the compressor locked up on my 2000 cr-v last year. since we've already had 90 degree days here in cincinnati in may this year, i decided to do a full overhaul. i bought a brand new compressor, condenser, filter/drier, and expansion valve. i installed everything, hooked up the ol' ac machine, injected oil, and charged with 24oz of R134A.

here's the issue: starting the car and leaving it run at idle, once i turn the ac on, the compressor kicks on and then back off. it'll kick on again, but goes back off after a few seconds. it will continue to do this while sitting at idle. under load or while driving, the compressor stays engaged and the ac blows ice cold. once i come to a stop and sit at idle again, it starts cycling on and off.

i put my finger on the ac clutch relay while it sat at idle and i could feel it clicking every time the compressor went on and off. so naturally i replaced the relay with a new unit...which didn't change anything.

anyone think this could be a low-idle problem? the car does have a low idle that i haven't gotten around to adjusting yet. when starting, it drops down to almost nothing and then settles around 500 rpms. might adjusting the idle up to 800 or 1000 rpms help? if i'm sitting at a light and give the pedal a little load to get the rpms up to around 1000, the compressor stays engaged.

anything else i'm missing??

 

I dont know much about AC systems, but maybe check any wiring for the ac switch?

was the idle low before you put the AC back in?

 

Yeah the thing has had a low idle for quite a while now. I just haven't gotten around to unplugging the iacv and resetting it for some reason haha. Wiring to the switch seems to be fine. It kicks on right away after I push the ac button...it just won't stay engaged unless it's under load...and it only needs a little load. We're talking like 200-300 rpms worth

 

Well maybe it's the idle then since most honda engines idle around 700-800rpm.

Your idling at 500rpm so an additional 200-300 of added rpm, to make your AC work, would put you at normal idling speeds.

 

That's what I was thinking. I'm just trying to make sure there's not something else I'm overlooking.

 

My guess is that the condenser fan is not running. Check that.

 

I am pretty sure the A/C "request", [compressor control] is controlled by the ECU/ECM that also "throttle up" the RPM when A/C compressor is on, a low idle could easily effect that control, evident by the fact if you bring the RPM up a little the problem is not there.

Fixing the idle problem will probably fix the A/C problem. 94

 

That vehicle, was a 2000 CR-V that had a compressor lock up, probably because the radiator fan wasn't doing its job for a while, blew the fuse. Anytime the A/C is on, both fans better be running or it will cycle on and off because it is hitting high pressure cutoff, and will likely kill the replacement compressor faster than you might like.

 

the radiator fan has been working just fine since i bought the car. any time i turn the ac on, both the radiator fan and the condenser fan run...so the problem wasn't there. i adjusted the throttle cable to bring my rpms up a little and it's done the trick. been using the ac all week with no issues. ice cold! now one of these days i'll actually adjust the idle properly haha. thanks for the responses guys.