I seem to be having trouble with my brand new '14 Civic. Whenever it rains or is very humid outside, the windshield fogs up, and so I have to turn the blower on the "FRONT" setting to evaporate the condensation. Whenever I do, the compressor turns on automatically, and since it uses the engine's power, it must work harder, and the car will accelerate more sluggishly, not to mention that it also uses more gas. Is there any possible way to turn off the compressor so that only hot air from the engine blows onto the windshield? In my old '04 VW Golf, when I turned the blower to "FRONT," it would merely blow hot air onto the windshield, and it would leave the compressor alone. But for some reason I can't seem to be able to figure out a way to turn it off in my Civic.

 

Is the AC light coming on when doing so?

I remember when I had my EP3 this would happen to me but their was a sequence you could do to stop on the fan switches. I'll try to see if I can find something for you.

 

Found the steps for you:

1. Turn car on.
2. Turn temperature **** all the way cold and turn the fan **** to off.
3. Put vent location to "face"
4. Turn car off
5. Hold down the Re-circulation Button and the A/C Button.
6. Hold down both buttons and turn the key all the way to the on position.
7. Keep both buttons depressed until one of the lights blink a few times, then you get a solid green light once the change has been made. Then let go.
8. See if it works by putting the fan on in Defrost. You should see the A/C light turn on and you should be able to turn it off.

 

It's actually set up that way from the Factory. Air gets dried (dehumidified) as it passes through the AC system. Dry air de-fogs the windows much better than ambient air.

 

Weird... mine does this but the AC light does not come on (light does function though). Compressor did not engage prior to me using the defrost setting before I had my ecu replaced.