I can't find my old post regarding a/c...why the crap doesn't the search work?

anyway...someone suggested going outside at night and see if it ever gets ice cold....

well it doesn't. certainly not during the heat of the day, and only gets semi cold at night. I don't know anyone else with an EG around me so i don't know if the EG's just suck or what. My friends EK gets cold though.

My question is this... Can anything other than lack of freon affect how cold it gets?

I just bought a new compressor, new drier, and some new lines, gaskets and o rings. plus a freon charge (r12). Paid $1K to get all this done...and my a/c isn't even ice cold afterwards. it gets COOL....but I never can get comfortable in the car during the day..even with it on full blast for 20 straight minutes driving on the highway.

Only thing left in the system is the blower and the condensor, right? condensor being the only thing that actually affects the system....can it go bad? visually everything looks great on it.

Should I take it back to the shop and complain, or am I just stuck with a system that sucks from the factory?

 

could be lack of freon, could be a leak, could also be a bad compressor

I'd have it checked out.

 

If it is a lack of freon that means that there is most likely a leak in the system. Are you bringing in fresh air or re-circulating the air. Bringing in fresh won't get as cold.

 

yeah i'm recirculating....bringing in fresh air sucks!

lack of freon....well i only picked the car up 3 days ago..and it's been like this ever since...if there was a leak, wouldn't they have caught it with all the other work?

 

Well I would have thought so but maybe they missed something. I would take it back and have them look at it.

 

There is a lack of freon...late model Civics don't use freon. They use R134 or whatever it's called.

What you want to do is check under the front bumper. The splash guard flap may have scraped on a bump and pushed a hose (or something else, I don't remember exactly) that prevents the AC from getting cold. If that's not it, then ask a mechanic. I don't know enough about AC systems.

 

There are many posible causes that make the A/C never gets cold.
Too much freon, lack of freon, too much oil or lack of oil in the system.
Or you can try to clean the condensor to get more air flow. If you have the A/C gauges availble, hook them up to see the reading from both side: low side should read about 40 psi, high side ~ 275psi and make sure the condensor fan is working.

 

if the readings are far off of this, what would that tell me?

 

Isn't freon illigeal in some areas? Cause of pollution? Thought I heard that somewhere.

 

yes alot of places

 

where in the world is R12 actually ILLEGAL?

 

That there is a leak somewhere. It sounds like you have a leak in your system. Where did you buy your compressor? new or used? usually when the compressors are bad or they dont pump the freon they make a funny squeaky noise or they dont spin.
oh, 2 more things, did it ever get cold right after you got it installed? Take it back and have it checked out , you did pay 1k for it!

 

okay..this is what was bought..all brand new from honda..not used or refurbished....

Compressor, two lines (the rubber ones i guess?), drier, o-rings/gaskets....

they did the labor, and filled (all the way i hope!) with R12.

I picked up the car on a VERY hot day...it never got cold. it got pretty COOL..but not COLD. So i told myself maybe the stock EG a/c system just sucks a complete nut? But 4 days later now...there's no way it can suck this bad. My EF's a/c worked SOMETIMES and when it did...it got COLD.

also, it feels like the compressor engages just sporadically on it's on free will....i can feel it in the peddle and it's annoying. sometimes, it's also made a weird sound...almost like a clicking sound...coming from the engine bay..which i assume is the compressor? I have no idea. I've never had a fully working A/C system in a Honda so I don't know what's normal and what's not

Should it ever cool me off while driving? i mean EVENTUALLY it should get cold right?

 

maann...take that ish back if you got it done at the dealer, they have a warranty on all the labor they do. Also you shouldnt be hearing any clinking noises specially since its brand new and Honda items. It should be pretty smooth when its on just feels like you got couple of people on your car Anyways, you shouldnt worry just take it back to the dealer, theyll fix it. Maybe they just didnt put in enough freon or if its leaking they can see by the vaccum system they use. Good Luck!


[Modified by eg_nezay, 9:37 AM 8/2/2002]

 

R12 is not Illegal in itself. It is Illegal to make now and in order to buy what is left you must be regerstered with an E.P.A. certfication. R134a is still gas just not the same. It doest cool as fast as R12 did but it still does the same thing. The reason I know this is because I work for a H.V.A.C. company. (Heating Vent Air Conditioning). Freon is the Du-Pont name brand.

You need to take you car back and have them check it. They might not have put enough R134a in it or they might have missed a small leak.


[Modified by yuckymucky, 4:28 PM 8/2/2002]

 

+ Lowside low, highside high: expansion valve clogged up, restricted airflow on condensor or condensor fan is not working.
+ Lowside high, highside low: expansion valve stucked open or might be bad compressor
+ Lowside low, highside low: lack of freon (prolly leak in the system)
+ Lowside high, highside high: too much freon
There're many other possible reasons that might cause these faults reading beside the one that I've experienced with.

You should replace the expansion valve at the first place. I guess you could bring it back to your mechanic.

 

actually late model civics do use freon....freon is a generic name for refrigerants.

 

yank if ur going to swap

 

well all over north america it is illegal to charge a system that uses R-12. they have already stopped procuction of it. in 2010 they are stopping production of R-22 so everyone will have to have their home systems retrofitted to use most likely R-134a

 

WOW wait a minute...i assume u gotta 92 cx from reading ur signature...cx's didnt come with ac..just heater and fan...correct me if im wrong guys but cx and vx didnt....

 

could be a leak
maybe the belt has too much slack
put the air on recycle.
hope this helps out

 

A/C was an option from Honda when you bought a CX or VX at the time. I have a '92 CX with A/C in it, unfortunately not working either cause the tensioner pulley broke hot Florida weather sucks!

 

beginning to sound like u didnt a full fill or a fitting wasnt tighten d enough..u should have ur butt back at the dealer yesterday dude

 

yeah okay

Considering i've never had working a/c in a honda, especially a 5g, how am i to know something's actually wrong, or the a/c system just SUCKS? This is what i'm trying to determine.

and to clear things up, this wasn't performed AT honda...all the parts are new FROM honda. This was done at an independent mechanic shop. Honda wouldn't touch my car because of my swap

 

A problem I had with my 93 CX with gsr swap was the switch on the dash that controls hot to cold. When I went from hot to cold it only went 3/4 the way. It always had some heat coming out. Look in your engine bay and make sure valve is closed all the way(located on radiator hose). When closed all the way no heat (anti-freeze) should enter the car (heater core). Hope this helps. I droped 15 degrees when I found the problem.