rugbynut

My son owns two different Honda Civics. A 2006 and a 2008 Hybrid. The 2006 has a cracked block resulting from the manufacturing defect. He recently went out and bought the 2008 Hybrid and got a decent deal. Physically it's in great shape but the A/C isn't working properly and there are a few other minor things that we would like to fix. A couple of the items are super easy one for one type replacements...power window switch and stuff like that. But with regard to the A/C I've done some research about troubleshooting and I am curious about the difference between the hybrid and the non-hybrid editions. If I do discover a bad sensor, fan clutch, or compressor, what are my chances that we can re-use spare parts off the 2006 will help lower the cost of the repair?

ezone

THE COMPRESSOR IS ABSOLUTELY NOT COMPATIBLE
The hybrid has a dual drive compressor. It's belt driven on one end and electrically driven on the other end by high voltage three phase power from the IMA system (IMA is 158VDC nominal)
There's very special highly insulating oil for the system that cannot be substituted nor contaminated without serious complications. And possible electrocution hazard.



Most of the AC problems I see are bad relays, clutch plate wear, pulley bearing failure, and/or field coil failure. Occasionally I see a thermal protector fail too. Honda sells all these external parts for their original compressors. I can almost always replace any of the external parts without opening up the system--never messing with the freon.
Actual internal compressor failure is pretty rare on the original units IMO.

I would never want to jack with replacing a hybrid AC compressor as a DIY. You should consider some serious studying and preparation first before making any decision. Dealers are supposed to have the equipment to handle it. Not many other shops will.

rugbynut

Thank you for your very informative reply. I had done a little bit of research yesterday in just looking to see if something as simple as matching part numbers would give me an inditcation. I saw that the parts and numbers did not appear to be the same in the two searches that I did and figured I was out of luck on the compressor.

Your post at least gives me some hope that it may not be the compressor.

Thanks again. I've joined the forum and I'll start reading up on how to start small (relays, and such) and see if I can trouble shoot it out before consulting a professional if necessary.