Rep Power: 0

Have a 2003 Civic with an a/c clutch that won't catch. After switching out the relay and checking a few other items I bypassed the relay and it kicked on but it was rough. I did it again and it stalled the engine. Air came out of the vents cold and the pressure gauge read normal pressure once I got it going. Any idea what could be the issue? Thanks.

 
Rep Power: 120

Typically in this senario it’s suggested to “measure” the air gap in the clutch.

Maybe yours is just beyond the working limit, but by providing a direct connection you also skipped a few 1/10colt voltage drop in all the factory wiring and that was enough to allow it to grab.

When the PGM turns on the AC, it also boosts the engine power so it doesn’t stall out. By manually energizing you skip that process.

Hopefully you just need to remove a shim from the clutch to fix it.

 
Rep Power: 0

That didnt fix it but I was able to get it going. Traced the wiring diagram and jumped the wires at the Thermal Protector. Now it works without a problem. Can I just keep this jumped?

 
Rep Power: 0

Bump. Just want to see if anyone believes that this solution is inadvisable? Is the sensor easy to replace? I cannot seem to get a good view of it without removing anything else.

 
Rep Power: 223

Definitely not a good idea to keep it jumped

 
Rep Power: 120

Look at worse case scenario..
Compressor overheats, shaft and pump expand beyond tolerances, shredded metal enters ac lines, finally compressor either hand grenades or completely seizes resulting in loss of belt and alternator power.

Real issue is I am not sure that’s a reset-able circuit. Meaning the compressor maybe already overheated, “popped the safety” and it never resets. Now if you “force” it to continue to run your going to quickly have a event as the compressor has already failed.

 
Rep Power: 225

If the compressor clutch gap is too large it slips and begins heating up, the thermal protection will kick in to prevent damage. Did you check the gap and remove a washer if necessary?