As the topic says. I need help with an a.c problem.

The a.c blows cold air (55') for about an hour or so, than the air turns to around 75 degrees within a few minutes or soo.

The compressor/clutch is on continously, while reading 40-50 psi on the low side of the line.

I've added 134a, and it seems to hold stable at 35psi, but as I increase the rpm, it drops, but doesn't boost on the guage, or cold air for that matter.

It kind of has a mind of it's own. I was told it might be a 'pressure switch'.

Note: I'm NOT reading high, on the low side. Or low on the high side.

Compressor still seems to be fine (with a small leak).

Sorry, soo long, and if I'm not making any since, I'll try to explain it better.

J.T.A.H (Just tired as hell)

 

how small is a small leak??

 

I had a problem that was similar in my 92 lude. The compressor was on all the time but the air would blow cold for a while and then hot completely at random. I didnt have pressure gauges, so im not sure about that. It ended up being the control panel where the buttons and slide pieces are that adjust from hot to cold.
this sounds funny. But I thought it may be a loose connection so I move and tappped the panel a few times and learned that every so often after i tapped or you might say banged it would go from cold to hot or vice versa. I took it out checked the connection and they were fine. I read on another forum that the soldier connections can get very fine cracks in them and cause a temporary loose of voltage. I took it apart and they looked fine under a magnifing glass. My wife who works for a electronics company took it to work anf found several fractures in the soldier joints (under a microscope). She reflowed them and everything has been great ever since. This may not be your problem. But I would check it out. It could save you a lot of time and money if this is the problem. If you do a search on other message boards you'll find other people that had the same problem and were completely baffled.

 

I failed to mention that when I turn the dash panel lever from direct (head), to (head/toe).... I do have to smack the **** out of the dash to get the buttons/system to read correctly.

When the a/c stops blowing cold air. I get a little pissed...Turn the a/c button off.........Smack the dash, and push the button again, It blows cold....Again.

Could you walk me through your fix?

I can take the dash apart almost blind folded....I just need a little insight from there.
__________________________________________________ _______________

I'm almost certain that this has a major fix to my problem. If so, hell yeah!!
Someone should tack this into the faq thread.


If not, I can chalk it up....To my own experience.


Thanks.
-Shadow-

 

What I meen by "small leak" is I only use up 1-8oz can of 134a a summer.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by shadow29485 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> What I meen by "small leak" is I only use up 1-8oz can of 134a a summer. </TD></TR></TABLE>
Thats a very large leak. You should look into that as well.

 

That is exactly what mine was doing. Even the Head to feet to defrost contol. I took the control panel out of the dash and took it apart. When i looked at the joints with the naked eye and with a magnafying glass I couldnt see any fractures in the joints. When my wife looked at them in a microscope, she said that there were about 6 fractures joints if I remember correctly ( there are a lot of joints in the board) but only six were bad. If my wife couldnt had done it, I would have taken it to a guy who does electronc repairs on TVs or stereos and ask him what he would charge to look at the board and reflow the joints. From your description on banging on the dash and all I am almost completely sure that is your problem. I considered getting a used one from the salvage yard but with my luck it would have been that way to. Plus its not the funnest thing to get out. Its not that its hard its just time consuming getting the board out. Let me know if you have any more questions.

 

Thanks man.

But that sounds a little odd. Microscopicly? I've been into electronics for a good while.

I'm not a pro at curcuitry but, A loose fitting or wire I could see possably being a culprit, but once a joint or terminal is soldered, you should still get a secure connection, or a hot electronic feed to it's source.

The solder basically holds the wire joint in place. As far as conductivity, it does serve a purpose, but it'a mainly to join the wire to it's terminal, and to become one complete bond.

If the joint was loose, I could see it......but microscopicly?

Taking the connection/joints apart, may have reset a path in the ecu somehow....idk

 

I even said it sounded funny in my first post, My wife says it has a frcture trough the joint and causes it to loose voltage. My air would be cold and I would bang on my dash and it would get hot and vice vesrsa. My air would go through the window vent feeet and dash vents simultaniously and I could bang the dash and it would start working properly. The longer it went on the harder it was for me to get it to work until it got to the point where I couldnt stand it anymore. She has work at a global electronics company that makes precision boards for robitics and has had there equipment on the space shuttle, Catapillar mercedes and so many places I cant name them all. She is a certified soldier specailist and a certified board inspector. If you go to another Prelude or honda forum and do a search you will find that others had the same problem. Also do a search for fractured soldier joints on google&gt; I havent done the goole thing but I feel certain it will come up.

 

http://www.preludepower.com/fo...ioner

 

This is tthe thread to read and follow the links also.http://www.preludeonline.com/f61/c-woes-159001/

 

Thanks for the link ML, It makes a little more since now.

You would think, that if this is a major problem with the 4th gens. that ht would have a tack on it?

Not sure though....maybe it's like a 3 out of 10 scenario.

Thanks again man,
-Shadow-

 

"Thats a very large leak. You should look into that as well".
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If $6.00 for an 8oz can of freon gets me through a whole summer at around 105'-F, I consider it to be a "small leak".

Now if that same 8-oz. can would get me through only 2-weeks to a month, that's a big leak to me.

 

does the green light in the AC botton go out occasionally? Typically when the air is hotter?

Watch that AC green lighton your climate control. It could be the contacts in the switch itself. they are very prone to failure. If the light periodically doesn't come on when you push the botton, its the botton itself.

 

I would probably check out mattsnooz ideea first because it is a easier fix. And less expensive. If thats not it it could be the joints. Of course Ive been wrong before.

 

Matt,

The ac light stays on the whole time. Also, when the car is at idle, or just in the p. lot running with the ac on wide open, it blows around 70' unless I'm driving.

 

Mine stayed on the whole time. If you take the time to repair it let me know how it came out. I dont know if I mentioned this but the longer I left it unfixed the more difficult it was to get it to work at all.

 

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread/2315699 This is a link with pics of the board and whAt needs to be repaired. Accordding to them, it doesnt matter if the light is on or not.