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In the car's I've owned with A/C, speed/power hasn't been in huge abundance ( that's what the track is for). So one habit I've adopted, is always to turn off the A/C when needing to pass or really when I don't need the cooling as much, to save fuel. My '92 Toyota suffered zero faults/failures with its A/C system in 16 yrs doing this... but apparently reliability like that is a thing of the past.

I've seen quite a few how-to videos covering how to replace the clutch in a Honda A/C system (mostly on Accords but also some Civics), so am wondering if this is a popular part to typically require replacement at my 7th-gen's age/mileage. Do they last longer if you drive with the A/C on all the time, or if you disengage them when needed? I do wonder because I disengage and engage the clutch often at highway speeds (getting warmer here, now days are in the mid-80s, so A/C is getting used quite a bit more).

 
Rep Power: 242

That's hard core gas saving!

Your AC is going to get used more often then someone who lives in the north east so maybe that will wear it faster? Is not using it as bad as using it more often?

My AC quite on me over the winter but it's because the freon leaked out, not due to compressor failure (I'm at 184k).

 
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^ Yep -- it's pretty much between 75 and 90 year-round here (maybe even 95 not too far around the corner, which is straight-up Fort-Jackson, SC friggin' wool-sock-rat-hot).

Mostly my concerns were for the clutch, not really the compressor... the car makes good chilly so far and my token inspection of the lines didn't find any loose joints. If you look on YT for a Honda A/C clutch R&R, it's this rather thin assembly that looks kind of fragile... but I've never owned or wrenched on Hondas to the point where I'd know for sure.

Just wondering what is best practice to keep from needing to swap one, as 1) it's pretty spendy from Majestic at $165, and 2) I'd be hatin' life driving around without A/C, esp as summer's a month out.

 
Rep Power: 199

I replaced mine with an OEM from ebay and it was 50 or 60 bucks. It turns on and off when using it, yes it is a wear item and turning it on and off only serves to increase it's cycles, but IMHO not a big deal, setting the air gap is more important IMO. As it wears it increases, and the magnet isn't overly strong, so too much gap is a fast wear. Pretty sure mine ate some gravel or something at some point, it had some gnarly wear on the plates...

 
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^ Thanks jdb -- IINM, these have to be adjusted with shims, right? According to the proc video I watched recently this isn't a super-tricky job but it does require the shims to fix the gap, if it's out of service limit.

Wear with these kind of clutches can happen yes with debris for sure... but sometimes just getting them hot enough can cause the metal to gall, which then effs the friction for the entire mating surface... that's why I was wondering what kind of life they typically have, esp if one hits the A/C while turning 3500 rpm. If it's way too variable to call, that's an answer... but if there's a ballpark, then at least I can plan for the swap.

 
Rep Power: 185

I have an 02 EX in Honolulu for the last 12 years and it still blows ice cold. The compressor does make some noise when the clutch is engaged, but I don't know how much worse it is now from when I bought it brand new. Not going to mess with it as long it's blowing cold.

 
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Right on Matt -- if anyone can give me a use case identical or higher-load than mine, it's yours. I'm on Maui, but am sure O'ahu's higher freeway speeds and more crawling-in-rush-hour is way harder on an compressor clutch than here. Mine is also an Upcountry car, so the A/C probably wasn't used as much... but it also rains a helluva lot more there than at sea level, which is a corrosion and grit risk.

So far no problems, no noise from the compressor or belt, fast chill, etc. Hope it stays that way.

 
Rep Power: 517

It's a cycling clutch system so it's engaging and disengaging the entire time you have it on to keep the evap temp within a narrow temp range. I haven't seen big problems from 7th gens here in corn country myself...at least not any more than any other.


Someone here (BlueEM2? johndeerebones?) had a comp clutch that they just pulled the shims out of it to make it work again .....Well....I did finally see one 6th gen with a quarter million miles on it that had worn the clutch and pulley so much there was near a full millimeter gap and it wouldn't pull in. The pulley face was actually dished from wear.
I removed all of the shims form the thing and that got the clearance close enough to engage reliably again. Almost free!

 
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^ Sweet! Ah okay, not a showstopper to fix then, that's a relief. If it's been cycling constantly while underway (I barely feel it at all when not accelerating), and if Matt's not having problems yet, then I won't worry about it.

One big diff between this Civic and the system in my old Escort, was that it didn't rob a third of the power just to work (oh, when it was engaged, I definitely knew it). Can't believe that lump made it to 2004 with 2V/cyl.