I have a 99 Accord LX 2.3L and have a question about the AC System. In searching the forums, seems like a common complaint that it just doesn't cool like it should, with various reasons and remedies.
Is this just a common issue with these cars? First Honda i've owned.

I've checked both Low and High side pressure and it is within normal range. The air coming from the center vents on high is just under 50 degrees, and on 2 it's right at 45 so that seems to indicate system is operating correctly, but the car just never seems to cool down sufficiently. It's over 80 inside after a 2-3 hour ride. Granted I'm in FL and there is no tint on the windows yet, but my other vehicles get to about 70-75 cabin temp within 30-45 minutes. The compressor does not cycle often, it stays on most of the time.

Also the center panel controls for the AC and vent selectors has most of the lights burnt out. I've taken it off and it's beyond my scope of repair. I've looked in several U-Pull its and cannot find a replacement. I've searched online, but can't seem to find what I'm looking for. I've searched for AC Controls, Climate Control Panel etc
What's the official name of that?

Thanks in advance!!

 

Hondas were known for undersized A/C systems in this era, but I would expect the car would still cool down after a 10-15 minute drive. Mostly its because the condenser is relatively small and airflow at a stoplight is not enough to maintain cold vent temperatures. Even with R-134a in my 92 Accord (which was meant for R-12, and thus has an even smaller condenser) it will get nice and cold while driving and will noticeably warm up at a stop light.

The car will cool down here even in hot, 95 degree HUMID southeastern summers. Are you using recirculate? It will help dramatically.

50 degree vent temp while parked sounds pretty normal though.

 

Thanks some good background info there. The control lights on the recirc button doesn't work, but I hear a change so the function works, and I typically have it on recirc when I have the AC on, sometimes turning it off and back on seems to help.

Was just about to respond on here on what i've done.
I had the whole system purged and recharged and it's working somewhat better now. Not sure exactly what happened or what was wrong. Just purchased the car and it was low on pressure so I bought a can of freon and put it in and checked it myself with a friends gauges and posted here that it didn't seem to be cooling correctly.

I took it to my mech so he could properly discharge the system. Going to put some tint on the windows this weekend and that should help as well.

 

Did you charge by weight or pressure. 134a is very sensitive about the charge amount. When you evacuate then draw a vacuum for least an hour your ready to charge by weight. Not pressure. The correct charge weight can be found in Haynes or online.

Cheers!

 

I topped off by pressure and when that didn't seem to help much, I took it to someone to evacuate and recharge. I'm not sure how he charged, but he is a good mech so assume he did it the correct way. I've taken things to him the past 10 years or so off and on so I trust him. I am novice shade tree at best but do like to try and do things myself so he has had to fix my goofups before lol
It's much better now than it was after the evacuation and recharge. It still doesn't cool like the 01 Altima I had a couple years ago or my current Frontier truck (less cabin area so it gets COLD in there!!)
Hopefully this will work out long run and just something my daughter will have to get used to!
Thanks for the info though, had not heard of charging by weight, just pressure so learned something today at any rate

 

Keep in mind that you need to put about 80% of the weight of r134 in in relation to the amount of r12 that it normally takes for your car.

 

Try to steer clear of those small 134a cans from the auto parts stores. Most of them I see say they have extra oil in the can...this is not good for your system as the oil takes up space in the system that the refrigerant should be using. That makes the system less efficient.

 

That's exactly what I got

Luckily though the system has been evacuated and properly recharged by a professional. I think we are good on the AC now. It cools sufficiently, though not as good as I am used to on newer vehicles. I'm OK with 45 deg air from the vents at idle.

 

 

Good point here. Auto parts stores are terrible places to buy refrigerant. They typically sell 12-16 oz cans mixed with all kinds of crap (leak sealers, "universal" oils, "performance enhancers", etc) that a normal system does not need for around $20-25.

You can get a box of 12-12oz cans of Dupont R-134a from Amazon for around $55. That's less than $5 for pure R-134a. Walmart also has good prices on R-134a.

 

Also eBay for cans if you don't want to pay for tax. If your in a rush visit your local Big Lots in your area. Cans are usually $6-7 each for plain jane freon.