On my 1997 Civic LX 4 door the AC works great sometimes and sometimes it doesn't.

Here is what it does:

1. Crank the car up and idle it will cool down to 39°F no problem, never gets hot.
2. Go through town and stop at a red light and the AC cools first then rises to outside temp for about 20 minutes then it will start cooling again.
3. On the highway, it will cycle between 39°F and outside temp about every 20 minutes at 80 mph.
4. Around town, if I stop somewhere on a hot day the AC will not work at all for at least 20 minutes when I get back in the car.

Here is what I have done so far:

1. Evacuated AC system and recharged R134A back to mfg specs.
2. Checked condenser cooling fan and its working

At a bit of a loss here. I think the compressor is good because when it cools it will freeze you. Already spent some $$ at the AC shop and they didn't fix the problem so I want to do it myself. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Check the armature plate/pulley clearance:

 

Thanks for the tip.

I replaced the compressor with a used compressor and it now cools fine on a hot day down to 38°F on the outlet.

Here is what we did:


1. Checked all the relays first all tested good. Jumped out the AC clutch with 12 volts and it did not engage. At this point made the decision to replace the compressor.

2. Pulled vacuum on the system and recovered 0.92 lbs of R134A (spec = 1.38 lbs)

3. Replaced the compressor with a used one and charged 1.38 lbs 134A.

Just one question, is it worth trying to rebuild the original compressor as a spare and replacing the clutch. Since the 134A did leak down I am not sure if it was the compressor or the system as a whole. Also, on the original post you listed how to check the clearances but now it is gone.

Thanks for your help

Jeff