Hello,

I have a 2003 Accord EX/L 2.4L. About 95k miles on the car.

The air conditioner stopped working the other day. When it stopped I could see that the compressor was not running but the cooling fan did come on when I put the AC on.

Checked the voltage going to the compressor when the AC switch was on, 14. Decided to bypass the wire and brought a 12 volt positive wire directly to the compressor wire, it engaged AC clutch immediately. Then, I turned the car off and reconnected the wire and the AC started the car, clutch engaged, AC working again. I put on one of the AC charging cans that had the guage, the pressure was perfect.

Drove the car around town, after about 20 minutes, the AC stopped again. Let the car cool off a few hours, started it up, AC started working again.

Looks like compressor, clutch, and freon system is working.

Any ideas what is wrong? Is there a relay that is affected by heat that could be failing?

 

is there a funny smell coming from the a/c? could need recharging.
not really the right time of year, but is the heat working?
hondas are pretty good at giving warning signs for something that is on its way out, so you may want to look at the car's cooling system to see if there's a radiator leak, head gasket prob, etc.

 

The compressor clutch may be on it's way out, or there is too much clearance. It will usually work when cold, then as the shaft heats up, and things expand, it will stop.

 

When the clutch stops engaging take a stick and push the clutch towards the pulley, if it re-engages, replace the compressor as an assembly (yes you can replace the clutch, just easier to do and you cant screw up the clutch clearance.)

Hook up a manifold gauge set and record the pressures when the A/C turns off, if they get too low or too high, it will protect itself and turn off.
Verify system charge by doing an evacuation and recharge, then recheck pressures/operation.

 

Saw I had not given the resolution to this old post. It was the compressor clutch magnet.