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I have a 2009 Honda Civic and the A/C hasn’t been working for a while. I had a friend hit the A/C button while I looked under the hood and I noticed that the A/C compressor clutch didn’t engage. I checked the relay and it’s working fine. I’m not sure what to do next. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
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Next is to check static pressure. You need a gauge to connect to the low side connector (the smaller blue (some are not colored) capped one). Pressure in the system if it is reasonably full with compressor disengaged should be about 105 psi.
No problem, let us know what the pressure is and we can go from there. If the Freon has leaked out that could explain your no engagement as the system has pressure sensors to prevent the compressor from engaging if the Freon level is too low.
Ok, so I finally got a set of manifold gauges. I have a rough idea of how to check static pressure, but I don’t want to break my A/C system. I just want to verify that my ideas are correct. Here is what I planned on doing:
1. The car and a/c should not be running.
2. Close all the valves on the manifold gauges.
3. Attach the blue hose to the low side.
4. Open the low side valve on the manifold gauge.
5. Read the pressure.
6. When I’m finished, reverse the steps.Am I missing anything?
Sorry to be so cautious, but my car is relatively new and I don’t want to ruin it.
yes sounds like you nailed it if you wanna check static pressure get those readings and go from there
No, you didn’t nail it.
Opening the low side valve on the manifold will connect the low side hose to the service hose. Assuming that you haven’t connected anything to the service hose, that would cause a leak.
Close both valves on the manifold. Connect the low side hose to the fitting on the car. If your hose has a knob at the connection, turn that to engage the hose with the low side fitting. That should be all you need to do. At that point, you should have a reading on your low side gauge.
Once you are satisfied with your reading, loosen the knob on the low side fitting (not on the manifold, on the fitting) and then remove the fitting from the low side service port. Be sure to reinstall the protective cap on the service port.
I thought thats what he meant the knob for the gauge hook up that hooks to the car service port? Unless i miss read his post i didnt know he was talking about the gauge manifold
I read it the other way about . .. I might be wrong about what he meant, but better to be safe than sorry.
[quote=”Tomh” post=84580]No, you didn’t nail it.
Opening the low side valve on the manifold will connect the low side hose to the service hose. Assuming that you haven’t connected anything to the service hose, that would cause a leak.
Close both valves on the manifold. Connect the low side hose to the fitting on the car. If your hose has a knob at the connection, turn that to engage the hose with the low side fitting. That should be all you need to do. At that point, you should have a reading on your low side gauge.
Once you are satisfied with your reading, loosen the knob on the low side fitting (not on the manifold, on the fitting) and then remove the fitting from the low side service port. Be sure to reinstall the protective cap on the service port.[/quote]
+++1 you nailed it. 🙂
[quote=”Tomh” post=84580]No, you didn’t nail it.
Opening the low side valve on the manifold will connect the low side hose to the service hose. Assuming that you haven’t connected anything to the service hose, that would cause a leak.
Close both valves on the manifold. Connect the low side hose to the fitting on the car. If your hose has a knob at the connection, turn that to engage the hose with the low side fitting. That should be all you need to do. At that point, you should have a reading on your low side gauge.
Once you are satisfied with your reading, loosen the knob on the low side fitting (not on the manifold, on the fitting) and then remove the fitting from the low side service port. Be sure to reinstall the protective cap on the service port.[/quote]
OK thanks. So the valves on the manifold itself should remain closed the whole time. My gauges don’t have knobs at the connection, so all I need to do is connect the low side hose to the fitting on the car. At that point the gauge should have a reading.
I’ll post the psi next. Fingers crossed it’s not a major issue…
I actually have information and videos covering this topic in this article. Hopefully it can help.
http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/solving-automotive-hvac-problems
Keep us posted on your progress.
I got a reading of 0 PSI… When I attached the line, I didn’t feel or hear anything and the dial on the gauge didn’t move at all. It seems like there is nothing in the lines at all.
Probably no gas. Hose has probably rubbed somewhere and leaked now there is no gas within the system
Next thing to do is find your leak.
Start by physically examining the system. Look for oily dirty areas. Places to pay special attention to are near the pulley on the front of the compressor, and at every connection, as all have O rings that can fail.
Also, run your hand along the full length of all hoses, especially the bottom side of them, where you can’t easily see, feeling for oily residue. As the previous poster said, sometimes things get moved around during servicing of other components, and something winds up rubbing against one of the hoses, or aluminum lines, causing a hole. This will pretty quickly lead to zero pressure in the system.
If you are unable to find the leak with a simple visual inspection, then the next step would be to charge the system with leak detector dye, and just enough freon to get the compressor to run, then carefully inspect everything with a black light to locate the dye.
If you get to this point, and have visually inspected everything you can see with no luck, find the tube under the car where the condensate from the evaporator drips out, and inspect the end of the hose with your black light. If there is a leak in the evaporator core, some of the dye will travel down that hose with the condensate, and you can usually see it on the very bottom of the hose with your black light.
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