The A/C quit working on the CRX. When I put power directly to the wire for the compressor, it engages and blows cold air. The fan still blows. The wires that go over the radiator were exposed and crispy, and the fuse was blown for the compressor. I changed the fuse and re-did the portion of wires that were burnt, but still no luck.

Any suggestions before I go further into this? Anyone else had a similar experience?
Thanks guys!

*EDIT* After I went thru the service manual and tested everything, it turned out to be a faulty ECU.


Modified by DRFlickner at 4:23 PM 9/24/2003

 

Make sure the power wire is connected from the compressor, there should only be one.
Maybe a wire is burnt and is causing interference
check it out

 

There is a relay for the compressor, I think its the one thats connected to the condenser fan, if not, its the one thats right by the pass side headlights near the suppport. Check it out, relays go bad, it happend to me once.

 

Thanks guys. The power is hooked up to the compressor. I was thinking relay too, since the other wires burned out, the relay might be toast. I'll check it out tomorrow and post the result.

 

Ok, I went out and changed the relay,but that didn't fix it. I should have checked it first. Now I went thru the flow chart in the manual, and have narrowed down. Either there is a break in the yellow wire into the compressor terminal that connects to the relay, the ECU needs to be replaced (doubt it), or there is a break in the red wire that connects to the compressor clutch.

When I hook up the volt meter to the red wire compressor clutch connector and turn the ignition on, no voltage. This needs to be repaired?

However, also following the flow chart, when I jump the wires on the back of the connector that goes to the relay, the compressor engages, meaning that the compressor is getting powered? The manual then says to check the ECU, but I don't have an extra SI ECU laying around,and how common is this anyway?

Now I'm left with checking the yellow wire.

Has anyone had a similar experience and knows where to check first?
Thanks!

 

Also need to mention, when I jumped the wires on the connector that goes to the relay, the compressor engaged, and blew cold air into the car.

 

You may be low on freon, and its not enough for the pressure switch to engage.

 

Yeah, I am almost 1lb low on freon, but I didn't think that would be so low as to cause a problem. When I jump the connector, the compressor engages though, and blows cold air. Would it still engage if I am low on freon?

According to the service manual, it's narrowed down to the ECU, after I followed all the steps in the flow chart. I just need to get ahold of a "known" working ECU and try it.

 

the only way it will work is if its jumped, if its low. fill it up, i am almost sure it will start working.

 

Will do. Thanks for the help. I've never had to fix an A/C system before, so everything is unfamiliar to me.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by CimorelliCRX &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">the only way it will work is if its jumped, if its low. fill it up, i am almost sure it will start working.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Freon was actually only 1/2 lb low, now it's full, and the A/C still doesn't work. I'm waiting on a good ECU to try and see if that will solve the problem.

 

To anyone w/ a similar problem, this issue was caused by the ECU.

Word of advice, don't waste money on relays and freon, check your ECU first.

 

Where did you get your freon filled? It's so expensive now...

 

i had that problem, it turned out i had a bad connection to the temp sensor inside the car, i jumped it and it worked, when i put the connector back it worked fine, so i guess it was a bad connection, i did that whole flow chart thing and it kept saying my ecu was bad, i knew it wasn't, did u jump the cycling switch, its located on the passager side, way under the hood, where those relays are u replaced, go straight down, and u'll see a round connector going into one of the a/c lines, that ur cycling switch, the other sitwch is could be is the one i did, its located inside the car behind the glove box. hope that helps

 

Hi,
Thanks for your help. I jumped all the switches and followed the flow chart. I also checked every wire for continuity and power (even the ones the manual didn't talk about). Today, I finally managed to borrow and install a friend's ECU, and the A/C compressor kicked in just fine, and the air blew cold and hard from the vents.

It's weird, because that is the last thing I ever expected. I even had "mechanics" check it out, because I was sure that I had to be wrong. Everyone told me freon or relay, but it was neither.

P.S. Anyone need a brand new A/C relay?