2008 Civic Hybrid air conditioning stops cooling while car is working hard
 

Hi -

On two occasions now while on a road trips, my AC has decided to stop producing cold air. It's only been while the car is full of passengers (more weight), when I'm traveling at about 70 mph and it's warm outside. If I turn it off for about 20 minutes, then back on - it will start blowing cold AC again. Any ideas on what this might be?

Thank you,

Tyler

Re: 2008 Civic Hybrid air conditioning stops cooling while car is working hard
 

Does the fan in the dash still blow air out of the dash vents when this happens?---
---or does the air slowly quit blowing out the vents even though the fan is running?


The system is designed to shut off the AC compressor while the gas pedal is pressed down significantly (for better acceleration, because the compressor requires quite a bit of power to run), could this be the issue?


If it's not matching either of these descriptions, it might need to fail long enough for someone to diagnose it.

Re: 2008 Civic Hybrid air conditioning stops cooling while car is working hard
 

Yes.


I don't believe so.

Re: 2008 Civic Hybrid air conditioning stops cooling while car is working hard
 

If the engine is running hot or overheating, the AC system can be locked out by the powertrain control unit. I'd see what the operating temperature reads on a scanner while the system is 'broken'....


Otherwise, it sounds like one will need to diagnose it while it's inoperative.

When the AC quits, can you see if the radiator fans are still running?'


You could toss a clutch relay at it, that's a cheap guess.