Merv

I have a 2001 DX sedan 5sp. When I turn on the A/C the car seems to hesitate or "miss" while driving. When A/C is turned back off car runs normal. A/C works fine.
Anyone heard of this hesitation or missing with the A/C on?

Thanks.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

well i feel alot of hp being robbed, which is normal. not sure what you mean by missing. maybe you have a loose belt or something.

Merv

When the A/C is on and I drive down the road while steady on the gas, the car will hesitate or stutter every 30 seconds to a minute. If depress the gas pedal, there is again some hesitation until the revs get higher. I know what you mean with a loss of power with the A/C on, but this is different. It does not remain at a smooth constant when the A/C is on.
Hope this makes sense. Thanks for your help.

Jp7

iTrader: (2)

I dynoed my CT with the AC on once (by accident) and lost 40 or so HP. I was like "WTF", really getting frustrated when I knew I had no knock, good timing and good AFR. I saw the switch on and I was like "OMG i'm such a n00b", turned it off, instant +40HP. LOL.

I normally have 11-9 inches of vacuum at idle with no AC, but it drops to about 7 inches with the AC on. Huge difference.

Do you have a vacuum gauge? Every car should have one. You can really see what is going on. A good running naturally aspirated engine should have about 17-19 inches of vacuum, if you have a 'stock like' setup. You may have a vacuum leak, causing the measured/calculated AFR to be off.

greeen01civic4d

iTrader: (7)

standard vacuum on a honda is around 22 inches, but with such a small engine its a large draw for ac to be on, its normal

batman900

iTrader: (1)

What your feeling is I believe the alternator kicking on and off while your driving. Mine does the same thing and always has. Also with AC on when I go from a stop in first gear I get a bad hesitation while letting the clutch out. Our cars are weak and the AC kicks their butt.

Nothing wrong with your car.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

you mean a/c compressor? yeah mine does that too. as soon as it kicks in, the car shakes and all the hp goes away while driving. they when it kicks back off, power comes back.

greeen01civic4d

iTrader: (7)

its called parasitic draw, and most newer cars have it setup so that under wot the ac clutch disengages and power comes back when needed

civiboy

I have the same problem with my 99 plus when at idle everytime the compressor kicks in and my rpm's drop my air goes from cold to warm. I was thinkin if i got a voltage stabilizer would that help?

Ckutch02EX

^That's normal. Put the air on fullblast at an idle with the lights on. Instant dimage and less air. Sit at an idle and hit the gas. The air gets colder till your tac hits normal idle then it dies again.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

compressor works best at higher rpm like 3k. at idle it doesnt do much.

Rbr368

hi im knew here i got a 2006 civic ex with 50,000 milles and i have the same problem turn a/c rpm drops and every 15 seconds it drops to 500 and goes up i was trying to clean the IAC valve but i cant find it is any solucion for this maybe to get abigger battery or alternator please i need help or i got a special muffler i dont know is that makes a diference

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

if the idle is dropping, try to clean the idle valve. when a/c kicks on, the idle should quickly adjust and go up to compensate for the extra load.

https://www.civicforums.com/forums/7...e-up-mods.html

Vince_TB

Well, i'm glad i'm not the only one with that problem!

It kinda sux if you're doing stop and go driving: you can't really turn the AC on and if you do, the air is not that cold.

I have a question : is it bad for the AC to be regularly turned on and off when I do boulevard driving? I let it on when i hit a few green lights and turn it off when idling at reds.

Thanks

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

the compressor turns on and off by itself already so youre fine pushing the button. its made to be cycled on/off repeatedly. i think it olny runs for 30 secs at a time, then turns back off for some time. also if you press the gas down a certain amount (i think 50% throttle or more) it will cut off the compressor so you get more power to accelerate.

Vince_TB

Hey, thanks! I just tried it and it works!

Too bad most cars don't have that issue...guess it's the price too pay for low gas consumption.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

many new cars actually come with electric a/c motors now, so they are completely separate from the engine and do not rob any hp. older belt driven compressors like our civics will still have that problem of power loss.

518civic

ive been notiicing the same problem with my 4 door 99 civic ex 5 speed, except itll hestitate, cut in/out, jump at acceleration even with the a.c off. ive been trying to diagnose the problem for months now tune-ups, new distributer,fuel filter, air filters etc. im stumped and quite annoyed. going to do the clutch soon and see if that makes a difference since it usually happens at 2-3000 rpms afterjust thrown my car into gear. never after 3000 rpms though. most noticable in 2nd and third gear