Rep Power: 0

I live in FL. so AC is a must. My 95 Civic EX lost it's compressor at about 89K - pretty typical I'm told in FL. - pick your car. Anyway - I've gone through 4 compressors in 4 months now.

Finally have 1 that appears to be stable ( Mechanic said he uses original equipment.) but now I have an issue where in the PM bout the time I leave the office 5-6 PM - the AC runs for about a minute at startup and then shuts down.

It loses power completely - check the harness - no power - fuses are OK.

Mechaninc thinks the ECM is strating to go - anybody have in-depth experience with AC issues? Is my mechaninc right? He can't check ECM's and if I do have it checked and the ECM is ok what's next?

How does one resolve an issue like this especially when the ECM may be shot? Even the Honda dealer said the only way to check an ECM is replace it and see if the issue is eliminated?

Thanks for your help.

 
Rep Power: 318

Well, I'm doubtful your ECM is bad. Generally it just won't work period if the ECM goes bad. This sounds like a grounding problem to me, but may be mechanical.

Give me a little more info here. How does the AC turn off? I mean does the compressor turn off, does the light on the button turn off? Is there any correlation, like when you put the car in gear the AC turns off. Does the blower turn off too, is air still moving?

Also, did you have the system properly converted to the R-132? Since you had the compressor replaced, you had to have the system recharged with R-132, this requires different orfices and things like that.

 
Rep Power: 452

well certain circuits can fail from problems that occur within the ECU, but it is usually the last result of a extensive list of circuit diagnosis if there are no problems with any components in the circuit or there are no shorts in any wires, opens, or any wire related problem. then the last thing will usually say to replace the ECU with a known good one and see if it takes care of the problem, if it does, replace the ECU.

But like JRfish007 said, I doubt the ECU is the problem.

Now what kind of mechanic are you going to first off? It sounds highly unlikely that 4 compressors would all go bad in as period of 4 months unless the mechanic isnt replacing the compressor properly. Makes me think that he doesnt add oil to the compressor when he puts them in the car. And they all probably lock up. But hey, unusual things have happened.

But I suggest trying a different mechanic for your repairs, the one you have doesnt sound like he knows what he is doing. I would have gone to a different mechanic the second the second compressor failed.