I'm helping my friend trying to figure out why his 95 civic a/c isn't cold since he can't speak/type English well. Last year he charged up his A/C system and apparently he overdid it because it blew up while driving. He replaced the compressor and recharged it. His A/C is blowing cool but not cold. The weird part is that if he spray cold water in front of the condenser the A/C blows cold again. I apologize in advance I'm not familiar with Honda in general so bare with me.

 

First thing to check if cooling the condenser with water help... is the condenser fan coming on?

 

The receiver/drier should have been replaced when the compressor was replaced. The system also should have been dried with Nitrogen and evacuated before recharging.

If the fan is turning on properly, then you'll need to take it to a shop that specializes in A/C work. You would need special and expensive tools to do the troubleshooting.

 

Yes, everything is operational. So there is no DIY and we he has to take it to a shop for their expensive machine.

 

You can recharge it yourselves from a kit, but you have to be careful not to overcharge it like before. More than likely it has a small leak and if the coolant pressure drops i know it will cause the temp at which it blows to get warmer.

 

Again, did you thoroughly evacuate (2-3 hours) the system and replace the receiver/dryer prior to recharging with refrigerant? Did you recharge the system with the weight of refrigerant specified in the service manual?

Do you have manifold gauge set? In the shade, what are the high and low side pressures with the engine running at 1500 rpm and the A/C running on MAX cool? Also mention the outside temperature when these measurements are made.