OK ladies and gents,

Car: 99 Civic LX Auto
VIDEO:
Long story short, last summer the car would stutter and makes a clunking noise all the time, even when the AC was off and it was so sever the car seemed like it was going to die whenever stopped. I had a check engine light code that called for replacing the IACV. I replaced this with a cheap Amazon IACV last year and it worked for a while, but then it stopped working. So I put the old IACV back in after tinkering with the screw inside the IACV. Now it is summer again and I have to use the AC again, so the problem returned. But this year I replaced it with a Honda OEM part after the problem returned. Now the car drives, but when the AC is turned on, the car stutters and makes a clunking sound like the AC compressor is trying to turn over, but isn't able to. So the car makes the clunking sound continuously when at a stop/red light. Today, the issue seemed to happen intermittently, so I guess it hasn't gotten bad enough yet. But the car drove fine during the winter.

I have been doing a lot of reading and I was going to try to adjust the idle screw, open it to see if that helps and adjust the fast idle idle thermo valve thing that EricTheCar guy mentioned, but I wanted some advice first in case anyone else knew what I should do first. If you guys can help me save this car for a few more months, I would greatly appreciate it. I was planning on following Eric's video to troubleshoot the car here:
- Get air out of the coolant
- Spray the IACV with carb cleaner
- But I wasn't sure what else I would do after

Other issues: The car has a radiator leak that seems to be coming from the water pump. I never fixed it, I just top it off every 2 weeks. I YouTubed it and I can fix it, but I didn't want to play the guessing game and throw parts at the car. The leak is coming from that area where the timing chain is, so YouTube showed that this was a common leak. I am now thinking maybe this is the problem from the get go?

Thanks in advance! I promise I will upload with videos and try to make things easier for anyone willing to help me out.

 

I would suspect something with the AC compressor. No clunky sound when AC not in use, clunky sound when you try to engage AC...... Something wrong with the AC system.

 

Thank you for the response and taking the time out of your day to help me.

Just a few hours ago, I played with the radiator and got some bubbles out. It was not enough to where I needed to top off the radiator though. Then the problem continued. On a side note, it seems that the leaky water pump doesn't cause MAJOR air bubbles to form, so that is good news as that means I can continue to top it off until the car dies.

So, I decided to play with the idle screw because every time that clunking sound starts, the RPM drops and then rises and then drops and rises and continues over and over. I followed some of the threads on this site and loosened the idle screw and then resetted the ECU a few times until it sounded better. The instructions had a page from the Honda book on how to do it, but with a civic with a manual tranny instead (I hope it didn't matter if my car was an auto). It took a couple of tries of loosening the idle screw until the AC clunking finally stopped.

Long story short it seems to have gone away. I will drive it tomorrow when it gets hot again. I hope that I was able to fix it! We shall see. I will update this thread with the results in hopes of helping someone else in the future.

EDIT:

I just saw your comment on the other thread. You sir are a boss. I will be back to update this thread after driving and seeing the results of the work I performed (it makes me sound like a mechanic, thank the lord of YouTube and threads).

 

So the issue is back. The problem is not as bad as before. Again the noise and stuttering is only present with the AC on and stopped at a long red light and the problem only occurred today. The car was clicking over the whole week and no idle issues. Anyways, I spent an hour researching only to find that my car does not have a Fast Idle thing...
So...tomorrow I am going to spray carb cleaner to check of a leak around the intake gasket.

Is there a quick way for me to test to see if it is the AC that is the problem?

I think if the AC is going to be difficult to do or diagnose, I may be better off buying another car. So this is the last leg and last checks I can do as a nuts and bolt guy. Please let me know and save me some time if you can help me a little more. Thanks in advance.

 

Take your A/C belt off. Run the engine with A/C turned on and off see if there is a difference. Car sounds awful BTW

 

Thank you very much. I'll find a video on that and give it a try. I'll report back the findings.

Found a DIY video:
The steps to get the belt off starts at 7:25 in the video.

EDIT: I just took off the AC belt. It was easier than I thought it would be. Just a few bolts. Thank god for the videos. So, the car is driving completely fine for now. No hesitation, the car doesn't feel lagged down and is a lot smoother. I will continue to drive it like this for 1 week before it hits the high 90s in a few weeks. Maybe it is the AC compressor. I looked on Amazon and those on there are about $100-150. Is there a specific thing to look for when replacing these? Thanks for all the help so far everyone.

 

UPDATE: So I have been driving the car around these past few days. The car is running fine. No hesitation, the car runs smoother than before (when the compressor was still attached) and the AC has been on all the time when I am driving it around. There are no issues at all. Do you think it is the AC Compressor? Should I replace that and the water pump (something has been leaking for almost 1 year now, I think it may be the water pump since the leak comes from this side, though I have not looked at it yet, this is all a guess) or should I continue driving it around a few more times before I start suspecting the AC compressor?

Additional Info:
- The Torque Mount was complete destroyed. All the rubber stuff, I guess it is called "bushing", around the torque mount are gone. The metal bracket from the mount is still there, but nothing was left of the rubber sections. Could this be the culprit? Does having a disintegrated bushing cause the AC to stutter like in the video?
- The belts looks new. I remember the owner telling me that the car was just serviced prior to me buying the car. This was 4 years ago.

Is there a way to test to see if the AC compressor is the culprit other than buying a new one to plug and test? My AC was working fine. It would blow hot last year, before I replaced the IACV. Once that was replaced, the AC blew cold again.

I'll wait for your professional/experienced opinions before proceeding. I really do appreciate you all taking time out of you day to help me with this issue as I know it takes effort and time on your part to do so. Without your willingness to help I would have no sense of direction of where to go and this car would likely be a complete loss to me. Thanks for all the help peeps.

