Hey all,

Car has been good for the longest now, but I have an issue with the AC.

When I first start the car for the day, the AC is freezing cold. The pipe coming from the compressor is very cold to the touch and sweating. Normal.

After driving for about 1/2 hour the AC isn't as cold anymore and when I check the pipe again it is warm and not sweating anymore. The air coming out isn't HOT or Warm, just doesn't cool the car to a comfortable chill anymore.

Any ideas as to what might be going on? Do I need a recharge?

thanks

 

sounds like it needs to be recharged... its pretty simple to do it yourself, if that doesnt work, it may need to be flushed....
does the compressor stay on, even when its blowing hot air?

 

Yes the compressor stays on. I listened closely while turning the ac compressor on and off via the button and you can hear it click on and off each time.

 

try to recharge it.... it only takes a few mins.... if not, then get it check out... ie. dealership

 

you hear the compressor clutch engaging or the fan ?

if a recharge would be needed, it would be hot all the time

it could be the thermal switch (happens a lot on 01+ civics (1.7EL we have here in canada) )
most of the time, the thermal switch becomes defective and never gets the clutch engaged again, but sometimes the thermal switch kinda overheats and does not allow the clutch to engage when hot....and then when cold again it works.

it's there to protect the compressor against damages if it gets way too hot, but if the thermal switch is defective, it sometimes disables the clutch when getting hot (normal hot, but not everheat)... like if the heat threshold was lowered a lot.

depending on year and models, some get the fans working anyway (follows clutch engaged times cycles), but some other won't have the fans working

you should have someone play with the A/C controls inside to engage / disengage A/C while you look at the compressor clutch to see if it actually really engages (if it does engage, you'll see a part of it with big rivets starting and stopping with the cycles, if you don't see any difference in the moving parts while the fans start / stop, the clutch ain't engaging)