Rep Power: 0

alright i have a 1997 honda civic ex.
my ac recently went out and the guy replace the freon and it blows cold but not really cold enough. i live in vegas and the temp gets to 100 and higher i run the ac and it cold but not cold enough. is it just that the ac on thease cars are older so not much powerful? or is there something i can add or is it just the summer heat? at night it blows freezing cold air.
so i know its not the ac itself. please anything can help.
(also should i put it on the recycle buttton thing or just ac?)

 
Rep Power: 811

well the problem is by the time that ice cold air gets thru all the hot vents and stuff to the cabin, its already gotten warmer. there is only so much it can do and the best thing is to park in the shade or garage otherwise a hot car will take forever to cool down. during the day with hot sun shining on and in the car, a/c wont help that much on any car. the darker colors are the worst. white and lighter colors will reflect quite a bit of heat so the a/c works better. most newer cars that use r134a refrigerant do not get as cold as the older freon cars unless you drive on the highway. otherwise the condenser does not get enough airflow. the freon is more efficient and doesnt need as large of a condenser. im pretty sure your 97 uses the new stuff.

 
Rep Power: 234

Park in the shade and for gods sake get a sunshade for the windshield and face it toward the sun. They're $5-20 at just about any auto parts or big box (wal-mart, target, big lots, k-mart, etc). I have a black-on-black car in Texas an it helps considerably (maybe 15-20 degrees). At work I back into the space facing the East in the morning then change it to facing West at lunch.

When it's this hot out (15 days straight of 100+ here) nobody's A/C work as good. Hell, when it's this hot sometimes the car will try to overheat too.

Oh yeah, put it on re-circ (re-circulate not, re-cycle) with the windows open an inch or two for a minute or two then close the windows. That should get you to the coldest it can go in anywhere from 5-10 minutes.

 
Rep Power: 0

as much as i dont want a sunshade am going to have to buy one the inside gets extremely hot and i feel the cold air coming out the vents but by the time it hits me its warm thanks for the tip and all be sure to have that re-circulate button on from now on thanks man.

 
Rep Power: 811

i know not everyone can do this, but i leave my front two windows cracked about an inch when parked. enough to vent hot air, not enough to stick a hand in and unlock the door (my power lock button is disabled so coat hangers are useless). and no items of value in the car either (no radio, just a blockoff plate). pretty much if someone wants to steal the car, having the windows slightly down will not make it any easier. i do this all the time when its 90F+ out and the car is still very hot but nowhere near what it would be with the windows up. i have a moonroof and tilt that up too for another vent. even with these tricks the a/c still has trouble. its much harder for it to cool a super hot car thats been sitting in the sun. when i drive it out of a garage, the a/c is ice cold. but after a while of sitting, car just gets too hot. and i refuse to use a window screen cause i think theyre tacky lol.

also yes keep the recirc button on all the time with the a/c. it will make the system work less due to the inside air being cooler than outside. eventually it will continue to get colder. with no recirc on, the air will never get cold enough because it has to cool the hot air from outside.