Ketchupmaker

Hello. First-time poster here...

I got a honda accord '01... A/C has been blowing warm/hot air... not sure why. Opened hood... what I'm guessing is the compressor (not very car-savvy...) seemed to be running ok with engine on...

Used DIY A/C recharge kit with built-in gauge and tubing... gauge read low-to-no pressure with car on and off. Used kit as instructed with engine running, fan on full, and A/C set to coldest... brought low pressure side pressure up into desired gauge range... during the filling process, the gauge needle consistently went up in increments... at some point, the compressor appeared to be cycling on and off, with the lower low-pressure reading occurring when the compressor was cycling on...

A/C now runs the same or warmer ... I don't think it's overcharged... even if it is, this can not be the reason for why it was blowing warm in the first place before DIY-recharging. Also, using the de-fog function causes little gray foam to blow from the windshield defrost area vents and that the car will alternately hum/stop humming a little extra if attempting to de-fog with the car on and in park. Haven't noted the alternating if trying to de-fog while driving because I havent tried... Im thinking this is not a freon-leak. I think I have enough freon... my understanding is that freon leaks are 80-90% of the reason for warm air blowing. Took car to mechanic who noted no problem with the compressor and related that if anything the A/C may be overcharged, which even if true, would not be the reason for why the car blew warm air to begin with...

tim73

You need a set of gauges to read actual pressures. To see what's going on. Sounds like a bad leak if you ask me. Ac systems don't just get magically overcharged.

doctorbee

Clamp the heater hose going from the engine to the inside if the car.it should feel hot when your car is warmed up. This makes sure your freshly cooled air is not being warmed up again by the heater

Ketchupmaker

Hello. I have been away for awhile... sorry about not having the pressure numbers for you all. When I brought it to a mechanic, he stated that the low side pressure was higher than normal and the high side pressure was higher than its normal also... this makes me think a significant leak is less likely, correct?

I'm not sure about clamping a heater hose... again, I'm not exactly a car guy... me clamping the heater hose sounds like a bad idea. If that did work, however, would it suggest that what I am really treating is an overheating engine? Could this be a mechanism by which a clogged/unreplaced EGR valve could cause a car's A/C to malfunction? I do get the EGR valve code... I am noticing that as the car's temperature gauge starts off at "C" the a/c blows out at least slightly cool air (if not just neutral), but as I am driving for a little while and the gauge moves about 1/2-way between "C" and "H" the a/c is definitely blowing warm/very warm air...

Is there any info out there about particular parts on these hondas going bad after a some years specifically related to the a/c, like the expansion valve, the compressor, some kind of relay, and so on...?

I wouldn't mind paying for this repair. I just don't want to get caught in a loop of mechanics telling me its one thing after another, and by the time I'm done, I've spent over $1000. If they could guarantee me that the entire a/c apparatus would be fixed/replaced, I would be ok with spending some money on this... I'd rather not though, of course...

Thanks again for the help.

tim73

I assume both of your fans are working when the compressor is working? Your expansion valve might be stuck closed. Which means it will need to be replaced. The part itself is only about $25, but replaceing it is a little difficult. YOu have to remove the evaporator(Which is located in the dash). I know on my car you can remove it without removing the whole dash. But yours might not be that way. Plus you will have to buy a AC dryer, again only about $25. You will have to have your refrigerant evacuated, then upon repairs, vacuumed down and upon finding no leaks, re-added.

mister_two

I recently fixed a no A/C problem in my 00 Accord. In my case, it was the condenser fan motor was shorted and it kept blowing out fuse 58, 20A, the condenser fan circuit. This circuit also happen to control the A/C compressor so when the fuse blew it took out the compressor also. Replaced the condenser fan motor and it's ice cold now. Actually, while waiting for the new motor to arrive I had disconnected the condender fan and the A/C worked quite fine with one fan.

Asterysk

I had a problem with the AC in my 2001 accord recently. Not sure if it's related. I found that there was for some reason some corrosion on the electronics behind the climate control panel. Not sure if it's the same issue, hope this might help you.

http://www.reddit.com/r/Cartalk/comm...ac_compressor/

361 accord

borrow a manifold gauge set from autozone, its a 120 deposit you get it back
watch this stuff and hella learn http://scottykilmer.homestead.com/AC-Repair-Videos.html




also check the valve on ther heater hose that heads into the firewall, under the air intake
, the little arm on it should be pulled back towards the back of the car at about a 45* angle

lemme know what you find out and i'll help with what i can but an ac job on this car is not too hard or expensive

kidcool1977

Auto-zone near will not rent them to customers because of EPA regulations,(at least in area) just go to harbor freight and buy it for 45 dollars plus tax.

