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So I'm stumped. This has been coming on for a bit now I think. About a week ago the A/C wouldn't come on. I pulled it in the garage to possibly charge it up with a can of 134. Well I connected to the low side and had over 100 PSI. The compressor wasn't rotating even though I had the A/C on inside the car. I waited and was about to give up... turned the car on again and A/C was on. My pressure was 30-35 PSI which was in range but I charged it up with another can. Cycled the A/C off and on working fine. Since then I had a couple of times where it didn't come on. I know the switches are working okay because the second fan comes on. I pulled the relays for A/C and swapped them with others since they are all the same and no good. It seems to come on when it wants. Any ideas of things to check?

 
Rep Power: 811

maybe you have a leak, and all the charge went away again?

 
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So yesterday after it decided to come on it stayed on the entire time until I turned the car off. Had to turn it down it was so cold! I left eveything in the on position and this morning it was hot... no A/C for the first 15 miles of my 20 mile drive. Then it just popped on and was like ice again. It isn't losing charge. Just takes forever to come on and does it on its own basically. When it is on the thing works great! Have to turn it down

 
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So today at lunch with it still turned on it worked fine. Went in for an hour lunch and started the car up again... worked fine again. So I just leave it on. Now tomorrow morning I bet first thing it doesn't work again... at least for a while

 
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The other day it never come on. Any ideas or a schematic? Seems it does what it wants when it wants

 
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No A/C people here huh? Well after that post it never works. I will be doing timing belt, water pump and belts soon. While I have it apart if it is compressor related I would like to do something. Any ideas or suggestions?

 
Rep Power: 811

well its possible its just a sensor or something small that needs replacing. our ac is much more complicated than just a few parts like compressor/evap/drier. could even be a bad pressure switch lockout.i can check the manual later, see if they have any troubleshooting tips.

 
Rep Power: 290

^^ It does have trouble shooting tips. Off the top of my head you are suppose to check the voltages at the compressor with it on, check the relay in the under hood fuse box, check the clutch gap on the compressor, jump two of the relay pins together to see if the clutch engages, among other things. There is a sensor on the compressor that should read a certain voltage while at a certain temperature that you also need to check. I don't have my book with me so hopefully gearbox can fill in the blanks.

 
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Any drawings or pieces to check?

 
Rep Power: 811

well the ac pressure switch is near the receiver/dryer (on the right of the consensor). may want to test that first. also check the compressor clutch relay in the fuse box and the condensor fan relay also in fusebox. the owner manual will tell you which ones in the under hood box. if the a/c system is not coming on at all (no ac compressor, no fans) then its prolly the pressure switch. unplug the connector and turn ignition on. measure the voltage at the blu/wht wire. also measure the continuity between both wires on the connector. if the system is fully charged and not leaking, then this may be the problem. does the heater work?

 
Rep Power: 290

If you are having problems accessing the compressor to check these things from the top of the engine bay I suggest you try popping out the two clips on the splash guard from the driver's side wheel well and accessing the compressor through that hole.

 
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The fans come on. The heater works. The system is charged and I tried swapping those relays but it didn't fix.

 
Rep Power: 811

hmm prolly not the pressure switch then, now its sounding like compressor related.

 
Rep Power: 290

Check the clutch itself with a set of feeler gauges.

 
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im with lordhelmet on this... my money's on the clutch. seen similar things happen in my friends Prelude.

 
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Will do. Can someone tell me how this is done and number I am looking to get?

 
Rep Power: 290

Gap needs to be less than .26 inches (i cant remember if that is what mine was at or if that is the maximum gap). I think .17 inches is a good gap to shoot for. Check this gap with a set of feeler gauges. There are shims that you can remove if the gap is too large so don't go buying a new clutch until you check to see if there are shims.

 
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So it doesn't need to come off? Anyone have a writeup and what happens where it doesn't engage?

 
Rep Power: 290

you need to undo two clips from the splash guard in the drivers side wheel well to access the compressor. Stick a feeler gauge in between the pulley and the cover (the two major components labeled number 4. The shims I was talking about are number six.



When it doesn't engage the pulley will spin but the compressor won't due to not being connected to the pulley because the gap is too big.