I once owned a 91 acura legend that had a/c that worked, but only when it wasnt that hot out. On hot blazing days, it did nothing. Now, I have a 91 Integra and it does the same thing. I thought I heard something about the expansion valve going out on these a lot, but am not sure. Anyone know?
Well it can be that the expansion valve or it could be your freon running low and not building up enough pressure? I am not sure but when u driving on hot days say in the freeway only going at like 60+ mph does it blow cold at all or some? If so Then its probably not the valve. More like the compressor itself i should say.
My a/c is sorta like this cold ass hell in the freeway going 60+ but in town going 25-45mph its barely cool enough where my face isnt sweating lol. I have replaced only the dryer and freon back then so i figure its either within the compressor not working correct or the condensor being too clogged not getting good flow? But Try checking them for clogs due to yrs of bugs stucking in the fins etc. Then check the freons if u havent done so.
Make sure if u take it to a shop ask them how much lbs of freons u have left and not let them suck u dry since ur a/c isnt cool plus dont sign anythign u dont read like let them recharge it and find out its ur valve and they suck u dry and still charge u. They can only charge u for what they put in period.
Does it cool enough on recirculate? Mine does great on recirculate, but is almost worthless on fresh air. My father and I have been doing car AC’s for years (shade tree, but with professional equipment we would buy from out of business shops) my system is about as up to spec as you can get without just replacing everything for new parts. Living in Texas, you quickly find out how well an AC unit works.
I have tried recirculate but it doesnt seem to matter. Allthough I havent tried just that, just that after it not working on fresh air.
and as far as the highway deal. It doesnt seem to matter what speed I am going. It almost seems as if it has to much pressure in the system. Or too low. But again when it is not so hot out it works great.
also, I forgot to mention, sometimes I get this fog type stuff that comes out of my vents when the a/c is on when it is cooler outside. I cant tell if it is just an effect from cold air being put into a cold atmousphere. Or the freon leaking through the vents. Anyone know?
[QUOTE=mrkbnt;1710331]I have tried recirculate but it doesnt seem to matter. Allthough I havent tried just that, just that after it not working on fresh air.
and as far as the highway deal. It doesnt seem to matter what speed I am going. It almost seems as if it has to much pressure in the system. Or too low. But again when it is not so hot out it works great.
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is it cycling? The compressor.
Its not freon, you would lose it all in ~5 seconds, and it would not work at all.
Yeah, the compressor is cycling. I think it may have to much freon in it then. Cant think of what else it might be. I hope it is not the expansion valve though. You have to take the dash out and take out the evaporator.
[QUOTE=mrkbnt;1710331]
also, I forgot to mention, sometimes I get this fog type stuff that comes out of my vents when the a/c is on when it is cooler outside. I cant tell if it is just an effect from cold air being put into a cold atmousphere. Or the freon leaking through the vents. Anyone know?[/QUOTE]
that’s weird, cause A/C inherently dehumidifies the air, so that can rule out moisture…unless your a/c isnt working in the first place. If it goes away after a few minutes then its a non-issue. Might be just old air being pushed out.
Check your freon level. My compressor still cycles on and off with low freon. You may have a leak from one of your valves. I had my low side valve replaced cause it was leaking. Its been a year and its been blowing cold ever since. My symptoms were turning the a/c on would blow cold for maybe a few minutes then get warmer and more humid over the next few minutes. Driving faster did not help. This was last summer when we bought the car. I knew this was going to be a problem when i drove myself and my sister back home. We were both dying.
However, since my car is red and the interior is black, and i dont have tinted windows, i find that it gets too hot for the a/c to properly cool the entire car (if my car’s been sitting outside). I usually have it on the 2nd to highest fan speed setting and it does its job satisfactorily. I live in sunny SoCal by the way. If i drive from out of a garage on a hot day it seems better. Might be just me.
Thanks. Yeah the last 2 weeks here have been in the upper 90’s and low 100’s. And when it cools or we have clouds come in it gets humid so it is not like it even cools. I will check the valves. and I might even put in some leak detecter to really pin point any leaks. My car is black with black interior by the way. I have tinted windows at 20% but that doesnt do anything. Might keep out uv rays r=from the sun, but definantly not the heat lol.
The A/C compressor in our cars (all cars and trucks and house) are supposed to cycle on and off when the temp inside the cabin or house is satisfied. As for runnig a/c with low freon, you run a risk of screwing up the system. Same goes for having to much.
you can look through the dryer’s peep hole (if its still the OEM style ones) to check refrigerant. If you turn your a/c on and see “excessive” bubbles through the glass, then you need more freon. (as per Honda Service Manual. I’m not really sure how you can measure “excessive”…but yea thats what it says) After i got mine fixed i still saw bubbles but it still stayed cool.
When your compressor cycles off, it is no longer dehumidifying. There is a buildup of frozen/near frozen moisture on the evaporator. When it stops cooling (compressor kicked off) it defrosts/warms up, and becomes airborne. Hence the “fog” that you would see coming out of the vents. If your cycling too much, you will see this “fog” on humid days. (Or if your in a location that is always humid, you will see it often) It can be, though not always, a “tell” for having a low freon level.
OP: check your freon levels, I seriously doubt you have too much, I would bet that your low.
If it cycles too much, its getting really cold, giving you fog, and not cooling the way it should. Barring anything actually broken, you probably are just low. It could be from a leak, those seals could be up to 17 years old.
Actually, that’s not true of the compressor in an Integra. The Nippondenso 10PA15C is a variable displacement compressor, which means that the piston stroke increases or decreases to compensate for variations in pressure. They are designed to run continuously, unlike fixed-displacement units which cycle on and off.
The clutch on our compressors will disengage if the outside ambient temperature is too low, or the refrigerant pressure is too high or too low. You may have a low refrigerant condition or a restriction in one of your lines.
And just to clarify, you won’t need to tear the whole dash apart to get at the evaporator. I was able to get mine out by removing the glove compartment and the panel below it.