 

Does your AC belt system have a tensioner pulley? If so, it should be easy enough to remove and inspect. Make sure it spins freely. If that is good, then it sounds like the compressor might be shot.

 

Yes, the belt if off at the moment. I'll go try and spin it today when I can. I saw people doing that on YouTube, but I wanted to make sure the peeps here were the ones instructing me because I didn't want to jump the gun into doing/thinking things as I am not too confident on what to do or how to interpret them.

I just saw this on another thread that I'll leave here for future reference.

 

So I just went outside and I was able to spin the compressor pulley easily. It spins freely. I do not know how to test the clutch. I saw some videos, but I don't know what electrical tool they use and what it does. I do have multi-meter from harbor freight and a test light if those would work for testing the clutch on the compressor.


Any help would be appreciated. Thank again everyone for helping me.

 

sure sounds like the ac compressor took a dump. cheap and easy to change.

 

Is there anything specific to look for when buying a new AC compressor and water pump for my 99 Civic LX Automatic? I looked online and there are a bunch of options. Can I purchase it from Amazon vs Autozone (more expensive) vs Honda (arm and a leg)? Also, should I replace the dryer while I am at it?

So far, this is what I have gathered:
Total price: $243.17

If I replace the drier, do I have to take this to the shop for pull a vacuum or can I DIY it at home with the FIY method? If I have to take it to a shop to pull a vacuum, this means that this may cost me quite a bit of money. Thanks for any input!

P.S. I saw this other but is has some bad reviews and only a 30 return window with no warranty info easily found. So, I think the Denso (1 year warranty) is the better and safer purchase. What do you think about this?

 

denso is the way to go.
you can rent the vacuum pump and gauges for free
from most major auto part stores.
just give them a deposit and you get it back.
grab dupont 134 refrigerant from ebay.
look at my past posts for the everything a/c link

 

Thank you very much. I am trying to get the done ASAP before the weather reaches 90+ for the summer. I'll look through you posts and threads for the guide.

 

https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-...-home-1665946/

 

If it were me i would call around to your local shop and ask how much for an ac evac and recharge. take your car over there have them evacuate the ac system, drive back home and yank the compressor and belt off, install the new stuff with new o rings and install the drier. Drive it back to the shop to vacuum and recharge. could prolly have it all done in a few hours on the weekend.

 

Thank you both for the replies. I found a bunch of videos on YouTube. This video is specific to the Civic!

So I feel comfortable doing this at home now. Also Ericthecarguy has videos on this too. I am going to do it all:

Ordered:
- AC Compressor and Drier: Ordered
- Torque mount: Ordered

Need to Order:
- I need to wait till I can check my engine code later to know which water pump and head gasket I need to purchase from Amazon
- Interdynamics Fluorescent Leak Detector Dye
- Interdynamics California Refrigerant Oil 12 Ounce

Rental:
- Rental Tools EverTough A/C Gauge Set
- Rental Tools EverTough Vacuum Pump

Please let me know if there is anything I am forgetting. Thanks again for all the help. Sorry I was busy watching videos to see what I was getting myself into.

 

ordered expansion valve/condensor/evaporator?
see rockauto for preferred brands (with the heart <3)

 

Thank you, those parts are now ordered too.

I also just found this article: https://www.civicforums.com/forums/2...t-96-00-a.html

I am in California so I will tackle this job in my garage next weekend when it is a little cooler 83F because after that the temp rockets up. car gods, be nice to me please.

 

This is one of the sweetest threads I've ever seen. Good on you for taking this into your own hands and learning how to fix it yourself. I know it's kinda daunting, but if you can do this, you can do anything! I'd agree with going to a shop for the evac & recharge if you can afford to. Buying the parts from Autozone is spendy, but the warranty is really handy if you accidentally break something (or if it breaks itself).

If you get hung up on something midway through, feel free to shoot me a message - I've done more a/c repairs than I ever wanted to, and I really want to see this work out for you Good luck!

 

krytox grease for the o-rings:

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...call_filtering

looks like there are different types, maybe kagami can advise.

 

tbh you should be fine just using the a/c compressor oil on the o-rings, if anything. otherwise, a silicone based grease you pick up at ye olde parts store will do just fine.

 

Alright! The car is all done! New water pump, new AC compressor, AC expansion valve, condenser and direr. I followed all the steps in the videos and did what they did. This was a long process, many hours and minutes loosening bolts and trying to find ways to reach bolts on the floor and between tight spaces. My fiancée was the biggest help, her smaller hands, she was able to help me get to the #14 Tensioner Pulley through the Timing Belt Lower Cover, that was such a hassle. All new belts were also installed. The car is running fine now, no more stuttering, there is no more radiator fluid leaking on my driveway and the AC is ICE COLD.

Prior to this, I have never replaced or removed a head gasket other than in autoshop class, 10+ years ago. Currently, I was doing minimal oil changes, trans fluids, and minor things to this car. This job wasn't hard to do, but prior to tackling it, I thought I was in over my head. However, thanks to the videos I felt confident and intrigued. I found that this job was a long and tedious process to watch the video and identify the bolts and location on the engine. Through the magic of the internet, these threads, and the helpful people on here I was able to fix my car with my fiancée's help. This journey took me from a IACV replacement to restoring the AC system and water pump/timing belt!

Thank you all for the help in getting my civic fixed. It saved me TON of money and helped me avoided having to invest into a new car. I think I have been bitten by the fixing bug now. I can now say that I feel confident in doing this job on another Civic in half the time. I think I am going to replace my wheel bearing, but that will be in another thread, with a video of course. From the bottom of my heart, thanks again everyone for every comment and every suggestion.

 

Excellent and outstanding! Congrats for your can-do attitude!! 8)