Sunday, August 26, 2018

2011 Nissan Leaf SL: Replacing air conditioning condenser (looks like a radiator)

I bought a scratch-and-dent 2011 Leaf and, when summer rolled around, I found the air conditioning (cooling) was not working. I tried to charge the system from the low pressure port and found the refrigerant shooting out the front of the condenser (the condenser looks like a radiator - and is, in fact, right in front of the actual coolant radiator). Anyway, I wanted to share how I fixed it, in case it helps someone.

1) I bought a condenser online from partsgeek.com: 2011 Nissan Leaf A/C Condenser - CN3944PFC UAC - $73.43. Here's what it looks like:



2) I was able to replace the condenser in about two hours working only from the top of the engine compartment.

Here you can see I cleared the way for removal. I used labeled ziplock bags for the various sets of screws/nuts/etc. There were maybe 5 or 6 things I removed or just moved out of the way to get to this point. I had to pull on the front plastic a bit to get the charge port out.

A look inside after clearing the way for the condenser. You can see the radiator behind the condenser looks very similar. (In fact, I first ordered a radiator by mistake).

Here you can see the connections to the condenser: an electrical connection to driver side (I think this cylinder is called a "dryer" and it comes with the condenser):

On the passenger side is the refrigerant in/out connection. The new condenser arrived with the rubber gaskets, ready to install. Keep it clean!

Best of luck!