I'm not a big fan on scotty kilmers videos they are too rushed.

My recommendations got to ericthecarguy.com, He recently did an ac repair video with thorough explanation.

361 accord

HAAAAAAAAYYYY i have an automatic climate control unit for sale, its from a 2000 though, but i also have the radio panel to make it work

check that heater valve first because my accord blows cold air in under 7 second of starting the engine

Ketchupmaker

Whats up everybody. The first thing I tried was the recommendation by Asterysk... it seems the easiest... except I didn't get very far. I read the reddit post that was referenced. I was easily able to pull the dial off of the right-side control. I felt that I couldn't get the climate-control portion of the dash panel off without using any force, so I figure I'd check here first. After pulling off that dial, am I just supposed to pry out this center climate-control panel/cover? I get that once that part is off, I need to unscrew some screws, but I don't want to pry this thing off and damage it. This seems like the easiest potential fix to attempt first, so I'm gonna sit at this one until I do it. I didn't see anything in the owner's manual about prying the cover off...

361 accord

umm, watch this video, it will show you how to take off that center thing

Asterysk

Hope this helps:
1. Use flathead screwdriver to pry off dashboard clock / emergency flasher button. Works to stick it on the bottom crack of the clock to pop it off.
2. Disconnect 2 plugs
3. Phillips screwdriver to unscrew 1 screw behind clock, 2 screws on bottom of instrument panel (The BIG HUGE Black plastic that surrounds the vents, radio, AND AC panel. I'm not talking about the AC panel just yet.
4. Then take off the whole black panel. The radio should stay put, but the AC panel and the two AC vents to the left and right of where clock was will come off with the larger black panel. There are these clips behind this black panel making it hard to remove from dash but after you do it once or twice it becomes easier.
5. NOW, you can access the screws behind AC panel that connect it to dash panel, I think you'll be able to figure it out from there, with the previous posts.

NOTE: Update on previous post: After taking off this panel and scraping off the corrosion / gunk on the connector posts, AC worked better for a *little while*. Then stopped. Decided to take it to Honda dealership to diagnose. $150. They refilled AC then thought it was fixed. Worked, then stopped. Took it back next day. Reran diagnosis, free this time, root cause WAS AC panel. Honda dealer wanted ~$450 to fix. I bought an identical salvage replacement radio from this store called "A-ABCO" (In Minnesota) and ended up replacing entire part on my own for $80.

AC works very well since my earlier post.

Also, note: This will only apply if your AC panel lights don't even turn on at all. If they *do* turn on (the green and amber LEDs) this indicates the AC panel works fine, and there is most likely some other problem with AC.

Ketchupmaker

Hello all.

Asterysk, I am just now seeing your follow-up post. Since I last checked in, I did manage to get the front panel off, and I was able to find some corrosion on the PCB, which I removed. This didn't seem to do much in regards to my issue, but I believe it is because you are correct and my panel lights are fine. My guess is the A/C panel is fine.

Im leaning towards the suggestion by 361 accord: "check the valve on ther heater hose that heads into the firewall, under the air intake, the little arm on it should be pulled back towards the back of the car at about a 45* angle"

Anyone happen to have a picture of this? I didn't really see any little arm on a hose... I'm going to see if I can take a picture of the front with the hood up, if not.

So far, I am thinking PROBABLY not an issue with a leak and LIKELY not an issue with the climate control. If the a/c air consistently warms up as the temperature gauge moves to the mid-range, does this strongly implicate a compressor OR condenser fan/relay problem? Again, I believe the compressor is appropriately engaging, so I am thinking probably not the compressor...

So the question now is how can I identify the heater hose and its valve. I've already looked online for images...

tim73

Find the firewall. There will be two @3/4" hoses coming from the engine going through the firewall. One of those hoses will have a valve in it. Make sure it's closed. Get a thermo gun if you cant reach it. Shoot both sides, one should be hotter than the other(the inlet and outlet side of the valve)

Ketchupmaker

Tim73, I believe you were on to something. Finally got around to messing with this. It appears that the heater valve on the heater hose was not opening/closing. It turns out the heater cable to the heater valve was not functioning. It remains unclear why: the cable itself, the cable's motor, and/or the ?electric board(s) that govern the motor. I wonder if there is a way to figure this out, or at least get a cost estimate on the most it would cost to diagnose and fix it... For now, cable ties can be used to tie the heater valve into open/closed positions for hot or cold air. Not much in-between however...