mao211

i have a 96 civic that i have replaced the ac compressor, condenser drier and flushed out all the lines. I have evacuated the system for an hour or so and help a neg pressure over night. my issue is when i began to re charge the ac. these are the steps and the results that have taken place.
slowly opened low side with car running ac on max
the can slowly discharged to about 40% and the clutch never engaged.
i jumped the clutch and it was so hard it almost stalled the motor.
i was able to empty one can this way and the high side read almost 350 and the low side was at 50 or so... i took off the jumper and plug it back in to harness s and it still would not engage on its own. at this point something was not right so i turned off the car and drained the Freon and proceeded to evacuate the system again and restart the process. same results.
i than took off all the lines from the fire wall and blow out the expansion valve until it was clear. i did each component this way to ensure there was no blockage. i checked all the fuses, made sure everything is intact and still have no progress. this is not my first time doing an r/r on a civic but this is the first time i am having issues with the final step of charging the system. i dont know what to look into to fix. please help.

Former User

Did you pull a deep vacuum? Mention the gauge reading.

mao211

yes deep vac and the gauge read 350-375 high and 35-40 low

Former User

What reading was on the vacuum gauge when the "deep" vacuum on the system was pulled? How did this reading change when left overnight?

mao211

-30

mao211

it held all night at -30 for 8 hrs

Former User

Why did you replace all of the A/C parts?

kixome

If clutch was hard enough to almost stall the motor then i believe the obvious thing would be to at least try another compressor. Sounds like a clutch or compressor problem.

Did you check to see if you had voltage at the main compressor positive wire? If not it may be an a/c relay or pressure switch/relay if you have enough pressure.

kixome

Also make sure your belt isn't too tight just in case.

mao211

for some reason i had to compressors blow up so this time i replaced all components. i first replaced the first ac comp 8 months ago than 4 months that one blew than about 5 months this one blew so now i am on my third ac unit... all others i had no issues charging it and blew lines out than also added oil hooked up deep vac and charged system ran fine but the ac comp are blowing.

mao211

would a new unit be bad out of the box? i did check the volts and it was working, i checked the relay and its working too... belts are good i dbl checked that as well bout and 3/4' play

Former User

Have you replaced all refrigerant lines, the condenser, the evaporator, the receiver/dryer, and the pressure switch? If there's a component you have not replaced, it's a prime suspect.

mao211

i did not replace the lines but flushed them and ran compressed air through it. the only things left to replace is the expansion valve, and the hi/low switch thats on the drier. what i cant understand is why would all these things be bad now when the the ac did work fine but the ac comp is blowing up, it looks like it was show with a .45
i do have a question the ac comp say to only add half the pag on the "s" side and the rest on low side. in the book it gives a ratio for every component which i did follow. before i added all 5 oz to the comp and never added to the other components. does this part really matter?