So I had this A/C problem since last autumn and no one seems to know what is causing it.

Here's the story: Last autumn I drove to school with the heating on. On the way back the weather got warmer and the A/C was supposed to come one but it didn't. I pulled over and tried to examine the engine bay in order to spot something fishy, but the only thing I noticed was that the A/C would come one for ~20 seconds while both the cooling and condenser fans were running. That SAME DAY I get back home and notice that one (or both) of the fans is still running after I shut off the engine. This was weird since it wasn't really hot and the fan had NEVER come on in this kind of temperature. An hour later I went out and saw that the fan was still running. From that day on the A/C stopped working completely and the fans come on sometimes and don't stop.

My mechanic said that the the problem with the fans is due to faulty relays. Now that is possible but I think that it is extremely weird that both problems happened the same day. My mechanic also told me that the a/c problem might be due to lack of freon in the system caused by a small leak somewhere. So I went to an Acura dealership in order to get a recharge and basically one hour and $110 later I found out that there was enough freon in the system for the A/C to run (they even added more to be sure).

In two days I am going to see another mechanic but I don't want to spend hundreds of dollars on diagnosis that might possibly lead me nowhere just as the previous ones had. So did anyone have any similar experiences/problems?

What can I try to do myself in order to troubleshoot (note that I'm not too car-savvy). What can I tell the mechanic that is doing the diagnosis so it would help out in any way.

I have a 98 3.2. The heat works. I tried the climate control diagnosis and it didn't do anything. I had the thermostat, coolant, and all the belts changed recently.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

There's quite a few things that have changed. It will be difficult to pinpoint what's causing the AC not to cool.

The fan turning on is normal. It is to protect the engine. The fan should turn off after a predetermined time, like 10~15 minutes (am not positive how long, but for me it takes a long time). It is not temperature related, I thought I can open my hood to let the heat out and try to shorten the fan being on, does not work. The fan is set to a timer.

Turn on your engine, the fan shuts down. Shut down the engine, the fan is re-set to turn on again for a few minutes.

I remember my 1st trip to the Acura dealer (year 2000, bought the car, 2 years old and 22K miles) and I complained about this, was told it is normal. Since then, there has been a ton of posts on this.

 

I know that the fan turning on for 15 or so minutes is normal when it's hot outside or after a long drive in relatively warm weather. It is not normal in late September when I usually wear a jacket. On top of that the fan never ran for more than 15 minutes in blazing hot weather, whereas it didn't stop in relatively cold weather and ran for an hour until I took out the fuse . There is definitely a problem there.

 

I've been lucky with my TL, but last year I blew a high pressure hose and had it replaced and recently, I had a brain freeze and disconned a hose ajd let the freon escape. Luckily, that only cost me $45 to get recharged.
Do you gert any recycling at all when the AC should come on? We can probably look into the trouble shooting for it.

 

When engine OIL temp is above 198F, the radiator fan (pax side) will run for about 15 mins. If radiator fan runs longer than 15 mins, either a faulty oil temp switch, damaged wiring (short), or faulty radiator fan control module. An easy check is to disconnect the engine oil temp switch. Fan should not come on when engine is off. Oil temp switch is located on valve cover (pax side I think, diagram is not clear).

AC may be something real simple; clutch gap too large. Try rapping the clutch face w/ a hefty stick when AC should engage. If clutch engages and begins to cool, the problem is excessive clutch gap. Fix is easy; remove a shim beneath the clutch plate. Bad news is accessing clutch face may require disassembly of AC and compressor removal.

On some cars you can dismount the compressor and rotate slightly for access to the 10mm socket size bolt holding the clutch plate on. You need restraint tool to keep clutch plate from rotating or use air impact tool to turn.

If not clutch gap, then problem is likely electrical; faulty high/low compressor cut-out switch, faulty AC relay, open compressor clutch coil, etc.

good luck

 

I am not sure what you mean by recycling when AC should come one, could you clarify please. I wanted to look at the troubleshooting in the electronic (PDF) service manual, however all the flowcharts seem to be missing.

