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While driving yesterday the AC in my Civic was working great on my way to the store. When I was going to leave the store my car started fine, but the idle dropped quickly like it was going to stall then it normalized and I noticed the AC was no longer working. There IS pressure in the system, all I did to check this was push the schrader valve a bit. I checked all fuses, swapped the ac clutch relay and the condenser fan relay, but the clutch still won’t engage. The blower motor works, condenser fan works; I jumped the pressure switch on the receiver drier, the clutch still didn’t engage.
What’s a good next step to take?
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There is 14.1 volts with the car running and ac on (same as battery). As far as a pressure problem, I jumped the pressure switch which should engage the clutch if it weren’t working due to too low or an over charged system. So there is power making it to the compressor.
[quote=”Bernard_s3″ post=139496]There is 14.1 volts with the car running and ac on (same as battery). As far as a pressure problem, I jumped the pressure switch which should engage the clutch if it weren’t working due to too low or an over charged system. So there is power making it to the compressor.[/quote]
If power is going the the clutch. ohm out the coil to see if its open. If coil has resistance
check the clutch gap. this link should help.http://www.hondacivicforum.com/forum/mechanical-problems-technical-chat-8/c-cycling-off-83764/
You can also test the clutch by unplugging the A/C relay and jumping the load side terminals in the relay socket. If the engine is running and the blower is on and the A/C is selected, jumping those terminals should energize the clutch. If it works, the clutch is good and the issue is in the control circuit. If it doesn’t work, it would be safe to assume the clutch is bad, as long as there is 12v at the relay socket.
Checked ohms by how this diagram indicated, and got 3.7. (not sure if outside temp has anything to do with the reading, it was 90F)
[URL=https://imageshack.com/i/pb3wmAcBj][IMG]http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/640x480q90/911/3wmAcB.jpg[/IMG][/URL]I also checked for continuity between these two contacts and got nothing. Not sure if this is a valid test or a bad thermal protector or a short along the wire.
[URL=https://imageshack.com/i/ipYzs8B0j][IMG]http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/640x480q90/673/Yzs8B0.jpg[/IMG][/URL][quote=”cap269″ post=139583]You can also test the clutch by unplugging the A/C relay and jumping the load side terminals in the relay socket. If the engine is running and the blower is on and the A/C is selected, jumping those terminals should energize the clutch. If it works, the clutch is good and the issue is in the control circuit. If it doesn’t work, it would be safe to assume the clutch is bad, as long as there is 12v at the relay socket.[/quote]
How do I figure out which are the load side terminals to jump?
They are usually wider than the control side terminals, or they are copper colored, or there is a diagram on the relay itself. A relay has two “sides” — the coil side and the contact side. The coil side is the control side, the contact side is the load side. You want to jumper the contact side, not the coil side (that would be a direct short to ground and blow a fuse)
[quote=”Bernard_s3″ post=139687][quote=”cap269″ post=139583]You can also test the clutch by unplugging the A/C relay and jumping the load side terminals in the relay socket. If the engine is running and the blower is on and the A/C is selected, jumping those terminals should energize the clutch. If it works, the clutch is good and the issue is in the control circuit. If it doesn’t work, it would be safe to assume the clutch is bad, as long as there is 12v at the relay socket.[/quote]
How do I figure out which are the load side terminals to jump?[/quote]
You would power c wire and ground the ground
Ran a wire from the positive terminal to C and grounded the ground and the clutch engaged! Looks like I need to replace the thermal protector. Thank you guys for all your help!
[quote=”Bernard_s3″ post=139768]Ran a wire from the positive terminal to C and grounded the ground and the clutch engaged! Looks like I need to replace the thermal protector. Thank you guys for all your help![/quote]
Sounds good. keep us posted on your progress. 🙂
[quote=”Bernard_s3″ post=139380]While driving yesterday the AC in my Civic was working great on my way to the store. When I was going to leave the store my car started fine, but the idle dropped quickly like it was going to stall then it normalized and I noticed the AC was no longer working. There IS pressure in the system, all I did to check this was push the schrader valve a bit. I checked all fuses, swapped the ac clutch relay and the condenser fan relay, but the clutch still won’t engage. The blower motor works, condenser fan works; I jumped the pressure switch on the receiver drier, the clutch still didn’t engage.
What’s a good next step to take?[/quote]Sounds like exactly what happened to me last week but I own a Saturn. I posted it on another thread tho. Isn’t this called Hijacking A Thread ? Don’t know the term. I still haven’t found the problem and I’ve done the same thing you did to eliminate things. It’s really hot and humid here. lol. Just to add a funny note, I was leaving work yesterday and an older lady I work with said her A/C quit working on her Saturn Vue. She had all her windows down and I asked her, “Don’t you use your air conditioning ?” She said, “I’ve been meaning to get it to the shop the last few days”, “it just quit working.” “It only blows out hot air now.” I said, “Isn’t your compressor coming on ?” “Push the button”, she said “What button ?” “This one ?” I said, “Yeah, the one with the snow flake.” Holy, Moly, she didn’t have the A/C button on. I may have just saved her a $150 service charge. Some shops here charge that just to check it. lol. Not likely they would have for that but I don’t trust most shops in this city. She’s a nice lady tho.
Found the problem with mine tonight. Faulty relay power connector in the relay/fuse junction box. I just had a thought to wiggle the relay and see what happens. Sure enough the compressor clutch engaged and when I let go, it shut down. So, at the shop I took it to last month said it was the relay and diode, which now appeared to be a joke due to my findings. $370 for labor, evac and recharge a relay and diode they said was bad. Well, they failed to authorize a repair first so I went back to them after the refrig leaked back out and talked to the service manager that the problem was never found, plus I never authorized a repair anyway. I got refunded for the parts and evac and charge but not the labor which is understandable. Anyway it’s working again, finally after all the testing I did yesterday in 93 degree heat and 60 % humidity….get out your tiny violins and bows.
How do you find connection issues in the relay/fuse under the hood box ? The A/C relay works for a while and you have to open the hood and the box and wiggle the relay for the clutch to engage again, then it stops after driving it, for say 15 min. I was testing the relay connection at the right upper connector at the box with a T-Push Pin and it went in easier than the other 3 connection pins. I was thinking of moving the current connecting wires to an open socket below it and see what happens. The box opens so it can be moved to the blank or whatever that’s called when ones not used, like a spare fuse socket. I haven’t looked into what might be causing it yet. Maybe I should do that before attempting to move anything and see if it’s something simple like I assume it could be. Thanks for your advise.
Perhaps use a small pocket screwdriver, or similar, to bend or squeeze the ears on the terminals in the socket closer together to make a tighter contact with the relay
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