lordhelmet

iTrader: (3)

I'm having issue with my air conditioning not working all the time. In a nutshell: when it works it still blows cold as ice, the idle is fine, and there is no difference between stopped and freeway speeds. When it doesn't work it blows warm air, kicks the idle up to about 1500 rpm and cruising at freeway speeds doesn't help. I haven't determined what makes it stop or start working.

Any ideas on what could be causing this?

I'm going to speculate here and say its something up with the compressor clutch.

Albertross

iTrader: (2)

Yeah, could be the compressor.

I brought mine to a shop for an A/C diagnosis because my A/C died. Turned out that the compressor was dead and needed to be replaced. Symptoms were exactly like yours, only mine didn't work 100% of the time.

They were gonna charge me $1500 CAD for the service. Luckily, I got my hands on a Haynes manual.

But, I would say get it checked out by a trained professional before doing anything. Like I said, it could be the compressor that's no longer working.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

yeah prolly the clutch going out. ive seen them kick on for a while, then stop and kick on and off every few seconds. listen to how yours is working with the hood open. if you hear it clicking on and off alot, its prolly clutch, or low on r134a

Thrasher086

Mine clicks on and off every 2-3 minutes. It always blows cold air right now. Should I be concerned about it clicking?

lordhelmet

iTrader: (3)

I think that should be okay thrasher. Saving gas by not being on all the time.

Gearbox. If its low on refrigerant wouldn't it never be ice cold? I'll definitely check the clicking tomorrow.

I really hope its not the compressor but hopefully I can narrow **** down before I get to shell out the big bucks for a new one.

Thanks for the input guys.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

every 2-3 mins is normal. i was talking about every 5-10 seconds. and if its the compressor, get ready to shell out even more for the receiver/drier and the expansion valve/orifice tube and full flush of the system plus adding the right oil and refrigerent and amount. otherwise, the new compressor will be ruined too

prux56

Hey,

I am having the same issue with my 2009 Civic. The air conditioning will work intermittently and more so when you first start a trip but as the trip goes on the A/C tends to just blow warm air. I have already tried changing the A/C clutch relay but the problem still exists. If anyone has any specific information on how what items to check it would be appreciated as I would prefer to tackle this on my own.

Thanks,

P

Reverb2005

You need to check if the fan is cooling the condenser unit.

On all A/Cs there is a hot and a cold side. If the hot side is not being cooled, the cold side will not work. The more the hot side gets cooled, the colder the cold side can get. It is a bit more complicated than that but go and run the car with the A/C and see if the fan on the A/C condenser unit turns on with the compressor. If it does not, you have found the problem.

In your situation, the A/C may be able to cool until the hot side gets too hot and is unable to cool properly.

prux56

Hey,

thanks for the reply. I had a look and all fans are spinning when the A/C is working. I went out for a long drive the other day and eventually the A/C stopped blowing cold air. I pulled over and checked the fans and I was able to confirm that the top plate on the compressor (clutch?) was not spinning but all the other fans were. Its a funny thing as the first time you start the vehicle the A/C works great but over time it stops. I would like to do some circuit checking to see what the issue is but it is hard timing it right for when the compressor stops spinning. I have changed the A/C clutch relay thinking that would fix it but so far it is failing intermittently.

Based on how it is failing it seems like it might be a sensor or relay but I am not sure what to check. Any information is appreciated.

Thanks,

P.

Redneck_cdn

I am having a similar issue and I am suspecting a failing clutch on the A/C compressor. It will start out working ,fans engage, generating cold air and the clutch is running but after things get warm under the hood the clutch will stop engaging and I could see it slip. If I tapped the clutch carefully while running it would start up run for a few cycles and stop again.

The system is charged, high and low side pressures appear to be in the normal range.

Reverb2005

Well if the compressor is not running that is definitely the problem.

The question is why is it not running....

The field coil is basically a big magnet that pulls the clutch against the compressor. The clutch is the part where the belt is actually turning the unit, so when the clutch pushes against the compressor, the compressor turns.

May be a tad bit difficult, but when the problem happens, see if there is voltage being supplied to the field coil. If there is AND the compressor is NOT running you may have a bad coil.

ezone wrote up a short method to test the coil, see it here (need a voltmeter):

https://www.civicforums.com/forums/1...nt-engage.html

ezone

Sounds like both of you need to see if the electromagnetic coil is still ok (resistance check, and check that it's still getting power), then see how much clearance the clutch plate has.
If the clearance is too great, they will quit engaging when they heat up.
Spec is 0.35-0.65mm (.016"-.025").

