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2000 Accord Troubleshooting - no cold air

Solar4 on Mon May 03, 2010 11:42 AM User is offline

Year: 2000
Make: Honda
Model: Accord
Engine Size: 4 cyl
Refrigerant Type: 134A
Ambient Temp: 78-80
Pressure Low: 12-29
Pressure High: 130

Replaced dryer and leaking o-ring on low side pressure line. Vacuum holds rock solid so I recharge with 22 ounces of 134. The high side reading never tops about 132 psi (seems a little low to me) but the compressor cycling seems normal. However, the vent temp never gets below 60F. Could this be an expansion valve problem? Any ideas or troubleshooting tips appreciated!


FYI - the Accord is mine and the previous post about the Solara is my wife's (her car is now putting out 38-40F air so now I'm jealous). Not trying to make a buck working on someone else's!

Edited: Mon May 03, 2010 at 11:52 AM by Solar4

JACK ADAMS on Mon May 03, 2010 12:13 PM User is offline

This system takes 21-23oz of 134a refrigerant and 8.6oz of refrigerant oil. Does your hi-side gauge move when the low side fluctuates between 12-29psi? How do you know you have 22oz of refrigerant in the system?

Solar4 on Mon May 03, 2010 1:13 PM User is offline

The high side did not fluctuate very much. With the compressor running it would top out around 130-132. When the compressor shut off, it would slowly trickle down and lose maybe 5-10 psi in between cycles. As for the freon, I had a 30 lb container on a scale. I stopped adding freon when the tank got 22 ounces lighter as I didn't want to overservice it and figured the system should be blowing colder air by then.

JACK ADAMS on Mon May 03, 2010 1:40 PM User is offline

Did you check your hot water shut off valve? Crimp them off and see if any difference in temp.

mk378 on Mon May 03, 2010 3:00 PM User is offline

Compressor cycling is driven by evaporator temperature. That means the compressor should run constantly until the air is cold from the vents. Either the evaporator really is cold, but the air is being reheated, or it is cycling off early.

Does the suction line get cold? Most Hondas have a water valve on the firewall actuated by a cable ultimately from the temperature dial. It is very common for that cable to get out of adjustment so the valve doesn't close fully and you have reheating.

Solar4 on Mon May 03, 2010 6:27 PM User is offline

Hot water valve felt like it was in full shut off position. I later cycled it from cold to hot to cold to make sure it was the shut off position. I started the cold engine (since last night) and immediately turned AC to full cold and still could not get below 60F in any vent. The suction line coming from the firewall did not seem COLD, only cool, to my bare hand and did not produce any condensation on the non-insulated portion. Local weather at the time showed the dew point to be around 48F. So maybe it's cycling off too early? I assume there is a temp sensor for the evap? What would you check next?

Also, I have a Haynes manual for the car and did the simple diagnostic check it listed where you turn the ignition on and turn recirc switch off and hold. It did not produce any faults.

Edited: Mon May 03, 2010 at 6:28 PM by Solar4

JACK ADAMS on Mon May 03, 2010 7:01 PM User is offline

Well the next step would be, leak check! It may be loosing refrigerant at the shaft seal or base plate of the compressor.

Solar4 on Mon May 03, 2010 11:38 PM User is offline

Quote
Originally posted by: mk378
Compressor cycling is driven by evaporator temperature. That means the compressor should run constantly until the air is cold from the vents. Either the evaporator really is cold, but the air is being reheated, or it is cycling off early.

What are possible causes of cycling off early?


Edited: Mon May 03, 2010 at 11:50 PM by Solar4

Solar4 on Mon May 10, 2010 4:13 PM User is offline

So I am waiting to borrow a leak detector kit from my buddy and decide to hook up the gauges again and double check my readings. For comparison, I then hook them up to my 1995 F-150 with a 302, V-8 which is blowing 38-40F air.

Outside air Temp - 84F

F-150 (compressor never cycles off and gauge readings pretty consistent):
Low - 31 psi
High - 200 psi

Accord compressor running:
Low - 12 psi
High - 180- 200 psi

Accord compressor off, right before it kicks on again:
Low 26-28 psi
High 150-170 psi


Couple other observations:
1) F-150 High side line downstream of condensor all the way to evap box gets pretty warm after 5-10 minutes of running system. Suction line coming out of evap box is cold.
The Accord High side line downstream of condensor is not very warm at all. Suction line is barely cool. The Accord compressor cycles on for about 10 seconds and off for about 10 seconds.

2) The last thing I notice is after shutting down the systems, the F-150 high and low side gauges equalize far more rapidly. They both read approximately 88 psi in less then 2 minutes. The Accord gauges trickle towards equalization and after 15 minutes the low only reads 65 and high reads 125. After 35 minutes I read 76 on the low and 105 on the high. This last observation makes me wonder if something is wrong with the condensor or expansion valve.

Any suggestions? Or should I just wait for the leak detector kit and go from there? It just seems odd to me with the system holding such a tight vacuum and so slow to equalize that it might have a leak.

Edited: Mon May 10, 2010 at 4:23 PM by Solar4

mk378 on Mon May 10, 2010 5:26 PM User is offline

You are comparing apples and oranges. The F-150 has a CCOT system with a fixed orifice instead of an expansion valve. The pressure will equalize much faster on those.

I really think the problem with the Accord is something electrical causing the compressor to stop before it should.

Solar4 on Mon May 10, 2010 6:30 PM User is offline

Ok, learned something new then! I've owned a couple Ford pickups and only problem I ever had with them was leaking o-rings at the joints. Yeah I was thinking it might be something electrical as well. I disconnected what I thought was the connection to the evap temp sensor. The compressor would not run with it disconnected or with the connection "jumped". Plugged the connection back in and it ran as it previously has.

Is there any way to force the compressor to keep running? I jumped the pressure switch on the dryer too but it cycled on and off like it has been doing.



Edited: Mon May 10, 2010 at 6:33 PM by Solar4

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