So I bought a 2010 Civic Sedan the other day, 89k miles. Thought I got a good deal at $7200 but then found out it was a salvage title for hitting a guardrail. Not too thrilled, but I have no recourse as this type of auction is completely as-is.

I noticed that the a/c compressors runs all the time, even when the a/c option is on off, and even when the fan is completely off. In fact, when the whole system is off, and the air just naturally flows through the vents, its still coming through cooled. I manually disconnected the compressor and it did turn off then, along with the fans that were running.

Since I'm so screwed on this title issue I really don't have a budget to go fixing things, unless I fix them myself. So... any idea what would cause this? I did some searching but couldn't find anyone else with similar problems.

 

Was it a front hit or side hit on the guardrail? Is that info told at the auction?

It could be pertinent as there could be collateral damages that might be contributing to the main issue.

 

I checked the refrigerant level and it was off the chart.. literally, past the farthest red line on the gauge. So I let some out until it was in the middle of the green (30psi maybe?) but still no change. Compressor just runs..

 

It looks like the rear bumper, passenger side doors, and hood have been repainted, but that's my non-body shop professional assessment so there could be more that was hit. I found the fact that it was a guardrail on auto check.com

The a/c works so-so when it's running, but I would expect the fan to blow harder and the air to be cooler, but I think most people would think it cools fine.

 

I also tried the diagnostic by holding down the recirc and rear defroster. It changed some fan modes around and then stopped doing anything. It didn't blink anything to me.

 

I just tried pulling the relays.

When I pulled the clutch relay, nothing changed, a/c kept running.

Only when I pulled the condenser fan relay did everything shut down.

Does that mean I have a bad clutch relay?

 

I am not an electrical guy, but yes, that sounds correct.

 

It just doesn't seem right though, if I pull the relay out it should shut off. I hate to waste $20 on a relay. Any opinions?

 

Any ideas? If the relay is bad shouldn't it go off as soon as I pull it out? I really want to drive this car but its sitting because Im afraid to wear the compressor out..

 

I have attempted a consult from another forum contributor. Hopefully this will be resolved soonest. Please be patient, but continue to seek help or info on your own as well.

 

How mechanically inclined are you?

Do you know how to change a serpentine belt and put it back in the correct order? I have a solution for you that is temporary but the A/C wouldn't work period. All the fan controls would work like hot and cool but no A/C.

My only concern is your level of wrenching skills as I would rather save you the hassle of causing more of an issue and have you get someone like a mechanic to do what I would suggest you temporarily.

 

They obviously hotwired the clutch to run all the time.

 

That would be great, my only ideas right now are to change the relay (or find an identical relay somewhere in the fuse box to test) or to change out the hvac control panel at the radio. Both of which seem like the wrong things to do since when I pull the clutch relay out it keeps running and only the fan relay shuts it all down.

 

I could definitely do a serpentine belt. I couldn't change out an a/c compressor, but I could change out an alternator or a thermostat, things like that.. I can do brakes, but I wouldn't want to do a brake line.. so I'd say.. medium

I figured I could drive around without the relays in, and hopefully that would just be an a/c fan not working and not the actual radiator fan. I have a beater accord I drive in the mean time, it just is on the verge of death.. stretched timing chain and can barely get it into gear.

 

Why would someone do that?

 

Must not have been working otherwise.

 

What you can do is get a shorter serpentine belt and reroute it without it going over the AC clutch pulley. This would mean that the AC would never work but at least all the other fan controls would like cool/hot air and the fans.

I did this on my winter beater which is a 2006 civic ex as it wouldn't stop whining (noise). At the time I didn't really care to get the AC fixed on it but I did end up fixing at the beginning of summer as I lent the car the mom for a few months.

 

Wouldn't that be odd for a 4 year old honda? It doesn't appear hacked up in any way. The car is completely stock. The only thing odd was that it was overfilled with refrigerant.

I suppose that would be an option but would just be a temporary fix. I live in the south and need a/c to drive it most days. (going to be 95 today)





Any other ideas? Surely someone has had this problem in a world with millions of civics..... surely..... please... so desperate.. lol.

 

I swapped all the identical relays around and I still get the same result.. and now that I lowered the pressure in the system from ridiculously high to normal it doesn't cool as well.

 

Pull under-hood Fuse No. 20 (7.5A). Report what happens.

 

what side hit the guardrail? I'm trying to remember which fender on that car has the AC wiring harness, you might want to pull the fender on that side and inspect the wiring

 

Pulling the fender won't show anything; the wiring is in the engine bay.

 

Turning on 'max AC' on the AC controls keeps the compressor running the entire time, as opposed to regular AC, where the compressor cycles on and off. Maybe related to the controls inside the car?

 

how do you think it gets there from inside the car?

 

When I pull the fuse the compressor turns off and the air starts blowing ambient temperature. When I put the fuse back in it clicks back on and starts blowing cold air. All without the air conditioning options on of course, just the regular fan on.

I think the right side

I may order another control panel to see if that solves the problem. I'm just trying to avoid fixing things that aren't broken.