jermo

I have a 2004 Acura TSX and figure I might be plagued with the first year TSX ac issues. I’ve had black death before on an RSX and that was a nightmare to clean and clear up, so I’m trying to get ahead of this issue..


I purchased the car a year ago and always noticed the sound the AC makes but it has always blown cold. It makes somewhat of a clunking, clicking, rattling sound I guess is the way I should describe it. What is super bizarre is the sound goes away when I press the clutch in (I have a 6-speed manual). The car is super quiet when the AC is off…turn the AC on and you get the sound, turn it off or push in the clutch and the car is really quiet. I am super confused…


Should I try and troubleshoot what is going on or just get ahead of the issue and install a new AC compressor? Since I’m super confused about the issue I don’t know where to start. I live in Phoenix and it’s been 110 here I want to nip this in the butt before it takes a ****. Any help or advice would be appreciated! Thanks!

Tyson

i had some ringing noises from the engine, seemed associated with the AC. then my AC stopped and found that it was the clutch that wasnt working. likely my pulley bearing went bad and broke the clutch.

i replaced just the clutch (and pulley). was a lot cheaper that way.

so... if theres a clutch or pulley issue, you dont have to replace the whole compressor. however, i HIGHLY recommend expecting to take the compressor out and replace the clutch outside of the car. i wasted a lot of effort trying to do it without removing the compressor, even tho i had to refill the r-134. worked even better after a professional fill, store cans dont work as well.

jermo

The sound is actually not coming from the AC compressor side, it's coming from the tranny side. I noticed if i rev the car over 1k the noise goes away. Also notice if im in neutral and i try and push it into gear slightly, without pushing in the clutch, the noise goes away too...it has to be something in my tranny. I see other forums talking about it being the dual mass flywheel =/

Tyson

i have bearing noise related to the transmission as well. im pretty sure more than one of the dozen of bearings involved in the drive train is in need of replacement after 10+ years... shrug.

im not into dropping the subframe and tearing into the transmission for some bearing noise.

jermo

ha i'm definitely not into that either! my car is 13 years old but only has 75k miles on it...not sure if it is the original clutch but i'll probably just wait til the clutch goes out, replace everything and hope the sound goes away after that =/