Okay, so the AC on my GF's '93EX just went out one day, she said she heard a terrible noise, then a 'hissing' sound. I thought for sure the compressor was toast. I figured I would try to re-charge it just to see what happend. The system took the freon just fine, but you could hear it leaking, the compressor even kicked on.

After further inspection, I realized it was venting straight out of this fitting on the bottom of the compressor.







It's obviously a brass part, and it looks to me like some sort of release valve or something, it certainly acts like one. It's like it's stuck open or something.

Is this common? Anybody have any experience with this, or have any idea what this thing is? The idiots at the local auto parts store had no idea WTF this thing was, let alone have one.

The car is a '93 EX and as far as I know, the compressor is factory... but I'm not even positive about that.

Thanks guys.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Klaus &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">said she heard a terrible noise, then a 'hissing' sound. </TD></TR></TABLE>
that is a symptom for a bad clutch. by personal experience, that's how they go...

 

So everytime you hear a bad noise on your car, you replace the clutch?

The clutch is brand new, had nothing to do with that.

I found out it's a $33 safety valve. At least that's what SLHondaparts.com says it is.

I wonder why it would just all of a sudden release...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Klaus &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">So everytime you hear a bad noise on your car, you replace the clutch?

The clutch is brand new, had nothing to do with that.

I found out it's a $33 safety valve. At least that's what SLHondaparts.com says it is.

I wonder why it would just all of a sudden release...</TD></TR></TABLE>

I have not seen many release valves go bad. Most of the time when I've seen a system decide to blow off like that it's because of a restriction in the system that causes the system to overpressurize. Commonly a blocked reciever/drier or a bad schrader valve. I would probably find a reputable shop to have it diagnosed at. A/C is a very expensive system to start throwing parts at.

edit: Are you saying you have a new compressor clutch or a new clutch for driving?

 

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

I have not seen many release valves go bad. Most of the time when I've seen a system decide to blow off like that it's because of a restriction in the system that causes the system to overpressurize. Commonly a blocked reciever/drier or a bad schrader valve. I would probably find a reputable shop to have it diagnosed at. A/C is a very expensive system to start throwing parts at.

edit: Are you saying you have a new compressor clutch or a new clutch for driving?</TD></TR></TABLE>

New driving clutch. I wonder if a compressor clutch is what fast88std was talking about. My appologies if so.

Anyway, yeah, what you said is pretty much what everyone is saying. Something else in there must be clogged or something.

Since you say you havn't seen many valves bite the dust, I wonder if I simply had a bad valve?

I think I'm going to get a new valve, then try and charge it and see what happens before I take it to a shop.

When I was adding the freon last night, the compressor kicked on like it was working fine, except for everything just blew out of the valve.