I've had my 92'civic hatch for about 8 months down here in humidity capital USA (s. florida) and the a/c has never worked...I recently put in an Integra LS motor and I got a new compressor for the a/c b/c the old one was bad...Turns out that the one i baught was bad too...(it just spit all the freon out)...so i had to buy another 92/93' compressor (r-12). I also chaged the o-rings so that the r-134 freon wouldnt leak. So I did that and everything is on my car now. The problem is that I filled up the a/c system with 2 bottles of r-134 (which usually is the amount that would make the a/c blow cold with no problem), but all thats happening is the compressor is turning on for about 2 seconds and then turning off for about 10 seconds, then on and off...and repeating. I know that the compressor does this if their is too much or too little freon in the system so i let some freon out and it is still doing this...then i put some more in and its still doing this...Basically its getting really expensive buying freon all the time and it isnt fixing the problem. Is their any other part of the a/c that would cause the compressor to cycle on and off...? (keep in mind i'm using an r-12 compressor with r-134 freon)...any ideas would really help.

 

if you are going to run r-12 you need r-12 freon
or get an r-134 compressor

 

to put an r 134 compressor in my car i would need to change out all the lines all the way back to the firewall with 94/95 civic lines...I know people who have used the r-12 compressor with r-134 freon...they just drain out the old freon...and put the adapter kit so that the r-134 can be added into the system....

 

the retrofit from napa or whatever doesnt work lol big waste of money.....just find a shop that works on r-12 systems (theres only 1 here in tuscaloosa, and its like 100 to recharge)

 

so your saying r 134 wont work in a r12 compressor? (bugzpimpin) Ive got new o- rings in mine (93 dx) and R134 and it blows damn cold , and its a r12 comp.

 

You don't need to change the compressor to run a different refrigerant, there is no difference between the compressors. All you need is retrofit high and low pressure charge fittings.

You need to figure out where your problem is. Possibly the relay for the compressor clutch is bad.

Did you buy the compressor from autozone? If you did it wouldn't suprise me if the compressor was bad.

 

no...i bought the compressor off of a friend...i know that the compressor has to be good b/c the original compressor (b4 i did the engine swap), was also cycling on and off...I thought that it was bad...but i guess not. I guess I'll check that relay...Is their anyway that it could be the condensor? b4 i baught the car it had a front hit and the radiator was bad, so i'm thinking the condensor might be bad too...It was a really minor front hit...nothing even needed to be changed...it just looks like the radiator support got bent a little...still has the same fenders and bumper on the car.

 

oh...and one more thing...where is the relay for the a/c compressor clutch...and i only put freon in one of the lines...its the line neaerer to the engine...(i believe its the high pressure, but i'm guessing)...do you have to fill it through the other one too?...b/c i've never heard of that...i dont even know what the other line is for.

 

no, you put a/c in the one nearest to the engine which is low pressure. You leave the high pressure alone unless you like exploding cans of freon in your hand. Upwards of 200psi won't be pretty.

Why exactly doesn't the retrofit kit work? Admittadly it might not be great for the compressor to change oils, might lessen the life of it, but I've never heard of it flat out not working. Sounds like user error to me.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by sockvtec &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">the retrofit from napa or whatever doesnt work lol big waste of money.....just find a shop that works on r-12 systems (theres only 1 here in tuscaloosa, and its like 100 to recharge)</TD></TR></TABLE>


You are a ******* moron. Explain to me how a retrofit which is on tens of thousands of vehicles in the united states does not work?

Changing the oil in the compressor causes no harm at all. The different oils are only present because of the different refrigerants and the way that synthetic and mineral oil react to them.

You are no longer aloud to talk about a/c, you know absolutely nothing about it.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JDM-97CX &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Changing the oil in the compressor causes no harm at all. The different oils are only present because of the different refrigerants and the way that synthetic and mineral oil react to them.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

No doubt you're a A/C expert and all, however I question your ability to comprehend someone's statement. Different oils when mixed causes a lot of harm and the NAPA way to convert to R134 doesn't really account for removing ALL of the R12, thus a good chance for pre-mature compressor failure.

 

could be your expansion valve

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by shyboi4u &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">could be your expansion valve</TD></TR></TABLE>

I am not an expert, so how could it be this valve? I always thought that too high pressure was a sign of bad expansion valve, but he says he's able to throw in 2 bottles of freon using a retrofit kit which has a crude gauge. If it's the expansion valve shouldn't he be reading too high before he gets all that freon in?

Like I said, not an expert, just curious, knowledgable help would be great.

 

it might or might not be your expansion valve but you could have another restriction in the system causing the presure to increase thus causing the compressor to shut off. when you changed your compressor did you also change your reciver dryer.

 

when i changed the compressor i did not change anything else...this is including the dryer...everything except the compressor is originally from this car. Also...let me just make sure I'm understanding this correctly...if the pressure is too high in the system it would cause the compressor to turn off?...and the expansion valve might have something to do with the pressure being too high? what would u suggest to do to check the expansion valve?

 

In reply to this...I didn't use the gauge to check to see where the pressure was...I just know off hand...from doing this with so many friggin other civics and integras, that they take 2 cans of freon...I know what i have to do now...I've gotta hook the gauge up to the system and check the pressure...Maybe the retrofit kit that i got is a piece of **** and all the freon isn't making it into the system...I got the **** at walmart for 6 bucks...I'll check it out today. Does anyone know what the pressure should be at?

 

I have done many retrofits and have yet to see one fail. I have even seen people add R134a to R12 with success though I would never do that myself. I like to change the dryer when I change the freon but even that is not nessessary. My father likes to rinse out the compressor with laquer thinner but I don't go to that trouble because I haven't found it any better to do so. My car has been running cold for 4 years from simply dumping the old charge, changing dryers, and recharging. I have never had a vehicle take less than 2 3/4 cans of R134a from empty(most take 3) and if your compressor is short cycling from 2 cans, you need to add some more. Lay the can on the exhaust while filling to keep the can pressure up. It may take 15 or 20 minutes or more to get it to top off . R134a is simply not as finicky as R12, but it may cause a little more compressor noise and drag. Mine has a little more vibration than it used to ,but, who cares. It's cold.
Pressure should be around 45 but varies according to outside temperature. Your guage or retrofit kit should have a chart. Also, Freon is freon no matter where you buy it.

 

thanks for the help...I'm going to get the gauge from a friend tonight and hopefully try it out...I was doing it without the gauge b4. Just adding in the freon...Hopefully the freon pressure is low and I just need to add more...If not I'll check the compressor relay and the valve that was talked about earlier...i'll let you guys know how it goes...and by the way...the retrofit kit that i baught didn't include all these things that you guys are talking about...it was just the fitting for the lines that came with it...i baught the freon seperate and I had the line used to add the freon into the system.