1995 Civic DX

The A/C works great in the morning going to work, and in the evening going home after work. HOWEVER, during the lunch break, when it is hot outside it doesn't work. The Compressor will not engage.

I've figured out that I can put the windows down, put the A/C on Vent, and after driving for 20 miles or so, the system will have cooled down enough for the compressor to kick back on. I have to run the A/C on vent for a period of time, because if I switch it to recirculate right away, it shuts the compressor off. I assume its because its pulling the hot air in the floor board back into the system.

I thought this would be caused by a faulty A/C thermostat. These are out of stock just about everywhere, so I sourced one from a junk car that was working before the car was totaled. Switched out the A/C thermostat, cleaned out the evaporator core, and blew out all the leaves from the fan. Put back together, and it worked great the first day. The second day, it was back to its old ways. When I pulled the evap core, I had to pull the system down, so I know it has the correct amount of refrigerant in it now. Yet it still shows problems.

I wish I knew more about A/C systems, but I don't. Any insight would be helpful on this problem. I have gauges, but honestly don't know how to properly use them. Internet info. is sketchy at best on a/c systems.

NOTE: one additional thing. A wasp had built a nest in the a/c evaporator drain line which caused the housing to fill with water. I cleared this obstruction, but not before it dumped ice cold water all over my feet. This was before I installed the new-used a/c thermostat.

 

Hook up the gauge once the a/c is able to engage and while it is at rest. Post the pictures.

 

^^^ Ditto....Too many things it could be....def need the pressures....also make sure your engine is at 1500 RPM as well

 

It could be icing. Is the drain hose fixed? Make sure you don't hear any water in the cabin when the fan turns on. When the grill inside the cabin ice up, the A/C compressor stops also. It usually ice up when there's water that didn't get drained.

 

Use a feeler gauge to check whether the gap between the compressor clutch armature plate and pulley is too wide. If so, reshim it.

 

I had a similar problem in my 93 hatch. Worked fine in cooler temperatures but when hot outside, forget about it. Finally found the problem, the climate control unit itself. When it gets really hot, the circuit board flexes. The solder points on the circuit board have probably cracked and aren't making contact. I opened it up and sure enough they were cracked. Resoldered them and worked great but have since ripped the AC out since it's no longer my daily. There is a DIY repair for this somewhere on google. If I ever find it, I'll post the link. Hope this helps. Happy hunting!

 

Found it!

http://www.d-series.org/forums/diy-f...-teardown.html

 

Thank you all for the responses. I had to loan the car out, so I have not been able to look at it since I posted up. But these are all definitely things I'll check out when it gets back.... Though I really don't want to have to pull out that climate control. I did that once to change a burned light bulb, and my cold/hot selector was never the same.

 

Tackle the problem one at a time. Start with the easiest and cheapest.