I recently purchased a '94 Accord LX. The AC has been dead since I bought it and the compressor would not engage. I noticed on the wiring diagram that there is a pressure switch that shuts off the compressor when there is 0 pressure. I tried to recharge the system, but since the compressor was not turning, the pressure switch would not close. To get around this, I shorted the contacts across the relay to the compressor so it would engage. I recharged the system with the compressor running and that allowed the pressure switch to close. I put everything back to normal and everything works as it should.

My question is, is there an easier or better way to recharge a totally dead system without shorting across the relay? Will pressure build up in time without the compressor?

Thanks!

 

get the leak repaired.

evacuate the system

place on vaccum for at yeast 4 hours

recharge

 

if you had to jump the realy to get compressor to come on,, there is an electrical issue with the a/c system,, could be a bad relay,

if the system was totally empty, by recharging system, a/c compressor should come on, if all components are ok..
by jumping the relay,, it could be a bad relay, or a bad power or ground on the other side of the relay thus not energizing the relay to get power through to compressor ..

i am assuming you jumped the white wire and the red wires together.........

this is what you do.. chk fuse # 8 , underdash fuse box ,, 7.5 amps.. if fuse is ok.. go to the compressor relay and chk for power at wire black./ yellow .. and white wires with key on, you should have power at both,, also chk for a ground at red/blue wire.. ,, if you get all of those and when you jumped the white and red wires compressor came on,,

the compressor relay is no good,,,,,,install a new relay and retry ..

chk these and post the results ..

Now if the system was empty , there could be a leak, add some a/c dye into the a/c system , then with an ultra-violet light you can chk for leaks .. sometimes if the leak is small it might take a few days before leak will show .. I have seen a lot of DICHARGE hoses leaking ..

let me know the results ..

 

Thanks for all the responses.

Basically, the system has been working fine for 3-4 weeks now. Once I jumped the compressor relay to get it running while recharging the system, it built up enough pressure to close the pressure switch and I could remove my jumper. The compressor now comes on when it's supposed to.

What I was wondering was if there a better way (or correct way) to build up pressure in the system without jumping the compressor relay....

Thanks-

 

Nevermind, i gotta remember to read all the posts...