When I turn on the blower dial on, and the AC on/off button is depressed, I can hear the clutch engaging, but there is no cooling. The unit continues to blow warm air, and while it does, I push the on/off button on and off until the unit starts blowing cold. This can take any where from 5 to 10 minutes. While I am depressing the on/off button on and off, I can hear the clutch engage and disengage. It is a 2001 Nissan Pathfinder.
Throughout the rest of that same day, I just have to turn the blower dial on once (while the on/off switch is in the on position) and it blows cold immediately. The next day, it all repeats again; starting with no cooling for about 5 to 10 minutes while pressing the on/off switch on and off. About two months ago, I replaced the expansion valve, at the suggestion of an Nissan AC expert, with no change.
Your air conditioning compressor clutch in engaging as you stated. This is a good thing. It means that your Freon level is full enough to engage the clutch on the compressor and function properly.
If you were to pop the hood and feel the pipe going to the evaporator it would be cold. Again confirming the compressor, expansion valve,e etc are functioning as they should.
So why is the air conditioning blowing hot?
This is common to a failing mode/blend door actuator. The actuator is a tiny electronic device that opens and closes the doors inside the ventilation system. This allows it to switch from hot to cold.
When the vehicle sets, heat and moisture tend to affect these components. And when first put in use after setting they have a harder time functioning properly.
How to replace Mode Actuator 2001 Nissan Pathfinder
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So for the last two days, when I turned on the blower switch (with the AC switch still depressed, from the day before) the AC started blowing cold right away. When I turn the mode switch from blowing through the top vents only, to blowing through the top vents and bottom vents, I can distinctly hear the door changing position. Do you think the mode actuator is still the problem?
There is more than one actuator in the system. The temperature hot/cold blend door actuator would be the one having the issue. And more than likely you will notice the issue more on HOT and HUMID days. As the days get cooler, the issue may appear less often. The video is for illustration purposes to give you an idea of what an actuator looks like and how it functions.
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