profiler

I have a 97 Accord f22 motor with 230k on it. Done a bunch of tuneups but they don't pertain to my a/c issue. Currently my a/c is marginal. It has good pressures, ie: 35 low, 200 high @ idle and 92F ambient. Though the vent air is only 5F lower. The low side hose is not cool, it is warm, and the heater valve is working properly; also the cooling fans are functional. I know after so long the r134a loses some of its cooling capacity though I was not sure how much? Also the do i need to get a humidity level to see if the accumulater is doing its job? On a side note, I did add some r 134a to see if it would get cooler and at ~85F ambient the vent air was 60F though my pressure were 20 psi higher on the low and high, and I did not like the amount that they jumped when @ 1500rpm, way too high...evac'd some and now here I am..

tollboothwilley

I had a local shop (who works on hondas all the time) tell me that the high side is what to pay attention to and that on a day between 90 and 100* you should be around 250-300 PSI. At that level you should be around 45 psi on the low side.

I'm having a similar issue so I'll list some of the things that I'm working with too.

In my thread Justinsbg (Honda tech/forum member) said that the low pressures typically should be between 25-35 psi. I found that when I evac'd freon and my pressure levels dropped that my low side was no longer cool to the touch and the hot side was not very hot to the touch.

1) verify that the AC condenser is not gummed up with anything and that the fins are not bent badly - you can use a hose to flush water back through the front slowly to try and flush anything lodged in there.

2) have you checked the hot water control valve? If it is leaking into the heater core it will reduce the heat transfer away from the air and defeat the AC evaporator purpose. Justinsbg recommended clamping the hose coming out of the valve going into the heater core and seeing if that lowered the temps at all. Alternatively if you have a laser thermometer that is an easier method. I haven't yet done this one - but it is next on my list.

3) check behind the glove box in the evaporator and ensure that it is not clogged. You will not be able to remove it entirely, but by removing 1 clip and 2 or 3 screws will be able to pull it down and inspect. I found lots of little leaves and some things clogging it. I used a tooth brush and a pair of needle nose pliers to get out everything I could. I used a shop-vac to suck out as much as I could. When I turned the system on the air flowing through help to push out anything else that I wasn't able to get out manually and with the shop vac.