2009 Nissan Versa - A/C Repair

[bettstop]

Just bought 2009 Nissan Versa from dealer last summer. The dealer is about an hour from where I live.
Last month the A/C was running just barely cool...so went to local place to have coolant renewed.
They took it for a drive and told me it was running over 100 degrees when tested.
I said "no way...I just drove it and there was cool air coming out of it."
So they went and checked further and said it had a leak and the whole a/c unit had to be replaced.
To the tune of 750 dollars!!!
I left in disbelief.

Does anyone know of a cheaper way to get my a/c back?
Can a dealership do this cheaper, or even just fix the leak?
I want to keep my car in nice shape...so I need to get this repaired or replaced.

Thanks for any advice!

Elizabeth of Minnesota

[WDRacing]

Welcome to Nico!

I would recommend talking it to a different place for a 2nd opinion. Have you ever tried to refill your own AC before? Do you or one of your friends feel confident enough to do so? The kits with a gauge range from $30 to $50 at almost any store that sells autoparts.

Here's a short video that shows how you would charge the AC yourself.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-p2WzuoS ... e=youtu.be[/youtube]

[bettstop]

Thanks...good video and I believe I could do it by myself. If there was a leak though in my a/c unit would I be able to see it or hear it with the car running?
And then should I just stop what I was doing because it would just be wasting coolant?

I just don't want anything to blow up in my face!

Thanks again.

Elizabeth

[WDRacing]

Nothing is going to blow up in your face

The servicing port of the recharge canister will only fit onto the low pressure port of the AC system. So you can't even accidentally connect it wrong. The only thing you have to do is make sure the car is on, the AC is on full and then connect the recharging canister. Make sure to get a canister with a pressure gauge on it. Most of them will have a green area on the gauge, this is where you want your pressure to be.

As a rule of thumb, don't pressurize it more than 40 psi.

After doing a recharge, your AC should blow cold within a short time. If it doesn't, there could be other problems. Sometimes a pressure switch can go bad and cause the clutch not to engage as well as several other things. Most of those problems will require a professional.

I doubt you will be able to hear/see any leaks, but perhaps you will. Stop if you hear or see anything like a hiss etc.

Several of the recharging canisters include a leak stopper as well. I suggest you look for one of those. I've used this one myself, it's from Advance Auto.

If this doesn't fix your problem, report back and I'll have one of our AC experts chime in.

[bettstop]

You are very kind and I appreciate you help and advice.

Thanks much!

Elizabeth

[WDRacing]

Glad I can help Elizabeth.