97 Civic Air con not overly cold

[mycxi]

Hi all,

We have a 97 Civic and the aircon, although is 'cold' compared to fan only, is not overly effective on a warm day and isn't terribly cold on full. The car has only 58,000k (yes you read right), and hardly gets used so I'd be peeved if it needed a regas. Is there anything else I can check/adjust/replace (like filters etc) myself before I book it in?

Thanks

[denmase]

Yes.. i ve just got My 97 civic regas ..$85 bucks.. now its nice and cold.

[mycxi]

$85? That seems cheap. I guess it was nowhere near Sutherland was it?

[denmase]

Got mine done near Bankstown .. but theres heaps of them around Taren Point, Caringbah sutherland.

[mycxi]

Yeah, but I'd be surprised if any of them are $85! Will do a ring around, thanks

[Sherweeeny]

just regas the thing and change the filter...

doesnt matter how many kays the car has.

[I heart the SSS]

If none of the above work, try the evaporator in the big plastic box, which is located under the glove box area in the passenger footwell.

Thats why mine isn't icy cold.. I needed a new small radiator looking thing which goes into that box!

Apparently it's called an evaporator..mine was leaking?

[mycxi]

This has now supposedly been tested, regassed and and a new filter, at a cost of $175, and its SLIGHTLY better, still not COLD. I know we've had hot days, even in Sydney, but I would have expected after 10min it would be nice and cool inside - I've found I need it on full for my whole journey anywhere, and its still not 'pleasant' inside.

Now, we don't use this car much, hence the low k's, so maybe these civics aircons arent the most effective? I know some cars tend to have better aircon systems than others - but surely it should be better than described?

[thepope1986]

ok get yourself a digital thermometer turn ac to max cold and fan speed 2 and check what it says. on a 25 or so degree day it should read around 7degrees but if the ambient air temp outside is really hot the AC wont work anywhere near aswell

[dahon]

civics have icy cold a/c man... for me 1min and its freezing...

i agree with justin(SSS), check your evaporator for leak/if fluid is flowing through it.
if youve regassed & changed the filter then your evaporator may be the problem..
either that or your a/c compressor is **** and that would be a b*tch to fix (new compressor costs like 500+)

[dcnl]

how much would a evaporator be to fix? cause im having the same problem. mine is abit wet if i feel the big plastic box, but its not dripping water.

[kriZy]

same here

i just regassed for $70 in sydney :D
and it was leaking on passengers side.

my mechanic found the problem and replaced the hose pipe.

its still not cold... can anyone confirm how much evaporator costs to fix?
also where to go and get this done in sydney?

im thinking .. ultra tune?

[kriZy]

anyone?

its still not cold... can anyone confirm how much evaporator costs to fix?
also where to go and get this done in sydney?

[dahon]

bro call honbits or a honda wrecker and ask how much a 2nd hand evaporator costs?
yellowpages is your friend

[dcnl]

evaporator is 110 bro. second hand one. is your one dripping leak or just wet on the box?

[kriZy]

fixed the leak.
just that aircon isnt cold after it has been regassed.

[dcnl]

is it still cold now?

[mycxi]

I'm still not happy with mine so I rang a different place (unlikely the place that did it will say 'yeah, we stuffed up') and I'm going to take it down there to be checked. What he did say however is that being dark green with the dark interior they really do suck the heat in the hot weather so its likely that the air is working as it is, that its just the bad heat we've been having. Will see.

[kriZy]

I'm still not happy with mine so I rang a different place (unlikely the place that did it will say 'yeah, we stuffed up') and I'm going to take it down there to be checked. What he did say however is that being dark green with the dark interior they really do suck the heat in the hot weather so its likely that the air is working as it is, that its just the bad heat we've been having. Will see.

what have you done to the aircon?
same as me? (regassed aircon, fixed leak)

or did you get a new evaporator?

[RtN]

its not the evaporator you need to replace I believe, I think its the TX valve, thermal expansion valve. It's inside the evaporator I believe so you shouldn't have to replace the whole thing save you some money. It might get clogged up sometimes. Just talk to your air con guy.

[kriZy]

oh thanks RtN,
hope your right :D

Aircon guy, i don't have one. Can you recommend one?

I know Ultra tune services aircon.. maybe they know?

[dsp26]

StageCo in Blacktown.. they were offering a full service ($150 inc, regas, oil and seal tests, etc) a month ago for $88 but regardless they do a good job.

No one can really guess with an aircon system... i tried everything suggested here to no avail until i took it to an aircon guy when we discovered the clutch in the compressor had worn..... of course this should've been obvious to me since in it's dying days the only way to get it cols was to rev the **** off the engine :/

only for me to blow all the guess after finally getting it fixed since i didn't install the banjo bolt for the hose properly and blew off lol

[dahon]

dang.. yeah where abouts u from krizy? i kno theres a place on hoxton rd prestons/livo area that services aircons... does a pretty good job there...or dood check out yellow pages, theres a whole section for car a/c there..

it reminds me of my old corolla... a/c compressor bearing failed, made a super grinding noise.. when you flicked a/c on it would basically act like a kill switch... extra strain on engine during my already rough idle would jus kill it... that doesnt come cheap either.. lucky for me got rid of the car and got me a honda.. hehehe

[omgzilla]

I can't believe no one has asked if you checked that your condenser fan is running when A/C is switched on???

[dahon]

^^ LOL good point

[kriZy]

dang.. yeah where abouts u from krizy? i kno theres a place on hoxton rd prestons/livo area that services aircons... does a pretty good job there...or dood check out yellow pages, theres a whole section for car a/c there..

it reminds me of my old corolla... a/c compressor bearing failed, made a super grinding noise.. when you flicked a/c on it would basically act like a kill switch... extra strain on engine during my already rough idle would jus kill it... that doesnt come cheap either.. lucky for me got rid of the car and got me a honda.. hehehe

yo dahon, yeah im from that area, what's this place called?

[dahon]

um its near western tyre and wheel..
on hoxton park road, just before lyn pde (the ampol - going in the direction of hoxton park) methinks..
i got my a/c regassed there once..
but not sure as to if theyre reliable with repair work and that...
i guess just check it out but not 100% on how they are.. my dad says he has the vibe that they aint that good though lolz

[kriZy]

um its near western tyre and wheel..
on hoxton park road, just before lyn pde (the ampol - going in the direction of hoxton park) methinks..
i got my a/c regassed there once..
but not sure as to if theyre reliable with repair work and that...
i guess just check it out but not 100% on how they are.. my dad says he has the vibe that they aint that good though lolz


dang.. yeah where abouts u from krizy? i kno theres a place on hoxton rd prestons/livo area that services aircons... does a pretty good job there...or dood check out yellow pages, theres a whole section for car a/c there..

first you say its good then you say its not reliable WTH are you saying?

[dsp26]

first you say its good then you say its not reliable WTH are you saying?

he got gassed up there. they did their job.

in terms of repair work he doesn't know how reliable they are

[dahon]

^^ correcto mundo dsp
sorry krizy hehehe
cheers =)

[EGJOE]

If you need a regas it means you have a gas leak!!! Leak has to be located and repaired before regasing. Otherwise money down the drain!!!
Too many scenarios to why ac is not cold, take it to a good auto air cond mob. :)