When I bought this 96 accord for my daughter the AC didn't work. I had the system charged and it works somewhat. It cools at about 70% of what it should. What would cause this? It holds the freon OK. Has anyone had problems with the temp control ****?

 

Is it a rotary **** that you twist? Pull it off & check whether the **** itself isbroken. My '98 did that...

If that's OK, you can check whether the temperature control actually moves the valve on the heater hose (engine compartment near firewall). Might be a broken cable or something like that.

 

It is possible for the temp control push/pull wire to become misadjusted, leaving the heater flow control valve partially open all the time. You can check by turning the temp adjustment to full cold and the trying to fully close the valve by hand.Heater control valve isagaint firewall behind the thermostat housing, and a bit difficult to access but reachable. If you can close the valve substantially, perhaps 1/8 turn then an adjustment is necessary. It's covered in the 94-97 Accord manuals you can download from hondahookup.com.

Make sure both cooling fans are running and condensor is clean.

If temp control **** is broken you can find replacements on ebay reasonably priced.

If you like to repair things, the **** can be repaired w/ epoxy glue and ripstop nylon reinforcement. Stick parts together w/ epoxy to get a good alignment. Allow to dry for 1-hr. Coat outside surface of **** end around the cracked section w/ a thin layer of epoxy. Wrap a epoxy-soaked strip of nylon rip-stop (old umbrella is a good source) around the fracture, overlapping slightly. Not to much buildup or diameter may not fit the panel. Allow to dry for 24 hrs before use. My 94 accord repair has lasted several years.

good luck

 

The **** itself sems to function OK. I noticed the other night when I turned the AC off I was getting warm air through the vents. That's what led me to believe the temp control was not working properly.

 

pull the **** off and make sure that it is not cracked or broken,, if **** is ok,, have someone turn the heater **** while you look at the heater valve to see if it opens and closes properly ,,
IF valve operation is ok.......start the car, put the a/c on.. get some pliers and squeeze the heater hose that goes into the heater valve , the long one that comes from the engine below the distributor , if a/c will cool better,, you got a leaky heater valve ..

 

You guys are great! I checked the valve on the heater hose and it wasn't closing all the way. So I closed it and today I enjoyed airconditioning in the 97 degree August heat.
Thanks again!

 

Good. Now you can try to figure out why the cable slipped out of position & fix it so it stays fixed...