Would Nistune for any reason affect a/c operation?

[james92se]

I finally got my car together and started it up and was letting it idle in the driveway last night while poking around in Nistune. I quickly realized my air conditioner isn't working. The a/c button lights up on the dash, and the idle gets raised a bit just as it should but the compressor never actually engages.

I will say that I had the a/c system professionally evacuated/recharged/leak checked 1.5 months ago. I made a point to specifically do this before installing all the turbo stuff because one of my charge pipes blocks access to the high side service port. The system worked flawlessly 1.5 months ago before putting it on jack stands to install everything and I haven't touched the a/c system at all. Since it was dark I checked with my UV light (as the shop injected dye) last night and couldn't find any evidence of a leak.

Before I go digging into this, is there any reason Nistune would affect the a/c system? I don't see why it would, and I can't find any mention of it in the manual, but thought I'd check anyway. I want to get this a/c situation fixed before going deeper into trying to tune my car to get it drivable.

[Matt]

It shouldn't affect things. However check the 'AC relay' indicator in the 'consult view' panel lights up

You will need to enable digital control registers 1-3 to see all of them. When the vehicle is in correct temperature and the AC switch is on it should enable that indicator (and subsequently the condenser output)

If the indicator does not go on let me know and I will need your ECU part number showing in Nistune to test on the bench here with the same ROM image

[james92se]

I checked tonight and the 'ac relay' indicator never would light up in the consult view when I turned the a/c on. I assume it should turn red as the fuel pump relay etc does when active?

Do these indicators light up to reflect the ECU is sending power to that relay? Meaning if the indicator does not light up the ECU is simply not sending power?

My ECU is A18-A44-E96

[Matt]

Yes when that lights the ECU will send power

What is the part # shown in Nistune software itself (23710-xxxxx) when you connect?

[james92se]

23710-97E10

Edit - for what it's worth, the top left says "J30_VE30DE_97E60_MT"

[james92se]

This morning before work I decided to try an extra stock ECU I have for it. I swapped it in but wasn't sure if the car would start/run, but it started right up. I turned the AC on and the compressor engaged right away and started to cool down immediately. Just to make sure I walked around to the engine bay and confirmed the compressor engagement.

So this confirms the issue is definitely on the Nistune ECU side and not an AC component issue with my car. Of course I guess we already knew that since the relay indicators don't light up in consult. But I'm still relieved there isn't a problem with my AC system

[james92se]

Well this is strange. I just put the Nistune ECU back in and the AC works now. Go figure.

[Matt]

That is strange. I was going to look at it this weekend. If it happens again email me directly and I'll run it on the bench