marathoner65

Hi All---

I am away for weekend and during drive out of town the AC on my '03 civic hybrid cvt started going in and out (blowing cold then blowing slightly warm then back to cold).

Upon arrival at my destination (70 miles from home) I noticed a very loud screetching noise coming from under the hood. Did not notice the noise at highway speed.

Upon inspection with hood up, the noise is definitely coming from the pullies where the serpentine belt is on passenger side of motor.

Questions for which I would be most grateful for any feedback:

(1) given the symptoms, is this most likely (definitely?) the AC clutch/compressor and or a bearing in same?

(2) is there a way to diagnose/confirm this issue without any tools?

(3) is it safe to drive home (70 mi) with this issue as long as I don't use Ac or defog?

(4) is it possible to replace the Ac compressor diy, or given the freon recapture requirements etc is this one of those jobs for the pros only?

(5) if pro required, what am I looking at for repair/replace cost? Any est would be most appreciated.

Thank you very much for your feedback and advice on this.

Joe

mikey1

probably a bad pulley, which one is anybodys guess,

i would start by removing the belt and spin the pulleys by hand to see if one is abnormally stiff or makes noise,

i am not too familliar with that engine but i believe it has an idler/tensioner pulley, could be that too

ezone

See if it's the same as the problem in this thread:
https://www.civicforums.com/forums/36-mechanical-problems-vehicle-issues-fix-forum/367842-2003-civic-hybrid-heavy-rattle-ac-compressor.html

marathoner65

Thank you. Very helpful. I'm also interested in the idea of driving it back home as is. Is there any risk if I don't run ac? Note engine temp had been fine during all of this.

ezone

If the issue is the compressor pulley, you risk (same as mentioned in other thread) throwing the belt and losing the water pump, if you dont get it shut off in time you risk catastrophic overheat of the engine.


Will it make it home before something lets go? I cannot answer that.

marathoner65

Thank you! I successfully removed the belt, confirmed the issue is with the AC compressor and/or clutch/pulley.

To get home I'm going to replace the current belt with a shorter one and bypass the AC pulley.

Info here:
http://runnells.name/blog/?p=523

Once I'm back in my zip code, I'll explore the diy fix vs others.

Thank you!

marathoner65

Made it back home without incident using shorter belt and bypassed AC pulley. Worked like a charm.

The only hiccup was during tightening of the tensioner pulley and not knowing when the belt was tight enough.

I just tightened by feel and that seemed to be ok.

I'm interested to hear, on the ac compressor, if it is possible to change out the clutch and/or pulley only or if it's an all in one and the entire unit needs to be replaced.

If the latter is the case, I'm going to shop around a bit this week to see if one of the mechanics in town will work with me to remove and the replace the freon for me when needed and I do all other steps.

Thank you again for your help and looking forward to feedback on the ac compressor/pulley fix.

ezone

At work I replace clutch set (plate and pulley) and field coils on a regular basis on almost all of the Hondas.
The individual parts are available through any dealer parts department (and many dealers sell at wholesale prices online).
You'll have to look around to see if aftermarket has individual parts, most want to sell an entire reman compressor.....if one for a hybrid is even possible to get there.
One member found a field coil at the autozoo for a regular Civic.. not sure about a hybrid.
Going by part numbers alone, the compressor and its major parts only fit the hybrid, not a regular Civic.

I really don't like to replace a factory compressor that is still OK and just needs external parts to continue service.


Most of the time I can replace those parts with the compressor still in the car, no need to touch the freon. Sometimes it does speed things up being able to put the compressor on a workbench to do the work.

marathoner65

Thanks! Is there a way to determine the issue with the compressor (clutch, field cool, etc) without removing it? I'm inclined to try to replace these two parts first to save on the freon evac/recharge hassle, but I'm a bit wary the issue with the compressor might be bigger than the clutch and field coil.

Recall above that the Ac would blow good and cold intermittently even as this issue was getting worse. It makes me think it is indeed the clutch but feedback would be most appreciated.

Lastly, I've looked around a good bit, but I can't seem to find a description of how to service the Ac compressor for an 7th gen hybrid. If there is one available that
You know if, I'd be grateful for a link.

ezone

You already did that:

If it worked good prior to when the horrible noises began, I'd expect the clutch was disengaging or slipping as the pulley wobbled.
DIY guide on a hybrid might be hard to come by.

Look at how to do a compressor clutch replacement on any of our compressors (general how to), then you'll have to dive in and see how much you can figure out on your own car.

If you got a belt put on it, you should be able to tell how much of the comp pulley can be exposed in the wheelwell area and how much room there may be to work with it in place, or remove bolts so the entire compressor can be moved away from its bracket if necessary --- without disconnecting hoses.


I've posted (somewhere in this forum) several pics from doing a clutch and coil replacement on an 8th gen Civic, but it's only kinda similar to an older hybrid.

marathoner65

Ok. Got it. Very helpful info. Thank you. I'm going to see how much access I can to the clutch via the passenger side wheel well. After some more reading I think I'm going to try clutch bearing replacement only (~$30) instead of clutch kit and coil (~$200) as a next step.

The fact that the AC pulley is temporarily out of the loop and the car is drivable makes the process much less rushed.

Thank you again for your help on this. Updates to follow.

marathoner65

This past week I ordered and received a replacement AC clutch pulley bearing. Today I installed it without much difficulty.

(1) removed passenger side front wheel

(2) removed wheel well plastic clips and cover to reveal AC clutch and pulley. (Did not need to remove serpentine belt because belt was already bypassing AC compressor--see earlier in thread)

(3) removed AC clutch plate nut, clutch plate, spacer, and clip ring fastener

(4) clutch pulley came off with moderate effort by hand

(5) pushed bad bearing out of clutch pulley with socket and dead blow hammer

(6) pushed new replacement pulley bearing back into clutch pulley with socket and dead blow hammer

(7) replaced clutch pulley onto AC compressor

(8) replaced clip ring, spacer, clutch plate, and clutch plate nut

(9) replaced full size serpentine belt to re-include AC compressor pulley in system---was not sure how much to tighten the belt . . . Tightened to what seem correct.

(10) tested AC: cold air!

(11) buttoned it all back up

After taking the car for a test drive, I've noticed a slight vibration in the motor.

Wondering if the belt is too tight, if the clutch pulley could have been warped during bearing replacement---most importantly wondering if I should worry about the vibration of not. It is not significant, but slightly noticeable.

Looking forward to feedback.

Lastly also, is there a way to determine ideal belt tension?

ezone

You drove the bearing out of the pulley....and drove a new one in... Did you re-stake the inner edges of the pulley so it cant slide off of the bearing?




Watch the pulley spin, does it spin true or does it wobble?

marathoner65

Did not re-stake the inner side of the pulley/bearing, but used lock tight (blue) to keep it on/in. Should I worry?

When the pulley spins I do not notice a wobble, but the vibration is very slight so I'm not sure I'd be able to see a/the wobble.

Is the vibration (however slight) something I should fix (i.e. Just get a clutch pulley kit)?

Wanted to try the bearing replacement project, but it may have been to good ($22.50 for the bearing!) to be true.

ezone

Remove the belt and run rhe engine no longer than about 30 seconds see if vibration is gone or not. (Water pump wont be turning, you can overheat VERY quickly)

The bearing was staked in place for a reason.
I would use a chisel or punch to re-stake the new one in place, same as originally built. Loctite softens with heat, and the engine and compressor are a very high heat environment.

marathoner65

Good advice. Will do as suggested. Thanks!