I have just purchaced a 2005 Altima.
When I start the car with the fan off, the AC off, recirculate off and the direction control turned to vent (face), the AC is off. Sounds good huh?
When I turn on the fan the air blows just fine with no AC... No problems there!
Now comes the problem... When I hit recirculate (still with the AC off and set on vent) the AC turns on. I can not shut off the AC now untill the key is turned off. Even if I switch it back to fresh air and turn off the fan, I can feel cold air coming through the air ducts(gently forced in from outside). I say cold because it's 100f outside and chilly air coming through the ducts.
If I do not turn on recirculate and was to turn on the AC (still on vent to face and not de-fog) the AC comes on and will not go off even after it has been turned off and the light is out.
An note to the dealers talks of "Improvements" to the HVAC system that will possibly make the AC remain on when it is turned off. The criteria for this is:
If the De-fog or Floor/De-fog is selected AND the outside temperature is 36-37 f or greater.....
The AC will turn on and will remain on in any position of the air direction control knob.
The AC can be turned off by turning off the fan, but it will turn back on when the fan is turned on again. Alternativly the AC will be turned off when the ignition is shut off..
This is not the case for my car... anyone have any ideas? THe dealer is telling me that my AC should not shut off and I am getting tired of 21-22 mpg on the freeways! The sticker said 23 city and 30 hwy.
Below is what the handbook says regarding the AC. Quite simple really. Not what youy would call rocket science.
Air conditioner button (if so equipped)
The button is provided only on vehicles equipped
with an air conditioner.
Start the engine, turn the fan control dial to the
desired position and push the AC button to
turn on the air conditioner. The indicator light
comes on when the air conditioner is operating. To turn off the air conditioner, push theAC button again.
Below is the criteria for the AC to turn on and stay on.
"When the Defrost or Floor/Defrost position is selected, the air
conditioner automatically turns on (however,
the indicator light will not illuminate) if the
outside temperature is more than 36°F
(2°C). The air conditioning system will continue
to operate until the vehicle is restarted,
even if the air flow control dial is turned to a
position other than the defrost position. This
dehumidifies the air which helps defog the
windshield. The Recirculate mode automatically
turns off, allowing outside air to be drawn
into the passenger compartment to further
improve the defogging performance."
It appears that there is a programming glitch in the 2005s because the routine that is only supposed to occour when defrost is chosen is happening even when simply switching on Recirculate or the AC while on vent. I do not have to touch the air flow control dial.
I checked out another Altima with a salesman today and it did the same thing. He said the same as me. "Something's wrong".
If I am driving with my fresh air venting and come up behind a smog mobile, I can not simply change to Recirculate and switch back after I pass it. If I was to do that I would have to pull over to the side of the road, shut off the car and restart it to turn off the AC. By that time the Smog mobile would be passing me again!
Does this seem to you as it appears to me that there is a programming problem?
I don't know how the controls are set up in the altima, but in the sentras, when you change the knob to defrost, a switch is pushed that enables the AC, there really isn't any "programming" to speak of. Could be that your switch is stuck in.
Here is the module on the sentra, the metal tab pushes in the little button when you turn the knob to a defrost setting. You could have the dealership check that, or just do it yourself, on the sentra it takes about 5min to take apart the center console.
It sure seems to be a glitch, I've had the same problem, at least with the light coming on - but I haven't used the recirculate function more than once. When I was going through the features with my sales person, he said that although the A/C light comes on when you hit the recirculate button, the A/C isn't really on. I have not checked this out, but I have a feeling that's wrong. Has anyone checked to see if the AC is really on?
Many thanks dschrier,
I never turn the dial to defrost... that is supposed to lock the AC on if I do that. I am just turning to vent. The AC should not turn on. If you use Defrost the AC is on to dehumidify the air that hits the windshield. In the new Altimas the AC will stay on (if the fan is on) until you reset the ignition switch/restart the car.
My problem is not with the defrost.. it is with everything. Hit recirculate and the AC is on and stays on. Hit AC and it's on and stays on. Wind the windows down and it's on.... Ok, the windows thing is not true. All I want is fresh, uncooled L.A smog!!
Sweetness...
My AC light does NOT come on when I hit recirculate BUT it really is on! It blows cold and will not shut off after I switch the recirculate off.
Wacky Huh? Wackier still is that I went to the dealer and another Altima did the same thing. "Tokyo, we gotta problem"!
That's weird- I just checked out how it works with mine and here's the deal:
When I hit recirc, the recirc light comes on. The a/c also comes on - I can hear it under the hood, and the a/c light comes on. When I hit recirc again to turn it off, the recirc light goes off but the a/c (and light) stay on. If I then hit the a/c button, I can turn off the a/c (I can hear it turn off under the hood, and the air is not as cold). I can't turn off the a/c when the recirc is on.
I assume that both our 2005 Altimas were built in the same factory, so I don't know why our systems seem to work differently, maybe our computers or chips are set up differently.
Tokyo, we sure have a problem!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Limey
Sweetness...
My AC light does NOT come on when I hit recirculate BUT it really is on! It blows cold and will not shut off after I switch the recirculate off.
Wacky Huh? Wackier still is that I went to the dealer and another Altima did the same thing. "Tokyo, we gotta problem"!
Many thanks Sweetness...
My AC light does not come on when the Recirc is switched on and the fan speed increases (like Max Air), however the AC does run. Switching the Recirc off slows down the fan and the AC remains on.
I will be taking a copy of this to the dealer when I go there on Tuesday.
Has anyone thought to inquire as to whether the problem vehicle is a 2.5 or a 3.5? I say this because the 3.5 SE has automatic climate control, whereas the 2.5 does not (to my knowledge - I have a 3.5 myself). If they are different, then this might explain the difference in how they operate.
I hate to say this.... My 2005 Altima 3.5 SE does not have climate control. If yours does, it is possible that you have also got the Navigation package. That comes with many ectra goodies including the ability to set the delay on the automatic headlights (not possible without the nav. pac.)
I hate to say this.... My 2005 Altima 3.5 SE does not have climate control. If yours does, it is possible that you have also got the Navigation package. That comes with many ectra goodies including the ability to set the delay on the automatic headlights (not possible without the nav. pac.)
Actually, my '05 3.5 SE came with auto headlights (not adjustable delay, btw), side and curtain airbags, ABS, EBD, etc., as standard... but it doesn't have navi. These differences may simply be because I'm in Canada, and our Altimas are optioned very differently than U.S. models, with the 3.5 SE being the top trim. Check out Nissan Canada's Altima options page or specifications page and you'll see what I mean. We only get 3 option packages: sunroof, leather+bose+ecm+homelink, and navi - and the first two have to be applied sequentially.
My car does the exact same thing. Of course the dealership where I purchased the car knew nothing about it. Then they scrambled to find a servcie bulletin which stated that the fan control knob has to be turned off and then the car must be shut off. This sounds completely rediculous. However, we tried this, and the A/C still did not turn off. I noticed that this thread was a year old. Have you had any success with your car?
Air Conditioner will not shut off...
Linear Mode
