I have an 03 Honda Accord EX with 110k miles. I just had my oil changed yesterday and they said everything checked out ok. I got in my car today and the AC isn't working. It's blowing hot air. I have an appt with Honda tomorrow but wanted to get an idea of what might be wrong. Someone said it might just need freon and another person said it might be the coil which is going to cost me $$$$. Is there anyway to check before I pay Honda $75 to inspect it?

Thank you!

 

Start the car. Look at the plate that is outside of the compressor pulley. It should not spin with the belt pulley when the a/c is not running. When you turn on the a/c, the plate should spin with the pulley.

If they find that you are really low on R134a (not really freon, but does the same thing), then they should put R134a in with some fluorescent dye to locate the source of the leak. The leak will need to be fixed, because your system will lose its charge again.

 

It was the coil and clutch.

 

Well that was a pretty open and shut case!! what did you end up doing to get it fixed? did you get it done at the Honda dealership? I'm thinking about doing it myself! Because mine is doing the same thing :P, do any of you guys know if there's a way to test the refrigerant?

 

with a set of A/C gauges.

does your compressor clutch engage?

 

I also had the dealership change the clutch and coil on my 03 (V6). There was another person (on another forum) who said he removed the compressor clutch, and removed a couple shims (to reduce the clutch clearance) and that worked. You would need to measure the clearance between the clutch and compressor, to see if that might be your problem.

 

If compressor does not engage, you can check for 12v on the single wire to the AC clutch coil.

If 12V present, the clutch gap is likely excessive. Fix is to remove shims (easy, but access may be difficult).

If 12V missing, problem more likely a leak that is causing low pressure switch to disable ac compressor, for protection.

good luck