I have recently purchased a beat up 2000 honda accord EX 6 cyl for a project car. It needs a whole lot of work window regulators, IAC valve, EGR valve, motor mounts, you name it. However I bought the car because 1 it runs and 2 the ac was blowing cold when i test drove it.

On to the problem, keep in mind I am just an amature at anything I do on a car I try to do as much as I can so I can learn as much as possible.

I have been fooling around with this problem for several weeks now and finally put pride aside and am asking for guidence.

Like some posts the car seems to blow ice cold for the first 10 to 20 minutes then cool then hot.

I have only the cheap gauge for the low pressure side. Not because I'm cheap but because I don't want to buy the proffesional ones if it is a problem I will probably not be able to resolve.

Diagnoses,

When I run the a/c in the begining at 2000 rpms the pressure on the low side gradually decreases until it gets below 30 psi. Then the compressor kicks off. I figured in the begining this was do to a low charge however. I have been adding about 3-5 oz slowly over about a week and the problem has not gotten any better. I know there was some 134 in the system to begin with and by the time I was finished I added a full 12 oz bottle. The sticker under the hood says max 17 oz. So After that didn't resolve the problem I began to think maybe it was over filled to begin with. So I started letting pressure out gradually over the course of a week or more. Same issue.

I am to the point now that I feel the system was correctly charged in the begining and there is a clog in the pressurized line somewhere. I think this because when the compressor kicks off at around 30 psi low side. The pressure slowly begins to increase until it gets around 70 then the compressor turns on and within a second or so the pressure is back down to below 30. It will continue to do this until I turn the car off and let it sit for a good while. Then the process starts all over again.

Where would a clog typically happen in this car? Does the diagnoses of a clog sound right?

 

clog in the AC ??

bad AC condensor man

 

I think you meant the thread title to read:

"A/C not functioning normally"

Does the condenser fan run when the A/C is on? Does the condenser fan continue to run when the compressor clutch disengages?

You really need to measure pressures on both the high and low sides for diagnosis purposes.

 

"A/C not malfunctioning normally" was my attempt at humor
Yes the condenser fan continues to run when the compressor clutch disengages.

 

Besides measuring the high and low side pressures, you also may want to measure the clutch plate clearance. If it's too wide, the clutch may intermittently fail to engage.

 

I ordered some hoses on eBay tomato check hi and low pressures today.
After I get reading I will post results.