Need help from AC experts.

I have a 96 civic lx.

First the AC condenser fan never comes on.

When car is on in idle, I can hear the AC compressors clutch switching on and it will run for about 10 secs and then shut off. It repeats this sequence over and over sporadically.

The Low pressure valve connection to the compressor had some greenish fluid inside of it bubbling out when I took off the blue cap. I wiped that clean and I haven't seen any green fluid since.

When the car is in idle, the AC is warm.

When I drive it even at just 20mph, the ac is ice cold.

This leads me to believe that there is enough r134a in it.

Any ideas of what the problem can be other than the compressor fan not coming on? Could low r134a cause the fan not to come on?


Last thing.. if I need to check the ac condenser fan, how do I do this safely because I noticed that the high and low pressure compressor hoses would need to be removed for that job and I don't want to have that **** blow up in my face. Thanks and sorry for being

 

You can pull the fan out without removing the A/C lines, you'll just need to maneuver them a bit.

I believe the wires on the condenser fan are BLUE (POS) and BLACK (GND). Simply ground the black end, and apply battery power to the blue end and the fan should work.

Check the condenser fan fuse, see if its blown, and also check the condenser relay as well.

If you have a voltmeter, unplug the condenser fan, turn the car on, cycle the A/C, and check for 12V at the blue wire, if there is power there, your fan is bad, or you have a bad ground. Now would be the time to pull it out and test it.

 

2 days ago I just replaced my girlfriend's condensor fan on her Accord. It wasn't spinning at all. I tested the fan by pulling it out and hooking it up to my civic (same plug and everything) and the fan still didn't work. Got one from a local salvage yard and BAM, everything good as new and AC blows cold at idle.

When ever there is no cold air while not moving the car, and then there is nice cold air when moving, the condenser fan is usually bad (or the relay)

I also had the SAME problem on my civic. I had to replace my condensor fan a few years back on my civic. The fan spun SO slow that you could litterally follow a fan blade with your eyes. That's how I knew what my girlfriend's accord ac problem was.

One reason the AC compressor turns on then cuts off quickly is because too much heat/pressure builds up in the condensor, and the compressor cuts itself off to prevent the whole AC system from exploding.

Here's a quick test to see if the condensor is not being cooled enough. Get a garden hose and spray the condensor with water without stopping for about 30 seconds to a minute. After that, run to the car and see if the AC is blowing any cold air.


Ohh and one more thing. I didn't have to remove any lines at all from either my civic or accord. You will be removing the fan with the shroud. The civic fan shroud I believe had 4 bolts whereas the accord only had 3. Took me 2 minutes to install the new condensor fan on my girlfriend's accord. LITTERALY


Modified by sageuvagony at 5:02 PM 8/6/2008

 

Taking the fan casing out to check the motor will be a bit of a bitch since you can't get the A/C lines out of the way, recently had to swap out a busted motor in mine. But it can be done. Good luck.

 

1.it is possible that the system is low. that green fliud is florescent (i think thats how you spell it) dye do help aid in finding a leak, it'll glow neon if you put a blacklight to it. the dye is put in with the refridgerant when the system is charged, and through low side too.
2. the condensor is used to cool down turn the really hot high pressure gas refridgerant and turn it into a liquid refridgerant. without that condenser fan running your high side pressures are spiking and the ecu sences that (high side pressure switch) and turns the compressor off. thats why while your driving 20mph or whatever you said your a/c blows cold. there is airflow over the condensor to cool the refridgerant, but at idle there is no air flow and nothing to cool the refridgerant.

i'd mess with your condensor fan before doing anything with the refridgerant. check for power and ground at the fan motor connector like slowcivic said. if you dont have a DVOM go to sears and by a $15 dollar test light. an awesome electrial diagnosis tool (just dont use it on direct ecu circuits, low impedance bad) if ya hook the test light to ground and probe your power wire it'll light up if ya gots power and wont if ya dont. then hook the probe to power and probe the ground, light up if ya got power and not if ya dont. that'll tell ya if the fan motor is faulty or not. you can work ur way up the wire diagram and check for power at various points if need be.

 

the reason the compressor is switching off is more than likely due to the seriously high pressure that is occurring due to the condensor fan not working. You fix the fan and you'll probably fix all your problems.... You keep trying to run the AC like this and you'll be replacing more than a fan.

 

oh and if you do have to swap the fan motor you can just tweak the lines backwards (toward the exhaust manifold) until you have enough clearance. nothing is going to blow up in your face and this is an approved meathod. just make sure to tweak em back and screw the bracket back in to the shroud.

 

Here's number 2....