Watch the clutch plate move in as it engages, see if it LOOKS like more than a half millimeter of movement.

Gap increases with wear, and by 200K they can have a lot of wear..

zjeproks

I was having the same issue and the compressor started making noise. The pulley had alot of play and does not turn freely. I knew it was the bearing so I replaced the compressor pulley and clutch. I did not replace the stator since it's still good. I would have just replaced the bearing but I don't have access to a press and the pulley and clutch have deep grooves from wear. I replaced both without removing the compressor from the car saving time and money from having to have the ac evacuated/vacuumed and charged.

jnissen

Daughters 2008 had this same issue. Diagnosed it down to the clutch. I really did not want to replace the whole AC compressor as I did not feel like opening the high pressure freon system (it was blowing cold and pressures were fine while it did spin).

Ordered a replacement clutch off eBay and was surprised the quality of the unit was good. It took me about 4 hours to do the job. Removed the mounting bolts and wiring harness from the compresor but left all the hoses. This allows the compressor to rotate a bit to get to the front nut that holds on the outer clutch plate. I used a handheld battery powered impact driver and it removed this easily. The really difficult aspect of the repair is removing the circlip that holds the old magnet coil to the compressor. It's down in a groove and difficult to reach. The ONLY tool to get to this clip was the Channel Lock tool here:
Even with this tool I had to extend the two prongs out about and extra 3/8" to reach the clip. Without a good cir-clip tool don't even start the job. Trust me as I broke three cheap ones I had in my tool box or purchased.

Once completed I ensured all wiring was secured as OEM had it. I put on the belt and started it up and it's been cooling great ever since. Remember this thing vibrates a lot at idle so if you skimp and do not secure the wiring correctly you will be doing this job over for a broken wire in a month or two.

hu_man

I have two 2008 model civics that have intermittent ac operation. I can probe the sensor on the a/c comp. with a test light and the a/c will work when it is in the don't want to work situation. One is a good friend and another is just a used car in the shop. Funny how trouble travels in pairs Well if anyone has had this problem I sure would like to hear the repair.
Hugh

jnissen

If it cools well when the clutch does kick on then try to remove the clutch plate and remove the spacer washer. Some guys report that allows the worn clutch to last another 10-50K miles. Mine was a bad internal coil in the magnetic clutch. Replaced and works well. If you can kick the clutch in by tapping it with a small hammer then the coil is OK and the spacing is just worn. Be careful with the hammer tap as it's tight in there and the last thing you want is to be injured or damage the car.

.pS Recommend to replace the relay for the AC clutch at the same time. The clutch often goes bad after having that relay arc and pulse over and over. The collapsing magnetic field will eventually break down the insulin in the coil and make it go out.

2008 Civic NJ

NewJersey2008Civic about a minute ago 2008 Civic A/c
For all of those with 2008 Civic air conditioning problems you need to call Honda Corporation to Complain. COMPLAIN COMPLAIN COMPLAIN 800) 999-1009 toll free Monday-Friday: 6am-5pm PT I called and there was a recall but only on the cars manufactured in a specific location. Unfortunately wherever my car was manufactured and I'm in New Jersey there was not a recall I was told by Honda that if they receive enough calls from cars that were manufactured in the same location that they would then put out a recall so for all of us in the Northeast please call and complain because personally with all the complaints that I'm seeing online this is a serious problem and we should not have to pay for it by the way today in the mail I received a recall notice for my 2008 Civic regarding the airbags when the airbags go off there are metal fragments that could pass through the air bag cushion material causing injury to the vehicle occupants it also stated that your passengers should sit in the backseat and not in the passenger front seat so please check and make sure your vehicle is not part of this recall

ezone

^Multi-forum post^

https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/Discussion-t32429_ds738133


At what point does anyone think a car owner should actually own their car and be responsible for maintaining/fixing it?

cjg

HELLO- I am looking at 2008 Civic for sale, and was doing some research on it and come across your website forum.
I also looked at Edmunds forums, too. I found this message (below) which might interest all of you who still have issues with the A/C. Seeings how there are so many complaints about the A/C system in these Hondas, I believe it may be a good idea to contact this law firm and give your complaint to them. After all, there is strength in numbers:

ukyagr Posts: 1
December 2013
This is a common problem with Honda Civic (all models) ranging from around 2007 through 2012, regardless of mileage. It may affect the electrical system (possible ground fault) or the A/C compressor directly (possible road damage design flaw). In either case it may cause the compressor and/or blower fan to work intermittently or not at all. The Lin Law Firm is currently researching these issues (nothing formal yet). Please submit your situation to the link below, even if the description is not an exact fit to your example.

http://www.thelinlawfirm.com/honda-c...nser-problems/

MOTA-FA5

Hello All,

I have a 2009 Civic SI

I wanted to shed a little light on this issue. There are a lot of forms about A/C not working.

