Rep Power: 0

Greetings and a big Texas Hello!

So my daughter brought the car home for winter break and stated "the air conditioning is broke".

Long story short she had hit something in the road and bent a bracket into the condenser.

The condenser replacement was straight forward. I took it to the shop for a evac and recharge. Shop calls back that it is recharged, no leaks but the compressor won't come on.

I'm mechanically dangerous and electrically inclined so decided to continue on myself and not get soaked by the mechanics rates.

I started troubleshooting this morning and noticed the compressor does come on for about 10 seconds and quits. The ONLY way to get it to come back on is to restart the car---10 seconds then quits again.

I replace the A/C Compressor Clutch relay with a known good relay and the same issue---10 seconds and the compressor quits.

Yes, I should of probably stopped and came here on the forum to ask for next step troubleshooting. BUUUUUT I get the idea of jumping across the relay, (pins 1 and 2) and COLD Air! Compressor stays on and I'm almost happy until----

I hear a huge **** of Air and I see cloudy mist inside the garage.

So I'm sure the compressor over pressurized but I'm not sure why. And the reason the compressor stopped after 10 seconds was to protect itself.

So my question, what happened and why? My guess is the compressor will need changed? Advise and guidance much appreciated. It's going to get hot in Texas soon!

Thanks in advance---please don't flame me to hard!

 
Rep Power: 519

High side far too high. Overpressure venting occurred.
Next questions and answers may lead to determining 'why'. How long did you have the jumper in place and engine running?
While you did this, were the radiator fans running?

 
Rep Power: 0

So the shop overcharged it?

Ok, turned the car on with the relay and same results. Compressor turns on for 10 seconds with BOTH radiator fans confirmed on.
Just to confirm I jumped the pins again to verify. The compressor turns on, the A/C blows cold and both radiator fans do come on. This time I only had it on for 30 seconds to avoid the over pressure condition.

This is very odd...

 
Rep Power: 519

Can't tell yet. More info needed.
Fans running but system only runs for 10 seconds...Does the engine sound labored when it reaches the point of shutdown?

It's sounding like the shop could have overcharged the system.

A set of AC pressure gauges could confirm this (system shuts down around 450 PSI high side), or pressure checks could be the first step in diagnosing why this is happening.


Was the system charged by a professional who uses a recovery station that charges by precise weight, or was this system refilled using 1lb cans from a parts store?

You replaced the condensor....you didn't use a genuine HONDA Part?
Could the aftermarket condensor have a smaller capacity than the original? (They are usually smaller capacity, and that would affect the necessary charge amount away from original specification.)

It's real easy to get these small-capacity systems overfilled.

 
Rep Power: 0

Yes, fans run for the whole ten seconds before compressor stops. The engine is not labored and sounds normal while the compressor is running.

I only purchased the low pressure gauge when I charged the system with UV to find the initial leak. Appears I'll have to spring for the fancier gauge kit.

I used a professional and what I thought was a reputable shop for the evac and recharge.

I replaced the condensor with an aftermarket unit. So that might also be part of the issue.

 
Rep Power: 519

Assuming an overcharged system, you could return to the shop that charged it, see if they will make it right (probably remove refrigerant until pressures are within normal ranges)

 
Rep Power: 0

Ok, this what I have.

Low pressure is 30 psi

High Pressure 400 psi

Car is struggling, sounds like it wants to stall.

 
Rep Power: 519

Fans operation already confirmed, possible aftermarket part capacity difference issue already mentioned....

I expect the system is (very) overcharged. Return to the shop?

 
Rep Power: 0

It is your Relay in the Fuse box in the engine bay. I had the same problem and spent $2000 to fix it and it was just a relay.
its a big fat one almost square shaped. It should be Relay/Fuse 56.