It's time to sort out my AC situation. I got the car 6 months ago during the brisk cold months. Now that it is getting warmer (thankfully) I need to diagnose my AC issue. It Turns on. It blows hot air. I know there are numerous posts about this. Could someone just break down step by step how to troubleshoot and fix this so cold air blows once more. Just a note, the previous owner didn't really drive it last summer. It sat for the most part.

thanks!!

 

First I would pop the hood, crank the car, and have someone turn on the A/C full blast while you are looking at the compressor. As your "assistant" turns on the a/cand see ifthe compressorclutch engages. You should hear a"click" and see it start to spin. If the compressor engages,I would go buy an A/C kit that comes with a pressure gaugefrom an AutoZone or Advance Auto Parts (or whatever you have in the area.) I bought one a couple of weeks ago from AutoZone for about $40. The kit will allow you to check the pressure to see if your problem is simply low freon. AutoZone also sells dyes you can buy to put in the system with the freon to check for leaks. If the Freon is totallygone, there isa good chance there isa leak somewhere. But your car being a '96 model, if the freon has never been re-charged, maybe that is all you need to do (cross your fingers.) The kit should come with instructions showing you how to check the pressure and add new freon if needed. I was unable to find any of these online to show you what they look like, but I would just go down to the store and tell them what you are looking for.

 

Okay, Thanks. I've been searching the forums here and have come across many different "if/thens" for this issues. I will stay posted

 

if you go to our DIY section request ( 97 acc a/c troubleshoot) a member has a 97 acc , same as 96 ,, read up on what i asked him to chk out ..Of course first step is to make sure that there is planty of freon ( r134a) in the car ..and that the fuses are ok ,,
if there is then follow the instruction i gave him

let us know

 

gonna check that now.!! thanks DH

 

I have a '94 Accord in that the AC didn't work. The compressor would not turn on so it would not take freon. After some investigation, I found an ACpressure switch that was preventing the compressor from coming on. Once I bypassed the switch, my compressor would come on and I could fill with freon.

 

okay, update.

I bought a recharge kit yesterday. hooked it up. The needle jumped to RED (WARNING): service the issue. When facing the car from the front, while looking under the hood, when the AC switch is turned on, the left hand fan comes on. Is that the compressor? However, the right hand fan does not. I've been looking through past threads and found this comment sir_nasty made:

So, what is my next step?

 

The good news is that you have enough R134a in the system.

The fan on the driver's side is the A/C condenser fan. I would check that there is 12V at the connector for the fan when the A/C is turned on. If there is power, then tap on the A/C fan motor with the handle of a screwdriver to see if it turns on. In this case you would have to get a new A/C fan motor.

If no power, then the first thing to do is check fuses: No 4 and 8 under the dash and number 34 under the hood. There are also two relays near the front driver's side headlight. The one closer to the bumper is the A/C fan relay. You can jump the white and blue/yellow on that connector with a paper clip (make sure that the car is off). If the fan runs, then that A/C relay is bad.

 

okay thanks

 

I had this problem a number of years ago when the car was much newer.

The dealer (liars for hire?) told me the problem stemmed from a defective control module. They came to this conclusion by routing the a/c around the computer - the a/c then worked properly.

Hope this helps.