There is one where the A/C not working at all where the Relay in the fuse box under the hood is bad, i had an issue with that really also having the a/c clutch locked on and actually killed my battery when it was off. easy fix after diagnosing.

Most recent Issue was A/C Clutch engaging intermittently. At first start A/c will be fine and ICE cold and 15-20 min later it would stop and just blow hot air. ill turn the a/c off and maybe dive 10-15 min and attempt to turn on A/c and it might or might not work (hit or miss)

I knew a/c was full an no leaks so i narrowed the problem down to A/C compressor/Clutch as i checked all my relays.

My test was not very safe or recommended but after the a/c stopped working after the 15-20 min. while the car on and "a/c controls on" i used a metal rod and manually pushed the a/c clutch plate against the spinning pulley and a/c kicked on and stayed on.

So to fix it i ordered a kit from eBay to replace pulley and coil. I did not want to replace entire A/C because i would have to deal with getting it filled with thw 134A again and all that so i tackled the Job without disconnecting the lines from the a/c though i did need to take off the 4 bolts that held the A/C against engine.

Here is the link i ordered the kit from:http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-A-C-Comp...72.m2749.l2649

Now i changed everything on the kit, the kit comes with 2 washer spacers but tells you the spacing it needs and i only ended up using 1. Its been 2 weeks and A/C has been working great. I been using it every day to and from work.


Now that i think about it, maybe replacing just the front plate (in-front of the pulley) would of been fixed the issue because when i compared the OEM one with the one from the kit, the one from the kit was thinker so possibly the old one was just so worn that the spacing was too much between the plate and pulley that it wouldn't engage.


Hope this helps.

NDNV

Or you could have just removed a spacer/shim from the shaft and the clearance would enough to activate the clutch again. Over time the clearance can get out of spec.

bobscivic

The AC - of my 2008 Civic - stopped working so my son replaced the compressor/clutch. Now the AC wont turn off, it idles very rough, and surges when moving. Seems like something is causing the clutch to engage and disengage randomly. This only happens when the AC is on... I know this because when I pulled the relay, the engine purrs like a kitten.

The refrigerant level is fine. The car gets cold. A new relay didn't help. Not sure what to look at next.

ezone

AC keeps on running even when the controls on the dash are all turned off?

Unplug the HVAC control panel from the dash.

If that gets the compressor to stop running, replace that control panel.

bobscivic

Thanks ezone, definitely going to try that.

Big_C

Hi all -

I've got a slightly different issue with the a/c on my 2008 Civic. When the outside air temperature is cool, the a/c blows nice and cold. When it gets above 90 or so outside it takes several minutes before the a/c starts to blow cool and it doesn't seem to be as cold as it should be. The clutch engages fine.

Thanks for any input!

Chris

GusBuz

Depends on how hot it is outside. The ac system in a car makes a temp. difference but it might not get ice cold because its just too hawt out.
It could be slightly low on refrigerant since ac systems are not 100% leak proof, some gas will eventually leak out over time and that is when you notice the drop in performance of the ac.

ezone

Could be normal.

It can take a damn long time to cool down an interior when it's been baking in the hot sun reaching almost 200*F inside the car..

chuffsy

2010 LXS , 82k miles, South Florida car. Here is the air condition problem I am having . Daily short drives ( less than 45 mins ) the a/c works fine. Fan speed sound increases normally with the associated volume flow of air. On long trips after about an hour or so the a/c stops cooling with corresponding low flow of air even though the fan speed increases at the different settings. After turning off the system for about 20 minutes or so the system works normally again for a little while and then cycle continues. Could it be I am low on freon ?

ezone

Guess: Evaporator core froze.
Why?

Compressor not cycling off, relay stuck?
Evaporator temperature sensor problem?