I have a 97 d16y8 and whenever I turn on the AC I hear a clicking sound on the lower left (driver) side of the engine bay and the engine loses A LOT of what little Power it has? please help?

 

sounds normal to me.

 

the sound is the a/c compressor clutch. you lose power because power is needed to drive the compressor. the sound and loss of power is normal.

 

But the clicking sound is not normal nor is the amount of power loss i would understand a little difference not the car stright up falling on it face to the point to i have to hit it on and off just to get the car going. my frineds 95 4 door does not click when the AC is on so it is not normal.

 

Sounds like your a/c compressor clutch could be locking up when it is trying to engage.

You probably need a new compressor or rebuild the compressor you have.

 

so you are saying that the compressor is clicking repeatedly and not just once when you turn on the a/c... is that correct? open the hood and visually inspect the compressor to see that it is spinning when the a/c is turned on and that the belt is moving at similar speeds as the other belts. is the a/c cold when it is turned on? how is the condition of the car? has it been maintained regularly? the car could "fall flat on its face" if the engine has low compression and can not deal with the additional load of the compressor. you could also have a bad compressor like another member said and perhaps the compressor is clogged with contaminants which would cause a larger load than normal. lots of things to look at.

 

I'll take a good look at it today... but yeah the air is cool and yes it clicks non-stop

 

Just had same problem a/c was still blowing cold, but made clicking noise. It was low on freon, charged it and that cleared it right up.

 

sorry I'm new to my Civic what do I need to use to charge it?

 

oh, you are in san gabriel. go to SRS automotive, ask for James. Tell him augustin sent you. 2627 rosemead blvd, s.elmote