mberndt

Hey Guys,

So I was driving my '97 SH down to the beach on Friday after work, and I experienced a wierd A/C problem, where the system would stop working when I was stopped in traffic.

About a month before, I was jumping my EG and I started my Lude, and becuase it was real hot out, I put the A/C on. A couple minutes go by, and I went to move the lude and am expecting to get into a nice cold car, and when I get in its still hot.

So, I can hear the compressor turning on for like a couple secs then turn off right away.
I checked, both fans were on and the EC temp was below normal.

I went and drove the car around the block and as soon as I began to drive, the compressor started and remained on to cool the air like it regularly does.

So, thinking it was just some minor issue with the A/C, I figured it was fine.
Fast forward to this past weekend, and I drove down to the beach. I was cruising on the highway with the A/C off.
I got into traffic and it was pretty hot, so I turned the A/C on.

It worked good for a couple of minutes then it started to get warm.
So, I was like WTF... Then I looked and my temp gauge was about half way up the gauge (above where it always is).
So I turned off the air and the temp immediately went back down.

I was on my way to stop at my Girlfriends Dad's house, and when I got there I let the car cool down for about 20 mins. Then I checked the coolant level, and it was exactly where it's supposed to be. Overflow tank was right at max level, the radiator was full up to the cap.

So, I'm thinking it has to do with inadequate cooling of the condensor when stopped in traffic. But it is NOT due to inoperable fans, as mine both work fine. I've checked and there aren't many bugs or bent fins on the condensor. There were more on my old EG A/C condensor and that worked just fine.
Besides, The A/C gets freezing cold when driving, and it never shuts off when moving.

After consulting the Honda repair manual, I've narrowed it down to the problem being too high of a pressure on the HOT side. This is caused by either inadequate cooling (which in manual just assumes the fans aren't working, and tells u to troubleshoot the fans) But my fans both work perfectly fine. Or it is caused by "Coolant blockage"...

In order to help with cooling at idle, I installed the aftermarket slim fan I had on my EG civic's A/C syetem (due to turbo constraints) onto the Prelude's condensor. Thinking that the extra airflow at idle would help cool down the refrigerant, I used it yesterday and well it doesn't help at all.

I am going to drain some coolant tonight and replace whatever I drained off with straight water, since it cools better, and see where that gets me.

The only weird thing is that when the A/C is on, and I'm driving in traffic (until the engine gets hot and turns off A/C), and let off the gas to come to a stop, the rpms go down real fast (since compressor load is still on) and "bounce" off like 500 rpms like 2 or 3 times before it settles out. This leads me to believe it may be an oil problem, where there is not enough oil in the system to have it run smoothly, adding extra heat. When the compressor does turn on, it seems to me like it is harder to turn on than it should be.

Anyone have any ideas? Any one experiance a similiar problem?

Mynard

I have the same problem...My A/C dont work when stopped only when im in motion. It will actually blow warm until the car is in motion or the motor is reving ! Usually it would blow cold all the time regardless of the revolutions of the motor?

VPUPPY

Sounds like it is a pressure problem in the A/C system. Have you checked for leaks (both of you)?

foot

Is there any blockage in the radiator? Could explain an overheating engine and overheating condensor.