shadling

I have an '07 Civic LX that continues to have A/C failures. I live in eastern KS and currently have 212,9xx miles on the car. I've had the car at two different dealers and they've both replaced the same parts.

The original A/C clutch and coil were replaced in June 2012 at 151k miles.

The 1st replacement A/C clutch and coil were replaced in May 2014 at 194k miles.

The 2nd replacement A/C clutch and coil failed this week at 212k miles.

Could there be another part of the system that's driving the replacement parts to failure?

ezone

What were your symptoms with each of the failures?
What exactly failed with each set?
Not just saying "it got replaced", but the exact failure in each incidence?

There are many different ways these parts can fail.
Can't really make an assessment without more detailed information.


If parts are failing that quickly, there could be some underlying issue that remains unaddressed.
Or maybe there could have been some installation error causing premature failure.
Or maybe someone is throwing a bunch of parts at it when it only needs one thing, or maybe a simple adjustment instead of a bunch of parts.
I can only make guesses unless you know a lot more about the actual failures.

shadling

When the A/C worked, I'd hit the A/C button and I could feel and hear the engine RPM's change slightly. Perhaps it's not the RPM's that are changing, but I could feel a drag or load put on the engine. On the latest diagnosis, I watched the mechanic hit what I believe to be the coil housing with a stick while the engine was running. He said the coil moves on a shaft when the A/C button is pushed...he also said something about magnets moving or not moving I don't know...maybe he was checking to see if it was stuck or maybe he was playing me for a fool.

ezone

Well, the "coil" is used as an electromagnet, and the "plate" moves to engage the spinning pulley when the coil is energized (and it all works correctly).

There needs to be a "gap" of a specific size between the plate and the pulley. If the gap is too large either due to improper initial clutch setup -- or wear, the magnet won't be able to pull the clutch plate firmly against the pulley. Pushing on the plate (helping) can get it to engage, that would indicate to me that the electromagnet is energized and that part is working..and gap is probably too large.

If the gap were too small, it might not disengage when it's supposed to, or it could drag and make noise and wear.

(This is why I mentioned adjustment instead of replacement. It does happen. I've had to correct a few that were set up incorrectly during assembly. I can't picture wearing out a AC clutch in 18k, that's way too quick to have real problems.)

This is all speculation on my part. I don't know what your mechanic actually does.