This 2000 Nissan Xterra came in with the complaint that the a/c works good sometimes but it may not work at all at other times. The easiest place to test is at the thermistor lead connector (white) at the bottom left of the glove box.
It can be done without removing the glove box but it is easier with the glove box assembly out of the way. There are two screws located in the lower corners. Two screws located in the upper corners and two screws located in the upper center at the latch bracket.
The testing is as follows. Key on and engine running with the a/c turned on: Green/orange wire will have battery voltage from fuse #29 in the underhood fuse box, the Blue wire will have battery ground from the a/c control assembly and the Blue/black wire will have a nominal 4-5 volts with the thermistor off (temperature below 40 degrees F) and less than .5 volts with the thermistor on (temperature above 45 degrees F). The thermistor assembly applies a ground to the circuit which is sent through the dual pressure switch and then on to the engine control computer. This one failed the test and needed to be replaced. The proper way is to remove the refrigerant and then the evaporator case but I prefer a simpler way. It can be a little painful but it only takes about ten minutes from this point to change it. There are three phillips headed screws that have to be removed along with three 10 mm headed screws as shown in the following pictures.
Once the screws are removed, the two halves of the evaporator case can be separated enough to look in, see the thermistor, carefully and a little painfully insert your hand into the box and removed the sensor. Slide the new one in, in the reverse order and install the previously removed screws. The long tab pointing down slides into the evaporator fins and tab pointing to the right is the actual thermistor bulb.
hi sparky. my 95 xterra a/c with only blow cold air in low fan position. as soon as you switch it into a higher fan speed,the a/c light goes out and it start blowing warm air. any thoughts?
I’d like to say thank you for posting this info. My a/c quit working 4 years ago. I took it to 2 shops. They both said replace the compressor after looking at the car for 5 minutes. $500 later they put in a new compressor. Same problem. I eventually rigged a switch to turn on the a/c compressor directly inside my dash. The only problem is your self regulating the compressor. This caused too much pressure and I went through 3 HP hose’s and 3 Driers. I read this post and Voila!!!!! It works perfectly on its own after installing the thermo amplifier.. Keep up the good work!!!!
Thermistor and thermo amplifier are the same thing. The procedure should be the same for a 4 cylinder versus and V6.
Thanks for the great advice. My daughter’s 2000 Xterra is a V6 and I’m hoping it’s the same procedure. I also don’t recall seeing a part number for the thermistor. Also not sure if the thermistor is the same thing as the “Thermal control assy” or “thermo amlifier”.
The closer it is to the original location the better off you are. However, as long as the compressor cycles off between 40- 45F and back on between 42-50F and you are comfortable as a passenger, then that location should be good enough.