In a previous post you mentioned that it might be a thermoswitch (same as oil temp switch?) and it was not the problem. My mechanic then wiggled and tapped on the fan relays and they stopped. So he prescribed the problem to degrading fan relays. I will keep what you wrote above in mind and mention it to my mechanic as I am not to car-savvy as I said before.

The Acura dealership that I went to told me that it's an electric problem. I'm not sure if they checked if it could be the clutch gap problem. I'll try to look at the manual to see how the AC clutch looks like and then try to see if it's possible to make it engage with your suggested method.

Thanks a lot TexasHonda and tempetom, I'll let you know how this works out.

 

What I meant was was the compressor clutch cycling on and off. It sounds like it wasn't.

 

Question on the A/C

My TL's AC will not engage. Turns out that there was a TON of air in the lines, and far too much pressure, to boot. But I refilled with some freon (134a+) and gave it a shot. The high pressure line got real cold real fast.... The low pressure line... nothing. Where is the low pressure line switch? The Relay? Can't find it!

 

It's best to start your own thread. It get's confusing responding to two similar or related problems.

good luck

 

Air in the system not good at all for AC. You need to "suck" all the air out before putting any freon in it. Then recharge it with proper amount of oil and freon.

Thing I hate is when AC doesn't work and people just start recharging it without any proof that it is low. In your case you knew that there is air in there but you still did it. It can easily end up in blown compressor and no AC for a while.

 

I'm a bit irked that the trouble shooting part of the CD manual for AC seems to have it either removed or somehow, hidden. I know it doesn't come up in a link. Granted, we aren't supposed to work on our own AC, but I don't appreciate this. The manual I have is better than nothing, but leaves a lot to the imagination of guys like me.

 

I guess the best thing to do is buy a paper copy like Texas Honda has in order to get the full package.

 

OK, so the problem appears to be caused by the climate control. A new one costs $1700 + tax and the dealer also offered (for no good reason) to sell the A/C button for ...get this - $170+ tax! I don't really understand how the climate control unit can work properly but at the same time fail to turn on the A/C, but from what the mechanic showed me it seems like that there is nothing else that can be causing the problem.

These cars are VERY rare up here and I wouldn't even know where to start looking for a used one except for ebay. Question is, what if the used part that I potentially buy also has the same problem? Crappy situation here.

 

Does AC work when manual control is selected? If yes, forget about ATC and simply use manual controls. If controller will not work in manual mode, you should try to find a replacement panel (dash panel). See car-part.com. I saw them for around $100, but shipping may be expensive. Look local first. Ebay may be an option.

I would also try removing the connector to the ATC, cleaning contacts w/ cleaner, and reinstalling. This has cured a few ATC's.

Also the ATC has some internal built in diagnostics that can be accessed. Have you looked at this?

good luck

 

It does not work in manual mode sadly. I was thinking of removing the Climate control panel and unpluging/pluging back in. What should I use to clean the connector contacts? I tried to run the diagnostic but it didn't seem to do anything.

Thanks for the help TexasHonda.

 

Best is a polishing tool such as small pencil eraser sharpened to a point to polish the contacts. A small amount of contact grease might help also. If this doesn't work I would look to a used ATC using car-part.com to locate.

good luck

 

sorry that i am interrupting your post but i have to find an answer, what kind of belt does a 1997 TL 2.5 use on the A/C compressor?

 

My Acura parts book shows 38920-P1R-003 and -004 for the belt. I think it's a grooved belt and not a V-belt.

 

So it was indeed the climate control. I bought one today from a junkyard and the A/C started up instantly. It was real dirty and whatnot, but after cleaning it everything looks and works great! Thanks for the help TexasHonda.

 

Hi Dainus,

How much did you paid for the climate control? Thanks.

 

I paid $100.

3 lights are out though and the color on the screen is not exactly the same as the old one (comparing with the screen on the radio) So I'll try to take the lights out of the old one and put it in the "new" one.