07 TL-S AC Intermittent - halp!
 

Hey guys,
AC has been intermittent on my car for a year or so. Started with taking a couple minutes to start cooling, no big deal. But now, midway on a drive to Texas, it's only working maybe 5% of the time. In past, hitting the recirculation button or playing with defrost buttons has sometimes *seemingly* helped in getting it to engage. That's not helping now. Highway speeds do not help. Low refrigerant charge? Any ideas are appreciated. About 280k on her, with almost zero issues, then again that's why most of us buy Acura. Thanks in advance - Taylor

Do normal ac diagnostic stuff. That starts with recharging system. If it was low, you have leak. If it wasn't low, something else is wrong.

If it worked at the start of the trip and then lost cooling but fan is still running, the evaporator is probably frozen over. Turn the AC off and just run outside air for about 30 minutes to melt the ice off the evaporator.

If that works, it may have just been an abnormally humid day and/or there is a sensor going bad. The sensor detects evaporator icing and cycles the compressor off. Sensor info is in this thread:

https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-p...g-trip-961191/

You could also be low on refrigerant.

You're almost guaranteed low on refrigerant. Get the OEM fill R134a from a shop (~$50). Don't mix that store bought r12 crap. I had the same symptoms and now it's back to full time cold. Make sure not to overfill, slowly add and monitor pressures and vent temps and ac line temps with ir gun. Keep driving like that with ac and you'll quickly fry the compressor.