THALADOR

First off thanks for looking!

My girlfriend owns a 2002 Civic LX. Recently the A/C has been blowing outside temperature air even when switched on.

The compressor seems to be OK as it switches on whenever the A/C is activated.

The original charge also seems to still be fine, because it DOES blow cold air even on hot on days when it feels like it..... happening as recently as two days before this post.

Recently however, the car has been blowing warm air more frequently.

I havent been able to inspect her car personally (she lives 4 hours away), but have been trying to source the problem on the forum.

I noticed there have been posts on faulty relays and power transistors, but i am unsure if it would apply to this issue.

Any thoughts? Thanks again for your time!

waaBAAH

if the compressor turns on... you can rule out all the wiring issues. high/ low switches, control panel, relays and such. thats "if" the compressor turns on all the time.

you state original charge.. and her car is a 2002. vehicles all leak a little bit of freon due to rubber hoses. this little bit is roughly around .1 oz a year. this same car takes 1.2 lbs to be completly charged. 7 years is roughly 3/4 of a pound if the above is true. so it would be safe to assume your cars charge is 1/2 of what it used to be.

i would really start at charging the system..hard for you to do 4 hours away...but when you charge the system you would have high and low side pressure that could help diag your problem so much more.

as to why it sometimes works and sometimes doesnt....unsure

satterfi

My wife's '03 seems to turn off the AC when accelerating hard. I don't know if that's normal but maybe your problem is related.

waaBAAH

WOT (wide open throttle) might turn off the a/c due to an overide of the sytem so you can get just that..maximum power at WOT

GriFFIthS

Mine did the exact same thing as your describing right now.
I had my system recharged, Problem fixed.

theineffable

hmmm...does anyone remember how long it took for their a/c to blow cold when the car was new? i noticed mine takes a few minutes before it gets cold...

on the other hand, my 02 protege5 blows cold air pretty much right away...

Curiouz_G

ive had mine since new and its the same amount of time.

THALADOR

Discovered the problem was that the compressor was probably just dying because it would stop turning on, so it couldn't handle the warmer Florida heat. Got that replaced along with the drier and it works like a charm.

Ill keep you guys posted if it acts up again! Thanks so much for your input though!

voidifopen

Hello,

I have a 2001 Civic Ex and this (well before you told us the solution) same problem. I figured my a/c system needed a recharge. So I bought an a/c recharge kit and checked the low pressure and it was right on 40 psi, well within the correct level (25-45 psi). I found this blog and notice your description of the problem was the same as mine, working intermittently but working fine when it did. I found the compressor on line for under $100 buck's and a drier for $21 (not to bad if I can change it myself...IF...) but I am curious why you needed the dryer as well. Did one failing cause the other to go as well? Also how much you (your girlfriend) spent on the bill to fix your problem?

Thanks

kawynn32

guys the clutch fan just went out in my a/c in my 01 civic. I live in san antonio and as you know its been hot as heck down here. Im am going to school here in sa and a local shop quoted me $1000. Does that price sound right?

redb16coupe

mine was doing the same thing, added some freon as i was low. working great now..

MaestroM

I have an 03 and my A/C has been cycling on and off about every 15-20 minutes. I just had the system recharged with r134a and it was down about 4oz. Didn't help at all. Any thoughts?

Splatch

I love these forums, over the years I have saved a lot of money and had a decent time working on my (now 10 year old) Honda..

SO HERE IS THE ANSWER TO THIS QUESTION FOR AT LEAST 80% of Honda Accord owners with this problem!:


Honda Accord intermittent AC air conditioner clutch stator; sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't. Very annoying problem! I took it to one guy, he wanted to recharge my AC. OK, try that. ($100 please)
No help.. Take it back, he recharges it again, ($xxx dollars please) to see if there is a leak. Still AC works only sometimes, mostly in the winter...

I'm sure this is a common problem for 7th generation Honda Accord 2003, 2004, etc.

Here is a link to the part, it's $7.
http://www.partsgeek.com/catalog/200...rol_relay.html


Good luck finding this part at an auto parts store, so go to the dealer yourself to get it, or better yet, order from above online. My mechanic said the dealer did not want to deliver the part, since it's so cheap.. so he had to send a runner to get it.

I could have easily replaced this part myself, so I wish I had read this thread before I spent $100 at my mechanic today to diagnose and replace it for me. I thought my compressor clutch was dead, since it was working in cool weather, and would fail in warm weather.. I lived with this problem for 2 years hoping it would just die because in the winter when I was showing it to my first mechanic, it worked fine. (AHHHHHHH!)

but second mech traced it with a trouble light just by seeing the voltage to the stator was not making it past the relay. Simple.

These cars all have the same problems; look up your problem online and fix it yourself!

Sorry,
above post link doesn't work; but if you giveit in your model/year/make it will work.

I have seen a post that has a diagram, I will try to find it.

This problem is often caused by electrical relay that becomes faulty and only works part-time.

Find the relay under the hood in the fuse box, there are 3 identical relays, you can probably just swap them to identify if this is your problem; 2 for AC and 1 for radiator.

Standard Motor Products A/C Control Relay
Sale Price:
$7.10

Part Number: 17897-07148578
Notes: A/C Compressor Control Relay -- Genuine Intermotor Quality

http://www.driveaccord.net/forums/sh...=1#post2864137

This post has a diagram that points out the location of the relay.