I've had my 99 EX coupe for a few years now. When I bought it the AC worked...for about a week. Previous owner had just "serviced" the ac prior to sale. I ignored the AC until now because I lived in cooler states. I just moved to Texas and it's getting hot. Opening the windows helps when I'm moving. My commute is only about 10-15 minutes each way, but when there are accidents I can be stuck in one place for a few minutes at a time. I start to sweat buckets almost immediately when the car is stopped on hot asphalt.

Anywhooo. I pulled vacuum on the system and got about - 26 inHG to hold in the system after changing some o-rings. I figured it would be good to charge it up and give it a shot. The compressor wouldn't kick in, but it sucked in a bit of refrigerant. I jumped the compressor and it came to life, but still no cold air. I tried to continue charging it, but it seems like it won't take any more from this 12 oz can, and it still feels full. The fan on the condenser runs great. The motor runs great (leaks some oil, but I hardly think that's relevant).

I could add more details, but I'm kind of frustrated at this point, and would rather answer someone knowledgeable's questions about it in responses.

What do I doooO!??!?! I need A/C! Or I'm buying a Focus ST and leaving the Civic as a backup vehicle to use in the Fall/Winter/Spring.

 

You should've replace the drier. Should've also asked what was replaced during that "maintenance".

 

This^

Also, you need a better vacuum pump to pull a deeper vacuum.

Does the compressor still only engage when you jump it? How do you jump it?

How did you add refrigerant? Did you add oil? Did you use a manifold gauge set? What were the pressures on the low and high side?

 

If it's not taking any from the can you can start by checking the schrader valves for proper operation.

 

The guy who sold it to me wouldn't contact me after the sale.

I didn't replace the drier yet because I figured there had to be a leak. Last night I left it with vacuum of 26 inHG all night. This morning it was down to 23 inHG.

I am using a vacuum pump from the local car zone place. I can get a different pump from another shop and hope it's stronger.

After pulling vacuum I tried to charge it with r134a through the service line on the manifold gauges. I closed the high side **** and opened the bottle into the service line with the low side open. The low side shot to 100 PSI. The high side stayed at 0. The compressor never kicked on and no more refrigerant went in. I bypassed the relay with a paper clip just to see if the clutch on the compressor worked. It did. Then with the compressor running the system took a little bit more in, the low side went up to 110-120 PSI while the high side got to about 100 PSI. The air inside the cabin was still a nice hot 96* same as ambient temp. I tried to replace the relay, hoping that having something in the system would give it the kick it needed to come alive. No luck. Never got the compressor to turn on without the paper clip, and the system wouldn't take any more refrigerant out of the can.

I didn't add any oil myself, I don't know how much the system takes. Would the vacuum pump remove all the oil left in the system?

Is there any way to test the compressor? I really hope I don't have to buy a new compressor or tear into the dash for the evaporator. I planned to drain the system and replace the drier if it held a good vacuum and the compressor worked.

If you have any other questions about what I did I will try to answer, this was all I could think of what I've done this weekend.

 

Both Schrader valves are working.

 

YOu have a slow leak, again you should've replaced the drier, no the compressor only removes moisture from the lines, if your compressor isn't kicking in than you need to check the refridgerant sensor and that is usually located near the drier.

 

OK. I'll do the drier next. But won't the new drier get ruined if the leak is somewhere else and I have to keep emptying it out to fix leaks?

Also, is there any way to tell if the compressor will work once everything else is fixed? I'd hate to fix everything just to find out I need a new compressor. Does anyone rent the ac sniffer? I could find the slow leak..or leaks...with that so I don't waste time replacing things that are OK. If I replace the drier I have to add some PAG oil, right?

Thanks guys, this is the first time I've tried to fix an A/C system, so I appreciate your help.

 

You will now need to bring it to a shop to recover the regridgerant and then replace the drier as well as perform a leak detection. The shop will now have to perform that.