So I’ve been tryin to get ac working in a 96 sol. The condenser fan doesn’t come on so I checked relay was good checked the relay socket for voltage top 2 Terminals have 12v and bottom left has 9v? Put them together and no power at the plug for condenser fan. For the compressor clutch relay was good and only power top two terminals. Compressor doesn’t engage with button depressed.

 

The fan and compressor relays both get voltage from one hood and one dash fuse. Check both fuses.

If both fuses are good, test the A/C thermostat that plugs into the evaporator.

If the thermostat is fine, test whether the heater control unit is bad.

 

how do I test the thermostat? Check to see if there’s voltage going to it? Continuity at thermostat? I don’t know what it does. All fuses are good.

 

With the key in ON(II) and the condenser fan relay removed, do a continuity test between the Blu/Wht wire of the A/C pressure switch connector (unplugged) and the Blu/Red wire of the heater control panel connector (unplugged). You should detect continuity.

 

I will try that first thing Monday, is it weird to have 3 wire with voltage at relay socket?

 

Only two of the three wires of the A/C thermostat provide voltage. The Blu/Red wire provides ground. And it's not a typical relay. It's a thermistor that prevents the evaporator from becoming encased in a block of ice.

 

my del Sol has a yellow and white wire at the pressure switch, with condenser fan relay removed and the car ignition ON no continuity between blue/red wire from heater control unit to either of the wires at the ac pressure switch the Ylw/white or blue/red.

 

Remove the glove box.

Identify the 3-wire A/C thermostat connector by wire colors and unplug it.

Use a wire or paper clip to bypass the A/C thermostat by jumping the Yel/Wht wire to the Blu/Red wire in the unplugged A/C thermostat connector.

Start engine.

Turn on blower and A/C.

Does the A/C condenser fan now run and does cold air now blow from the vents?

 

condenser fan runs but compressor doesn’t kick on. Jumped 2 terminals at AC clutch relay and compressor comes on.

 

You have two separate A/C problems -- Bad A/C thermostat and an undetermined problem.

Swap the compressor clutch and condenser fan relays.

Now does the clutch engage but the fan does not run? Or do you get the same result?

 

swap relays and condenser fan works fine, check for voltage at compressor clutch relay has 13v but wasn’t on, gave it a tap and compressor kicked on. I’m guessing I need new compressor. Would it be fine to keep the ac thermostat jumped?

 

Did you tap the relay or the compressor?

 

both relays seem to work fine, I got a Pry bar and tapped on the compressor and it started to spin.

 

Your A/C problems can be fixed by (1) replacing the A/C thermostat and (2) decreasing the compressor clutch air gap (removing shim or replacing with thinner shim).

 

got it thanks, I removed the shim cuts off and on along with ac button now, would it be ok to leave ac thermostat connector jumped? I read that you have to evacuate the system and pull the evap just to change the thermostat. If it’s a simple fix I would do it.

 

Do not run system without a functional A/C thermostat. The evaporator will become encased in a block of ice, which would prevent cooling.

Do a Google search on replacing the A/C thermostat in 6th gen Civic. At some point, a guy posted information showing that removal of the evaporator was not absolutely necessary to replace the thermostat, though removal made the job easier.

 

would I be able to cut off the old probe and use it with new thermostat?

 

Not sure I follow. The A/C thermostat just clips onto the evaporator fins.

 

In this video below, you can see the A/C thermostat attached to the evaporator fins from 7:02 to 7:11.

 

yes what I mean is to leave the thermostat probe itself inside the evaporator box and cut the two gray wires. The plug itself is a black box. I’m asking if i can use different black box plug with old probe.

 

It may be worth a try. However, if the temp probe attached to the evaporator fins has failed, your suggested solution won't work. My guess would be that the probe is what typically fails.

 

ah ok gotcha, was thinking the black box was some kinda switched that fails