up the gas. If the A/C button is off, the fan works fine (defog, etc.).

I knew about this when I bought the car. The guy I bought it from had taken it to the Nissan dealer here, and they told him it was probably the fuel injectors- either the seals or the injectors themselves were cracked.

It seems to me that if the fuel system was involved, it would be a more constant problem regardless of the A/C. It sounds to me like a vacuum leak somewhere that is only present when the A/C is actually trying to pump.

It's a '95, 1.5 liter, manual trans, 110,000 km (about 65k miles?) on the clock. After I bought it I had to get the inspection where they check everything, had all the filters replaced (including the A/C filter). There were no problems with the basics systems, no oil or fuel leaks, good spark, etc. It gets about 10k/liter (25mpg) in town.

Any ideas? I'm about to take it in to get it fixed before the truly brutal part of the Japanese summer hits.
__________________
The difference between theory and reality is that in theory there is no difference.

"God made man, but he used the monkey to do it." DEVO
Ratman is offline  
Old 07-15-2009, 09:24 PM   #2 (permalink)
Tone.
 
shakran's Avatar
 
could be what you think. Could also be that the idle is not being increased when the AC is turned on. Does it die when you're driving and you hit the AC, or just when you're idling?
shakran is offline  
Old 07-15-2009, 09:29 PM   #3 (permalink)
Addict
 
Ratman's Avatar
 
Location: Somewhere... Across the sea...
If I'm driving and hit it, it's ok, as long as the revs are up. For example, in the freeway, no problem. In town, as soon as I put in the clutch and take off the gas to downshift for a turn or a light, it dies. Would the idle increase be part of the computer? I'm not that familiar with A/C, how does the idle get boosted?
__________________
The difference between theory and reality is that in theory there is no difference.

"God made man, but he used the monkey to do it." DEVO
Ratman is offline  
Old 07-15-2009, 10:13 PM   #4 (permalink)
Crazy
 
fiatguy85's Avatar
 
Idle is controlled by the idle air control valve. There's a list of how different ones work here. If it's vacuum controlled you should check that line or if it's electric, check the wiring. It might be possible to clean it to restore function or it might have to be replaced as well. It's possible to troubleshoot and check that is the problem, procedure varies on the type.
fiatguy85 is offline  
Old 07-15-2009, 11:03 PM   #5 (permalink)
Addict
 
Ratman's Avatar
 
Location: Somewhere... Across the sea...
Thanks for the link, fiatguy! I'll check that out, and give it a cleaning. If anyone else has an idea, I'm all ears. Thanx in advance...
__________________
The difference between theory and reality is that in theory there is no difference.

"God made man, but he used the monkey to do it." DEVO
Ratman is offline  
Old 07-17-2009, 05:59 AM   #6 (permalink)
Addict
 
Ratman's Avatar
 
Location: Somewhere... Across the sea...
I posted my problem on a Nissan repair forum, and someone said it's the a/c clutch as the clutch doesn't engage until the fan turns on. I don't know... the a/c blows cold air when it's on. If the a/c clutch was seized, would it still blow cold air? Would that affect the idle?
__________________
The difference between theory and reality is that in theory there is no difference.

"God made man, but he used the monkey to do it." DEVO
Ratman is offline  
Old 07-17-2009, 06:55 AM   #7 (permalink)
Tilted
 
Location: Canada
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ratman View Post
I posted my problem on a Nissan repair forum, and someone said it's the a/c clutch as the clutch doesn't engage until the fan turns on. I don't know... the a/c blows cold air when it's on. If the a/c clutch was seized, would it still blow cold air? Would that affect the idle?
Could be the clutch but that doesn't sound quite right to me.
Yes if the clutch was seized it would blow cold air. And yes it COULD affect the idle but the idle control should still boost the idle with a seized clutch at least when you first turn the A/C on I'm thinking.
Just how high do the revs have to be so you don't stall out?
Flinx is offline  
Old 07-17-2009, 07:43 AM   #8 (permalink)
Lover - Protector - Teacher
 
Jinn's Avatar
 
Location: Seattle, WA
AC is a huge draw on the engine, and accounts for decreased MPG as well as poor performance.

I had a car where you turned on the AC while it was in gear, it would start to roll backwards because it didn't have enough power to keep it in place.
__________________
"I'm typing on a computer of science, which is being sent by science wires to a little science server where you can access it. I'm not typing on a computer of philosophy or religion or whatever other thing you think can be used to understand the universe because they're a poor substitute in the role of understanding the universe which exists independent from ourselves." - Willravel
Jinn is offline  
Old 07-17-2009, 05:15 PM   #9 (permalink)
Addict
 
Ratman's Avatar
 
Location: Somewhere... Across the sea...
I don't have a tach in the car, but I would guess it's around 3000 going by ear. Everything seem to work fine if I'm on the freeway with steady RPMs and no stoplights. I really appreciate your thoughts everyone. I didn't see how it could be the fuel injectors and you've pointed me in what seem like a much more realistic direction.
__________________
The difference between theory and reality is that in theory there is no difference.

"God made man, but he used the monkey to do it." DEVO
Ratman is offline  
Old 07-20-2009, 10:55 PM   #10 (permalink)
Addict
 
Ratman's Avatar
 
Location: Somewhere... Across the sea...
I took the car to the shop today, and they are replacing the idle air control valve. Thanks for the tip!
__________________
The difference between theory and reality is that in theory there is no difference.

"God made man, but he used the monkey to do it." DEVO
Ratman is offline  
Old 07-22-2009, 03:40 PM   #11 (permalink)
Addict
 
Ratman's Avatar
 
Location: Somewhere... Across the sea...
In the end, they cleaned the IACV. They also charged the a/c gas, and replaced the battery. Total cost $100. Car runs like a champ with icy a/c. I love my mechanic!
__________________
The difference between theory and reality is that in theory there is no difference.

"God made man, but he used the monkey to do it." DEVO
Ratman is offline  
Old 07-22-2009, 08:07 PM   #12 (permalink)
Crazy
 
fiatguy85's Avatar
 
Excellent, hope it keeps running long and well!
fiatguy85 is offline  
 

Tags
air, conditioner, engine, ideas, kills


Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On



All times are GMT -8. The time now is 03:36 AM.

Tilted Forum Project

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Search Engine Optimization by vBSEO 3.6.0 PL2
© 2002-2012 Tilted Forum Project

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360