Good day all
I've searched but can't find what I'm looking for. Sorry if this has been asked before:

The AC in my daughter's 2009 stopped working a week ago. I swapped-out the fuse relay and problem solved! I told her to go buy another one and I thought she was all set. Shortly after, the same thing happened so I'm assuming (dangerous) that there's a short somewhere that popped-up recently (it was fine before). I'm not afraid of getting my hands dirty but I'm no electrical whiz by any stretch. Is there a thread you guys can point me to (I searched for stickies - no luck) that identifies common things to check in this case?

If not and you guys help point me in the right direction, I'll happily take pics and post a detailed, illustrated how-to for future reference to noobs like me.

Thanks guys

 

I had this happen on both a 90 Civic and my wife's 96 Civic. The compressor clutch field coil was at fault in both cases. The insulation had failed and it was shorting out. You might want to do a resistance check to see if it's in spec. You're also gonna need to perform a visual inspection of the compressor connector/wiring to ensure it's not obviously stripped or rubbing somewhere.


That shop manual says W for some reason but it should be in Ohms.

 

Oh, thanks very much for the tip. I stopped checking after a few days with no luck.

I will be checking this soon - thanks again.

 

Also use a feeler gauge to measure the air gap between the armature plate and compressor pulley.

One useful test:
If the gap is too large, the clutch will often engage when the armature plate is tapped with a rubber mallet.