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So, This is a post for my Dad’s 03 Honda Element.. The Car has 160k+ Miles on it and Its never had a recharge for its A/C. When you turn on the A/C You can still feel it “kick in” But, No cold air. Its about the same temp as vent. My dad said it was going on and off for the past two days and today it finally quit. So what do you think it all might be? The compressor? Or do you think it just needs a refill of R134a?
Let me know what you all think, I’m going to take it to the shop soon and I just wanted you all to give me your possiblitys and thoughts of what it can be.
FYI: The Cabin Air filter probably has 50k miles on it as well. So, I may replace that as well. It could be a possibility.
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It could be anything, compressor, clutch, freon leak, wirings, controller, or sometimes it simple as a/c compressor clutch relay is bad. You have to understand a/c system to able to check it. Like Eric wrote on other post.
You need to get some manifold gages on the truck. Static pressure should be close to the temperature of the air, so it it’s 60 degrees outside, then the static pressure (meaning the car isn’t running and is cold) should be near the same on the high and low side. If they are low, then you are probably low on refrigerant. I would steer away from the crap they sell at most auto parts stores that includes any kind of ‘stop leak’, and just try charging the system with straight up r134a. Put it on the low side with the can upright, because you don’t want to draw liquid into the system and smoke the compressor. If it’s really low, you should probably use a vacuum pump and evacuate the entire system, and let it sit at 29 degrees/merc for a good bit to make sure you don’t have severe leak. If it holds the vacuum, then you should be fine to recharge the system. If this doesn’t make any sense, then I would recommend taking it to a shop for an a/c service (there are usually deals heading into summer) and let the pros handle it. HVAC isn’t something you want to mess with if you are unsure of what you are doing, and I mean no offense.
So I got back from the dealer, The Clutch is shot, So i’m going to order myself a new Clutch+ Compressor. I’m getting a good deal on it. 270 for the part. So all is well, Thanks for the input guys I appreciate it!
You don’t need to replace the compressor if it’s just the clutch, in fact I would not recommend you replace the compressor as you can just replace the clutch without having to discharge and recharge the system. If you don’t have the proper recovery equipment and you still want to replace the compressor make sure you have the system evacuated before you begin work do NOT release freon into the atmosphere as it is flat out irresponsible especially in your case since you don’t need to replace the compressor. Note that you will need to check the clearance of the clutch after you install it, the best policy is to just reuse the shims that came off of the old clutch as that will normally get you close, if the clutch clearance is not correct you can damage the new clutch OR it won’t operate correctly. The specs for clutch clearance as well as how to check it should be in the instructions that come with the new clutch.
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