Hi Guys,

I’ve got a 07 rdx with 116k miles with some weird intermittent AC issue. Basically- it will blow extremely cold hair for a while ( I tried to gauge times but it’s very sporadic and not consistent) then blow less cold air then eventually not cold at all. Turn the system off for half hour or sometimes less, then try to turn back on and it’s back to ice cold. It pretty much works whenever it wants to.

Around 85k miles I changed the AC fuse relay I think he name is, as it wasn’t blowing cold air at all at that time and that fixed it.


Not really sure what could be the issue here - maybe the thermostat? Does it need a new AC compressor that maybe some of the internals don’t work? Hoping someone had similar issue and can share their sage advice.

Thanks again

 

Does it do the same thing whether or not it's on the "auto" setting?

 

Mine did the same thing. There is a temperature override in the compressor that is not serviceable. It kept getting worse so I had to replace compressor.

 

Check that ac clutch is engaging when you turn on the ac

 

Yeah it doesn’t matter whether it’s on Auto or AC - it’s the same issue.

 

hmm I was afraid of same also - that I might just have to replace the compressor altogether but was hoping I could still save it.

So changing the compressor fixed that for you completely?

 

Thanks for suggestion - I’m not that car savvy. Can you provide some steps or point me to a video to help me check?

im assuming it engages since cold air comes out but then it stops, then it’s cold again so idk.

 

it should be on passenger side engine bay, it's the bottom pulley. Have some one in the car and tell them to turn ac on off while you watch from top, it should move in and out when ac button is pressed. Mostly overtime there is rust and debris build up which prevents the clutch from engaging or it will work intermittently. Have someone remove the clutch and clean it with a grinder or remove the shim and install and check the gap, gap should be between 0.35-0.65 mm. That's what happened in mine, i cleaned it and put it back and it worked fine.

 

Thank you very much for the well detailed explanation! I will check on this.

 

It worked perfectly when cool. When it got hot outside and I needed it, it would work for a while. If I went to the store and turned the car off or if I got on the gas hard enough for the computer to turn off the compressor it would not restart. New compressor fixed it completely.

 

this sounds exactly the same as what is happening with my 09 accord. nice cold ac for a while, random duration, then the air starts not being cold anymore. let turn it off for 10-30 minutes and it comes back nice and cold. i figure the compressor was kicking off, assumed due to a heat related issue, pulley is on when its blowing cold and off when blowing not cold. didnt know much more on how to diagnose.