dvscoupe
05-03-2009, 11:02 AM
Hi All,
I'm not sure if this has been covered before but I thought I'd post this up to help out the other members here if anyone else is having the same issues I was having.
I have a 2002 EU Civic Hatch and about 6 months ago I was having issues with the A/C. What was happening that after driving the car for 20 mins approx or just simply a very hot day the A/C would stop working.
To start I took the car to an A/C specialist to have them regas the system to see if that would rectify the issue to find that it made no difference at all.
I then took the car back to that particular shop and they tested it for a day (supposedly) to report back to me stating that they couldn't fault the setup.
I then decided to have a look myself, what I did was have the car idling with the A/C off then had the misses turn it on and I watched the clutch on the compressor to see if it engaged. I did this for 30 mins approx to find that the clutch would only move slightly after it was at full temp but would not engage. I was then told that the compressor needed to be replaced but the massive price kept me from doing that.
Since christmas the A/C no longer worked at all so I then decided to take it to an auto elec beginning of this week to try to get this resolved. After I explained what I had found they looked at the car for 5 mins and offered a resolution.
What was happening is the clutch on the compressor from factory has to large a gap to the pulley. What they offered was to remove the compressor, replace the gaskets and 'O' rings and reshim the clutch to close the gap up. I had this done on Tuesday just gone and the A/C is now perfect.
What was happening earlier is that when the compressor got hot the shims would slightly expand and open the gap up between the clutch and pulley but the magnet was not strong enough to engage the clutch.
Total cost was $211.75 which was the removal of the compressor, gaskets, 'O' rings, reshim, reinstall and regas. That is actually cheaper than buying a second hand compressor from a wreckers let alone a new one.
If anyone else is having issues with there A/C grab another person and simply try what I noted above. I have put some photo's below which are from different cars but to give you an idea of what I'm talking about.
I hope this helps some other members out with possible A/C issues if they are having them.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b294/dvscoupe/civic/Auto_Compressorbefore.jpg
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b294/dvscoupe/civic/Auto_Compressorafter.jpg
Any questions please feel free to ask :D
I'm not sure if this has been covered before but I thought I'd post this up to help out the other members here if anyone else is having the same issues I was having.
I have a 2002 EU Civic Hatch and about 6 months ago I was having issues with the A/C. What was happening that after driving the car for 20 mins approx or just simply a very hot day the A/C would stop working.
To start I took the car to an A/C specialist to have them regas the system to see if that would rectify the issue to find that it made no difference at all.
I then took the car back to that particular shop and they tested it for a day (supposedly) to report back to me stating that they couldn't fault the setup.
I then decided to have a look myself, what I did was have the car idling with the A/C off then had the misses turn it on and I watched the clutch on the compressor to see if it engaged. I did this for 30 mins approx to find that the clutch would only move slightly after it was at full temp but would not engage. I was then told that the compressor needed to be replaced but the massive price kept me from doing that.
Since christmas the A/C no longer worked at all so I then decided to take it to an auto elec beginning of this week to try to get this resolved. After I explained what I had found they looked at the car for 5 mins and offered a resolution.
What was happening is the clutch on the compressor from factory has to large a gap to the pulley. What they offered was to remove the compressor, replace the gaskets and 'O' rings and reshim the clutch to close the gap up. I had this done on Tuesday just gone and the A/C is now perfect.
What was happening earlier is that when the compressor got hot the shims would slightly expand and open the gap up between the clutch and pulley but the magnet was not strong enough to engage the clutch.
Total cost was $211.75 which was the removal of the compressor, gaskets, 'O' rings, reshim, reinstall and regas. That is actually cheaper than buying a second hand compressor from a wreckers let alone a new one.
If anyone else is having issues with there A/C grab another person and simply try what I noted above. I have put some photo's below which are from different cars but to give you an idea of what I'm talking about.
I hope this helps some other members out with possible A/C issues if they are having them.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b294/dvscoupe/civic/Auto_Compressorbefore.jpg
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b294/dvscoupe/civic/Auto_Compressorafter.jpg
Any questions please feel free to ask :D