1996 Nissan Maxima

IHEARTMAXIMA

MEMBER
1996 NISSAN MAXIMA
6 CYL
2WD
AUTOMATIC
195,000 MILES

Just starting this summer out of nowhere, my air has been blowing cold only intermittently. When I first start the car the air blows hot and stays that way. After drving for about thirty minutes it will start blowing cold intermittently. It seems that pulsating the gas pedal or just slamming the gas down seems to engage something to make it blow cold. It will stay blowing cold while driving. Once I come to a stop or if I just let off the gas for more than a second or so, it will start blowing hot again. Also, if driving, it seems to help sometimes to turn the AC off and on a few times and sometimes when it comes back on it will blow cold. It seems the only way to get it to blow cold is by giving it gas or just driving for a while without slamming or pulsating the gas. When the problem first started, I could crank the car 20 minutes before I was ready to leave, and by the time I was ready to leave it would be cool. But as of now it will only get cool when giving gas. But once it's blowing hot air, it's hard to get it back cold. Also, as of the past few days, there has been a funny smell in the car ONLY when the air is blowing COLD. Could this be the R-134a leaking?

2 Replies

MHPAUTOS

MECHANIC
31,937 POSTS

Hi there,

Thank you for the donation,

I would first go and get the A/C refrigerant level check as it well may be low, if so a leak test should be none to determine the exact cause, the smell is probably mold and mildew in the A/c vents, get the A/C drain tube checked for any blockage and then you can get the vents cleaned, there are a few commercial products to deodorize and sanitise the A/C system.

Mark (mhpautos)