5spdvroom

I bought a 2005 Civic LX MT sedan toward the end of last summer (101K miles). It's almost at 105K, I've spent some time and money fixing things up, and the car's now running quite nicely.

A little thing I noticed though - when I first got the car, the AC wasn't very cold. I had the dealer do a tuneup, and it was blowing nice and cold for several months (and then we headed into winter), but it's starting to become an issue again. The fan blows nice and hard, the heater is nice and hot, but the AC is cool rather than cold. Like it's not bringing the temperature down as many degrees as it should. If it's 65F outside, I get frigid air coming out. If I blast the AC/defrost in the morning, it successfully defogs the windshield/drys the air after a little while. If it's 95F out, when I really need it, it ranges from cold while I'm on the freeway to merely cool while I'm in the city (it's something, but I've seen these 7th gens put out much colder air than that, including mine when it was tuned up).

I did see a bit of a cloud come out of it several times a while back when turning it on while on the highway, not sure if that had anything doing (didn't smell like anything).

Any ideas? I wonder if I have a Freon leak, though I'm not sure how easy that would be to fix. (All other fluids look fine. Oil level has stayed constant/clean over the last 3-4K, for example. Not sure how often the compressor cycles on/off, since I can't really hear it above other noise when I'm doing anything other than idling.)

Note: I don't know if the dealer did anything to Freon when they tuned it up - I don't *think* they recharged that, but it was cold when I got it back from them, so who knows...

Edit: Also, if I refill it myself, do I have to worry about bubbles of air left in there?

ezone

That's normal. Same phenomenon as a cloud in the sky, it's water vapor coming through the dash vents. Not freon or anything.
This would probably happen more when you have it set on fresh air instead of recirculate.


Use recirculate for coldest air,

See if both radiator fans run when you turn the AC on


If the system is a little low on freon, someone who has the equipment and knows what they are doing could add a bit to top it off.....but it's easy to get too much in it and it won't cool right that way either..

If it has a leak then recharging the freon would get it to cool but it won't last very long...and you'll know it needs the leak fixed.
If it took 11 years to lose enough freon to make it cool poorly, a recharge might last quite a while.


When it gets recharged some UV dye can be added to the system, then after enough leaks out to make it cool poorly you can use a blacklight to look for evidence of leakage (at night or in a dark garage)

CarDriftz

I think needs to char

5spdvroom

OK, so... are those R134a refill kits any good? Some people say they're great, others say the sealant that those tend to have gums things up if you ever have to open the system again (a lot of those also add oil). Or are the kits without sealant OK?

ezone

Sealant might be great for the retailer, it generates profit off of the DIYers that have no hope of fixing things the right way. The retailer doesn't give 2 poops about what's good or bad or what works or what doesn't.


It can be a damn nightmare for the professional, that crap can ruin the $5000+ AC recovery machine we have to use for AC work. If there is nothing to detect and remove sealant before your freon enters the machine, it can get expensive.



DIY freon can be bad if you have no clue about AC fundamentals and don't have the equipment to do it right. It's far too easy to get the amount wrong, then the system still doesn't work right.

If you do know what you are doing and have some basic AC knowledge and have equipment to do so (bare minimum gauge set), that's different.


I'd look for one that includes oil and UV dye. No sealant.

5spdvroom

Yeah, that's what I was worried about (i.e. the sealant will fill the holes... and what else will it go to?).

Will something like work (not sure about the oil bit)?

5spdvroom

Yeah, that's what I was worried about (i.e. the sealant will fill the holes... and what else will it go to?).

Will something like work (not sure about the oil bit)?

ezone

Do you have any idea what you are doing on an AC system?

Yes those would do most of the job, but don't believe this line:

• Low side gauge monitors pressure to aid in getting a correct charge

Using that gauge alone, you will have no clue when it's got enough or way the hell too much.
These very small AC systems allow very little room for errors in capacity/charging. A couple ounces over or under spec and efficiency and cooling can go to crap.


Add a little, stop, see if it cools. (one ounce at a time) Add a little more, stop, see if it cools.



You could probably get the same stuff from Autozone or Walmart or similar stores, and have it in your hands today.