ok so the story is... the ac doesnt work in the 4 door EF


When you put 12 volts straight to the compressor it engages and spins...it seems like the problem is that the switch on the dash isnt telling the compressor to engage....the good ole' blue ac light doesnt come on when you press the switch..BUT there is a 12 volt source at the back of the switch.. so i know the switch is getting power ( also know that because the car idles up when you cut the switch on).. now i would say it could be a bad switch but it that were the case it would seem like the car wouldnt idle up when you pressed the ac switch...but it does.. so


my question is...does anyone know if there are separate sections of the switch that could perhaps fail independently...OR would perhaps a faulty pressure switch cause the in car switch to act funny

the perplexing thing is that the blue light in all my other civics would always come on regardless of whether or not there was ANY ac components left in the car... this car has them all.... but no blue light...


im sort of lost here guys... hope someone can shed some light


CLIFFNOTES:

AC no worky: Compressor wont switch on
compressor good
freon in car
wiring seems to be good
no blue light on AC switch when engaged


its hot here guys.. i needs me some AC

100 degrees today.....

 

you say the switch is getting power but its not working, it sounds like it must be a bad switch then.

 

well the switch IS working..... its activating the idle up feature... but the blue light on it isnt coming on... thats why i asked if it was possible for the switch to still function for one of its functions but not all

 

there is a tiny bulb inside of the switch, maybe it burned out.

 

that could be the case...i suppose ill throw a relay on it and a new pressure sensor


if the switch is functioning in one way its gotta be functioning in all

 

Thats strange that your switch is causing the car to idle up but the compressor is not coming on. If you do not have the civic shop manual i suggest downloading it and looking at Chapter 15.

It has all the electrical connections along with the hard line connections(which aren't your problem if its holding freon). I'd go thru each connection plug and make sure they are all tight and wires still connected properly.

It definately helped me because along with a few bad hard lines i had some electrical problems as well, only when i hit the switch nothing happened because the pressure switch wasn't letting the compressor come on due to low freon.

Link to Service Manual -->http://www.hondahookup.com/manuals/?file=Civic88-90.zip


good luck. just got my AC properly running today

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by carnz98gsr &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
It definately helped me because along with a few bad hard lines i had some electrical problems as well, only when i hit the switch nothing happened because the pressure switch wasn't letting the compressor come on due to low freon.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Is this true?

When I hit my ac button the idle doesn't change or anything. But when I connect power directly to the compressor it engages. I haven't checked to see if the system has freon or anything yet.

Both of my relays that are behind the passenger side headlight were disconnected. I reconnected them and I still got no power to the compressor. When I unplugged the relays they are full of this caramel looking goo and were hella dirty. This normal?

Anyway, fixing my ac is my next project!

 

I agree, check all the circuits in the AC system by the book and if there's no open/shorts then the pressure switch is bad or not enough freon. A voltmeter and a honda manual goes a long way!

 

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

Is this true?

</TD></TR></TABLE>

Of course it's true - 99.99999999% of ac systems out there that fail do so because there is a system leak and too much freon exited the system. When this happens, there is a pressure switch that protects the compressor from cycling on and off with no freon which can cause much damage.

The goo inside your relays is probably dielectric grease, which is normal.

To the OP, are you *sure* you have freon?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Jonathan_ED3 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Of course it's true - 99.99999999% of ac systems out there that fail do so because there is a system leak and too much freon exited the system. When this happens, there is a pressure switch that protects the compressor from cycling on and off with no freon which can cause much damage.

The goo inside your relays is probably dielectric grease, which is normal.

To the OP, are you *sure* you have freon? </TD></TR></TABLE>

Thanks for the info Jonathan. Much appreciated

 

JesseCRX, did you figure anything out?

Do you have a set of manifold gauges to check your pressure in the system?

Do you have a Sanden or Matsushita compressor?

 

yeah. like mentioned above, the pressure switch is a thing to protect the compressor.

if you haven't yet, i strongly suggest downloading the service manual I linked you.

it has flow charts and all the wiring diagrams, just go thru the flow charts step by step and you will fix your problem.

 

Jonathan, it's on my "to do" list.

Right now I got so much stuff to do it's crazy. So far I am installing -

SS Brake Lines
New Pads/Rotors
New Calipers
New Distributor
HR Race Springs/Tokico Whites
ST Rear Sway Bar
DC Sports Exhaust
New Cat Converter
New Rear Window Seals
Replace Broken Wheel Stud
New LCA's
Front and Rear Camber Kits

The last thing to do is the AC...but while I am busy doing all this other stuff I can trouble shoot it in between all these other installs.

I'll post pics when I am done. It's gonna be a great daily with style to boot