Rep Power: 0

I've been juggling with this one for over a month, but now it's getting real hot outside and I need help.

I have a honda civic 2002. Last year, when very hot and running at low speed, the a/c stopped working during a few minutes to start again when I was driving a bit faster. This happened a couple of times, but I didn't worry that much.

This year though, it got worse. Everytime it's very hot outside, the a/c will run fine until I slow down and the car gets to idle and it won't start again until the car has cooled down. One very important point, it ALWAYS works fine when the car is cool. After suspecting it was probably linked to the heat, I decided to take a ride on the highway during a couple of hours. Everytime I was driving at high speed with a lot of wind, the a/c would start working fine. Of course, if I stopped, it would stop working until I got enough wind back on the highway to cool things down. Also, when the a/c stops working, the engine revs very high at idle. If I get the DTC code, it sometimes gives me a code 9.

I brought the car to a small garage nearby and the mechanic told me he wouldn't touch my a/c because the gas was not recognized. I then told him I was very surprised, because it was never touched after I bought the car brand new at Honda. He then told me to go to see my Honda dealer, because the gas was not a recognized one and he didn't want to contaminate his reserve.

I then brought my car at my honda dealer and asked them to check which gas was inside, what was the pressure and if there was a leak. The "a/c specialist" there told me something that made me worried a bit... He said: " well, you are not low on gas that's a fact, because your a/c is working sometimes". I'm not very knowledgeable, but even if you are a bit low on gas, the a/c might still work for a while... Anyway, as I expected, the diagnostic was that I should change the clutch, compressor and coil before refilling the gas. They told me that the clutch was bad since it was not engaging (???) If it's totally bad, then why does it always work when I start the car? It's hard to be wrong when you change everything, but it's also a lot more expensive. They told me it would cost me around 2000$

I was thinking that it was a sensor problem, but I can't trust any local "specialist" anymore.

Any help here please

 
Rep Power: 519

There are several possibilities, and easy to diagnose IF the problem will consistently present itself and the person checking has some knowledge of what they are working with.

Since you say it cools good when it does work, then it isn't a freon problem. It's electrical.

A feeler gauge set, a test light, volt-ohm meter, and maybe a wiring diagram would be needed, and of course you need to have the problem act up long enough to do some testing before it starts working again.

These issues come to mind:
Clutch coil open
Thermal protector open
Clutch air gap too large

If it is any of the clutch parts (pulley and clutch set, or the field coil), they are available separately from the compressor through Honda. I would not trust an aftermarket reman, far too many problems.