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Honda Civic A/C Troubleshooting

13 years ago

Greets, I have a '98 Honda Civic EX that has been working perfectly until recently when the a/c started blowing only hot air. I thought that as old as the car is it just need a refrigerant rechage. I purchased a recharge kit but the kit said the low side guage was 120psi and didn't need to be recharged.

Any ideas what it could be?

Comments (2)

kalining
13 years ago
Did you test anything ? Did you read your recharge kit?
It says to evacuate the original charge and recharge. What
they forgot to tell you is you have to be licenced to evacuate and recover the excisting charge. You have an electrical problem. Your compressor fuse is probably blown.
john_g
13 years ago
Lots of ideas, and proper testing will lead you right to the one that is correct. With a static charge as you described (even if the gage isn't totally accurate) the system should at least be turning on. Automotive AC systems use switches and sensors to measure the systems charge, and as long as it is above a minimum, they will allow the compressor to operate. Typically that will be somewhere close to 30PSI. Since you have well over that, you will need to find out why the fuel injection computer isn't willing to, or is unable to command the system on. The factory scan tool not only allows a tech to see in serial data if the system is requested on, that is all of the pressure switches, and sensors involved in allowing the AC system to run are sending the correct information. A tech can also see if the compressor clutch has been commanded on or not. It's not uncommon to find the compressor pulley bearing has failed and the heat from that has damaged the clutch magnet. If this is found to be the case, replace the compressor with the clutch because the compressor itself may have sustained damage, which won't be readily apparent until after ten to twenty hours of system operation.
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