170,000 miles.
This is a Canadian car, listed as a Civic Sport which is the LX series here in the states.

The A/C used to work absolutely great. no issues and one day it would start and stop at random. The compressor no longer kicks on

I figured, its an old car, could probably use a refridgerant refresh, as ive known in the past the compressor wont kick on if its low on refridgerant. So i bought one of those Recharge kits with the gauge built in. I connect it to the Low side and it shows that it is overcharged. Weird because i have never ever tried to charge this.

From what I have read, I think it is the Compressor Thermal Protector switch. But im not 100% sure.

Could someone post a list of steps i should go through to narrow down what i need to check? I will be doing some maintence on this in the next couple weeks (upper and lower ball joints, Exhaust manifold/Cat, Timing Belt, Water Pump, Valve Lash, spark plugs, t-stat, sway bar links, engine mount) and id like to get this knocked out while i have the car up in the air. Is there any common issues with this someone could point me directly to? if not a nice little flow check list would be great that way i dont have to keep popping up to the computer with dirty hands.

Anyways, thankyou everyone for the insight i obviously do not have.

 

Get a manifold gauge set to test pressures properly.

Did you measure refrigerant pressure with the engine running and the compressor clutch engaged? If not, you were measuring static refrigerant pressure, which falsely made you believe the system is overcharged.

Currently, does the A/C work sometimes or never?

 

I have a manifold Gauge set however i havent a clue how to use it. Can you point me to a decent article on how i can use this?

I measured the refirgerant pressure with one of those, "Refridgerant Recharge kits with the little guage built in". Not the most advanced system as you only have 3 options on the dial: Needs Refridgerant, Full, and Overcharged. The car was runnning but clutch was not engaging.

From what ive been reading if the system reads as overcharged the clutch wont engage anyways.

The A/C now does not work ever.

 

Your refrigerant pressure reading was meaningless if the A/C clutch was not engaged with the engine running.

 

Okay. So... What could i do at this point to get a better understanding as to why?

I went through the FAQ on your sig, however it doesnt cover the 01-05 series. Also as i said i have manifold gauges i just dont know how ot use them.

 

You read the static refrigerant pressure, which only tells you that the system has some refrigerant in it. It doesn't tell you how much. Based on the information you posted so far, the system could be properly charged, undercharged, or overcharged.

The first step is to figure out why the compressor clutch does not engage.

When you turn the key to ON(II) and press the A/C button with the cabin blower running, do the radiator and condenser fans turn on?

Is fuse 1 or fuse 14 blown?