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Honda Troubleshooting

Solar4 on Sat June 11, 2011 5:51 PM User is offline

Year: 2000
Make: Honda
Model: Accord
Engine Size: 2.3
Refrigerant Type: R-134a
Ambient Temp: 95
Pressure Low: 20
Pressure High: 270
Country of Origin: United States

Initial problem which lead to troubleshooting attempt: my accord's compressor would cycle on for about ten seconds and then off for about ten seconds. Running idle in the garage or on the road, the duct/vent temp would only get down to about 58F.

I pulled the evap temp sensor out of the evap box an let it hang below suspecting that the compressor wasn't being allowed to run long enough. This caused the the compressor to continually run and cease the periodic cycling. With the high and low pressures roughly the same the vent temps still never dropped below 58F. I clamped the hot water hoses and made sure the hot water valve was in the closed position and netted the same results.

I pulled out the cabin air filters enabling me to view the TXV. Every time the compressor was turned on, you could see the line running from the TXV to the evap (firewall side) frosting up. The part I don't understand is, when I left the cabin air filter access panel off (meaning some fan air blowing out the side of the evap box) and ran the A/C, the vent temps would drop below 40F and just above 30F with the fan on low. If I put the filter access panel back on, the vent temps would climb towards 60F again. Is this normal?

Ductwork issue? Evaporator? TXV? I am at a loss where to begin. Trying to troubleshoot what I can first before having to borrow a recovery machine and open up the system.



NickD on Sat June 11, 2011 6:04 PM User is offline

Was this system ever worked on? The ratio of your high to low side pressure is way too high, suspecting a lot of debris in the condenser circuit or poor fan operation.

Just change the timing belt on my Supra requiring to remove the radiator. Very low mileage car, but was a bit surprised to see the debris build up between the radiator and the condenser. Now I am wondering how I am going to clean that without removing the radiator each time. That evaporator temperature sensor should only kill your compressor if it sees lower than 33*F, and you are nowhere near that number with your high vent temperatures. Feel your cycling is caused by your dual function switch.

And with your low, low side, you also have a leak someplace.

Solar4 on Sat June 11, 2011 6:29 PM User is offline

Spraying the condensor with water does narrow the high to low side differential. However, it only drops the vent temp down a couple degrees. Where and what is the dual function switch? Does it have anything to do with temp control?

The part that really puzzles me is leaving the air filter access panel off and getting vent temps around 35F



Edited: Sat June 11, 2011 at 6:39 PM by Solar4

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