I am not a mechanic, but I do have someone helping me who is. I have a 2004 Accord EX (4-cyl) with intermittent AC problems. If the car sits for a while the AC runs ice cold (<40*°). After a short period of time it begins blowing hot air. The compressor is working during initial cooling and the under hood relays seem to be activating when turning the AC on and off. One forum suggested low voltage and since my battery was past its life expectancy, I replaced it just in case. That didn’t work. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

Verify that BOTH fans are running whenever the AC compressor is clutched in. Honda calls one the "radiator fan" and the other the "AC condensor fan". In reality both fans cool both components and they run together. The names are kinda historical throwbacks.

I'm moving this to General Tech because that's a better place for it. The "new member" area is mostly for welcome & introductions.

 

Thank you

 

Watch the a/c compressor clutch to see if it is spinning with the pulley when the a/c is working. See if it shuts off when the a/c is not working.

 

When the AC is blowing cold, the driver side fan is running but the passenger side fan is not. Could this be causing the evaporator or line somewhere to freeze up?

 

Both fans should be running. A missing fan will not cool at the condenser and increase temperature and pressure.

You can unplug the non-working fan and use a volt meter or test light to verify that you have power when the engine is running and the a/c is turned on. Alternatively, you can hit the fan motor with the handle of a screwdriver with the car running and a/c turned on. If the motor turns on, then you pretty much verified you need a new fan motor.

 

You were correct. The fan was bad. I have since replaced both fans and they are working correctly but the AC is still blowing hot air, at least it was immediately after replacing the fans.

 

Look at the a/c clutch. It is the plate sitting outside the a/c compressor pulley that should not spin when the a/c is turned off. The a/c clutch should spin with the compressor pulley when you turn on the a/c.

Let us know if the clutch is spinning when your a/c is delivering hot air.