bluehondaguy

I'm a total noob when it comes to cars.

I have a 2008 Honda Civic EX. The 4 door.

Our ac compressor went out last summer and we had it replaced. It worked perfectly up until about 6 weeks ago. Since 6 weeks ago what it does is this.

After the car sits for a decent amount of time it will blow cold air for 10-15 minutes and slowly fade away to warm air. The cold air doesn't come back on. It just stops. We've waited 30 minutes before and it never comes back on.

We'll park it, and after a couple hours sometimes the air will be cold again for a few minutes and fade away. It has been doing this for weeks.

Today I bought one of those AC PRO recharger things. I tested the pressure on the low side as it said, and it was 78 degrees outside, but the gauge had pressure.

It was 124ish PSI. On the low side.

The clutch wasn't spinning (the outside edge with bolts and all that)

So the clutch didn't seem spinning, and I have high pressure in the low side.

I'll get occasional cold air after the car sits for a few minutes, then it fades. This is what is happening basically.

Pretty frustrating as it is hot for myself and my wife and kids.

I didn't add any of the refridgerant yet. I just wanted to see about it. Thanks!

HELP!

ezone

Don't add any freon.

Observe: When it stops cooling, check that the clutch is not spinning....and see if both radiator fans are running.

If both fans are still spinning, then you're probably looking for excessive clutch gap, open circuit field coil, or a flaky clutch relay.

If you can use a prybar to push on the clutch ring and that makes it engage and run again, even briefly, the gap is too large.

bluehondaguy

Thanks.

I'll check this out. I do know that when the AC stops cooling and I try to turn it on, like I did last night I can hear a (humming) come from the engine when I turn it on.

When I turn the AC off, the humming stops. I assume this is the fans you're talking of?

ezone

You'll have to observe and make that determination yourself.

I don't hear anything.