Rhino385

My air conditioning does not work. I have a 2003 honda civic. The compressor does not turn on when I turn the ac on in the car. I am thinking that it is because the charge is too low and so then the clutch is not engageing, but I am not sure. In my old escort I used to have to jump start the compressor each year before I could then recharge the ac and then it worked until the charge ran out. Can you do the same thing to my civic. Can I jump start it by connecting it to the battery or is it something else probably?

RollTide

You should be able to connect a can of refrigerant and start charging to satisfy the low pressure switch and then it should come on, that is if low pressure is the problem.

MarkM01

You can remove the relay, and by pass it with a jumper wire. But I'm not sure what that would accomplish.

Sounds like refrigerant needs to be checked.

Rhino385

I removed the relay and bypassed it, and it actually accomplished something, but didn't fix the problem. when bypassing it the compressor kicked on which was a positive thing, because that eliminates the compressor as being the issue. I kept the bypass on and started filling it with refrigerant, but even after that, the compressor wouldn't kick on. I might not have filled it enough, but I am not sure.

MarkM01

You need gauges to fill refrigerant. Are you just guessing at how much to ad?

CCUE

i got the similar problom with my 03 civic

my fan and compressor are not working when i turn on A/C button.
and i tested it by jumping the power. it started working very well.
from now on, i could tell my compressor and fun is good.

i have been to a mechanic, he said there is no signal sending to compressor and fans
and he dont know what is the problem,

Rhino385

I appreciate all the suggestions so far, but i am still encountering some problems.
The things that I have done so far have been:
1- Bypass the compressor relay so that it turns on (didn't fix the ac problem)
2 - Purge my ac and vacuum the ac system so that it would be free of everything when I recharged it.
3- started to recharge
4- discovered that it would only draw in 134a refrigerant when compressor/ac fan kicked on.
5- bypassed the compressor/ac fan so it was constantly on which allowed for all the refrigerant to be taken in, but as soon as I took bypasses off and put relays back on neither the compressor worked or was there any cold air coming through my vents anymore.

Could this mean that I have a bad temperature gauge or thermometer? Or could this mean that my compressor is shot?

heli_ebook

REPLACE RELAYS, contacts are pitted. But first CHECK...

If you know how to "rebuild" a relay, crack them both open on a highly lit
workbench and see if contact pads are pitted from arcing electricity. If so,
run an eraser or (better yet, 400 grit sandpaper) and refurb the
surfaces. Then dab with dielectric grease.

Next: The coil itself. Is it functioning? Use an ohmmeter across the coil to read ~.1 ohm and make sure it is not OPEN like the contacts above. But the best way is to hit the coil with 12 volts and watch the action of the contact fingers. Do they snap closed? YES: then you've got a dirty contact there, sandpaper to shiny. NO: Bad coil, not repairable, replace entire piece.

In all honesty, I just went thru this today with mine and ALL the a/c stuff fired on, so it's the relays in your case. 1990 LX, mine are truly shot for sure!

Rhino385

Thanks a lot! I will try that!

biggs88

I had a similar problem a while back I think I got ripped of by replacing my AC but you live and learn smh