Hey all. I know there are a couple of us who've been asking about adding air conditioning the last couple of weeks but it looks like it might finally be my turn to give it a shot this weekend. I'm pretty sure a couple of people have done it; is there anything to watch out for?

Many thanks,

Greg

 

as long as you have all the parts it is a plug and play

 

im ive done it too..just be careful when reusing your old gaskets*.... cuz some can crush and bend and then jo0 got leaks

Everything should be pretty simple though.

* talking bout the gaskets that conect the ac lines together

 

oh...the "O" rings....good point on that. I'm debating getting new ones from a shop in town here that puts refrigeration units on trucks (WAY cheaper than Honda, I hope). You reused yours and everything was OK I assume?

Thanks for the advice@

Greg

 

Yes i just reused mine...and everything was okay no leaks afterwards...but if you have an older car with an older ac sysem it wouldnt be a bad idea replacing them if they are cheap....but if not then its up to you

mine was on a 96civic

 

put new o rings on and make sure to put a little oil on them, or they will dry up and crack very quickly

 

i did it on my 97 hatch. not too hard.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Horatio &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">oh...the "O" rings....good point on that. I'm debating getting new ones from a shop in town here that puts refrigeration units on trucks (WAY cheaper than Honda, I hope). You reused yours and everything was OK I assume?

Thanks for the advice@

Greg</TD></TR></TABLE>

Get new o-rings. Not even a question. This is not an area where you want to 'cheap-out' Lube them with a little mineral oil before you install everything.

You should also install a NEW reciever dryer and a new expansion valve (just to be sure everything is good) Leave the reciever dryer capped and make it the last thing you install to make sure that it stays as moisture free as possible.

Its also a good idea to blow everything out with compressed air before you put it all together (to make sure all the old oil, water, debris, spiders, whatever) is out before you bolt it all up.

Other than those points its completely plug n' play

I would also recommend taking it to a shop to get it charged. They will take it down to deep vacuum to get any residual moisture out and that will also check that the system can hold pressure. Thats what I did and it only cost me $120 (worth it for cold air here in Washington DC. Its like friggin Africa here)

Mike

 

Yeah, I guess new O rings are just cheap insurance; no point in cheaping out now as you say.

I got the Receiver/Dryer new from Honda (was wondering why I couldn't seem to find used ones anywhere other than E-bay and it turns out that wreckers are unwilling to sell them used precisely because of the moisture concerns).

Your point about taking it to a shop brings up another question; is it OK to drive around without fluid in the system? I thought it was bad for the compressor to run it dry?

Come to think of it, the difference in cost between using one of the DIY kits from Auto Value and just taking it to a shop to get it professionally done can't be THAT much...hmm......

Great info, thanks for that

Greg

 

mines is not blowing that cold.. what does a reciever and dryer do.. and where is it located.. and if i replaced it would it blow colder??? thanks

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by civicdxtyper &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i did it on my 97 hatch. not too hard.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I have a 97 civic hatch also. I am getting an A/C from a 00 Si form fellow member boostaholic. Anyway is there something called an "evaporator" that goes behind the glovebox? Is there any wiring involved? Thanks

 

http://www.handa-accessories.com/civic/civicac.pdf

Online installation manul that the dealers got when they had kits. Helped me out a LOT. Also those "parts sheets" on E-bay have a pretty good listing of btis and pieces. This one was sent to me in another message and is another great resource.
http://www.hondaautomotivepart...81%29

Hope that helps a bit!

Greg

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Halo &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

I have a 97 civic hatch also. I am getting an A/C from a 00 Si form fellow member boostaholic. Anyway is there something called an "evaporator" that goes behind the glovebox? Is there any wiring involved? Thanks</TD></TR></TABLE>

yup, the evaporator is the piece that the a/c lines connect to on the passenger side firewall. as for wiring, i don't remember for sure, but i don't think there is. you'll have to add the wiring harness in the engine bay for a/c, but not under the dash.

 

No wiring for the Evap, only the compressor and the fan.

 

Get it done at a shop that knows what they're doing. If you just slap an AC system together and use on of those DIY chrge kits, you won't get the right charge, plus you'll have air and moisture in your system. Not good at all. Also if you overcharge you can literally blow holes into your condensor. Not good. If you have all the pieces and parts and don't have the knowledge or tools (vacuum pump, gauges, maybe a refrigerant scale), don't attempt this. AC systems are a very touchy thing. Trust me, I've been doing this for almost 7 years now. Residential units, not car AC's.

 

Frozen; thanks for weighing in on this. Good to have info from a pro. I'm not trying to undermine what you said or going against it, but I thought the better DIY kits had guages and suchlike in them. I think I can get ahold of a vaccum pump too (landlord owns a rental shop). If all of that is the case, would it be safe to try it myself? Just anxious to get the thing installed and operating is all which brings up another question from before; is it OK to run an A/C compressor without refrigerant in the system? I'm going to need to get the car to a shop if i decide to go that route and I don't want to mess up the parts I've finally managed to acquire.

Good info, thanks for that,

Greg

(just realized that if I don't wire the compressor in until I get to the shop or have the system chraged, the clutch shouldn't engage and it shouldn't run anyway...hmmm....maybe just leave the power relays out until they're ready.)


Modified by Horatio at 10:00 AM 7/17/2003

 

Hmmm, persoanlly I've never seen a kit with gauges. Maybe I'm just out of the loop. I have my own set of gauges I use to work on AC systems. As far as running the AC without refrigerant....bad idea. The refirgerant actually has 2 jobs. It cool down your car, and it also cools down your compressor when it comes back on the low side of the compressor to get pumped back out again. As long as you don't turn on your AC you should be fine driving around or down to a shop. If you do decide to go the DIY route, make sure you change out your receiver/drier and don't leave your system open for a long time. A few minutes at the most. Because that drier will pull moisture out of the air and be useless if all the desicant gets filled with moisture. It's designed to pull moisture out of the inside of your system and keep your refrigerant dry. If you get moisture in your system you run a chance of freezing up your evaporator (inside coil that makes the air cold) and you might even get some freezing on the inside of your lines. OIl doesn't really like getting very cold. Viscoscity goes to **** and you start to get restrictions inside your lines. Not good again. Anyway, if you have any more questions don't hesitate to get a hold of me here or on AIM "frozenSi"

 

I just gave a local shop a call and they figure it'll be less than $100 (Can) to service my system which is pretty close to the $80 (Can) that it would cost for the kit I was talking about earlier. I guess I still need to get some refrigerant oil to coat O rings and make sure the compressor is full but I think I'm giong to take it to th shop; do things right 1ce instead of doing them half-assed and trying to fix it for the next 5 yrs

Once again, thanks for the good info and if I encounter a DIY kit with guages and so on, I'll let you know.

Greg