AC - no cold air

Ck. Hot/Cold control knob, pull it off & ck. center 1/2 moon to see if broken. Ck. Hot/Cold cable for defects. Ck. Hot/Cold valve under hood to see if seized. It is near firewall where hoses come out of heater core.

This guide will help us fix it

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/car-air-conditioner-not-working-or-is-weak


Please run down this guide and report back.

There is a themostatic switch in the Evaporator. If other components are o.k., have it checked by a Honda tech.

1998 Honda Civic LX manual transmission

About 3 years ago during the summer I drove over a railroad track with the AC on. I didn't hit the tracks hard, but they are elevated a bit so it was enough for a light and normal jostle. I heard a reasonably loud clunk-clunk noise. It wasn't the bump noise of the track, but a different noise just milliseconds after. From that point on the AC was dead. In my civic, when I normally turn on the AC when it works properly, you can feel the compressor / clutch engage and the load on the engine. Now, I can still hit the AC button on the dash and the little green light in it will come on, but the ac never engages and I just get ambient temperature air blowing. Just today, I decided to do something about it. I tested the pressure and the refrigerant is properly pressurizing the system. No leaks. When the car runs, I can see the belt rotating fine over the compressor wheel and that isn't seized up. I checked the related fuses and they are OK. I fed a positive wire I rigged up to the wire coming off the compressor and I get a small spark, but the clutch does not engage. Now I'm thinking it is the clutch or the compressor or both. I'm guessing that is what I need to change. I see it online for auction for about $250 delivered with a dryer and o rings and oil. So, A) should I just replace this next. B) I assume legally I need to get it evacuated, so that's OK. C) after I put the parts back on and if I did it right, do I need to just go to a pro and get it evacuated and charged and then I'm done? If I can get away with not depressurizing the system and just change a clutch, that would be great but I don't know for sure if it will solve the problem. Thanks.

One more thing. I can't tell if the inner part of the clutch is spinning or not due to the location of the compressor. It's pretty far down there and up close to the front left wheel. If necessary, I guess I can pull the wheel off and start pealing back the shrouding between the wheel and the engine compartment.

Hi there,

Thank you for the donation.

Thank you for all the information in your question, that is a big help,basically what i feel is going on here is that the clutch has failed, even if the comp was seized solid the clutch should still engage with the hot wire attached, as nothing is happening i would myself, be replacing the clutch assembly, now this is not hard but there is a special puller required to remove the clutch assembly off the compressor shaft, i would get an A/C tech to do this so there is no chance of damaging the shaft or the shaft thread.

mark (mhpautos)

Thank you for the reply. I'll look into seeing if I can afford to get a pro to fix this. I did get one quote a while back and it was $650 US to replace the clutch to $1500 for the whole system. That seems significantly overpriced for the work to me. If I don't get a decent quote, I'll do it myself.

Let me know what the next quote is and i will see if it is about what you should be paying for that work, i will need to know exactly what they will be doing.

mark (mhpautos)

I have a 98 Honda Civic EX with about 70,000 miles on it and I am having trouble with my AC. Whenever I turn on the AC it makes a loud noise by my glove compartment and doesn't go away unless I turn off the AC. The AC blows cool air, but it is just so noisy. What can be the problem? Somebody told me it can be the compressor, or condenser? Can you please help me, thank you.

[quote:829f7ed808="LRogers8932"]I have a 98 Honda Civic EX with about 70,000 miles on it and I am having trouble with my AC. Whenever I turn on the AC it makes a loud noise by my glove compartment and doesn't go away unless I turn off the AC. The AC blows cool air, but it is just so noisy. What can be the problem? Somebody told me it can be the compressor, or condenser? Can you please help me, thank you.[/quote:829f7ed808]

Hello !!

It is making the same noise when you turn on just the warm air?
(Just the blower)
If its making noise still and if the noise come from the glove compartment the problem its the Blower motor..
Check if your car is equipped with cabin filter.. could be that the filter got caugh for the blower and causing that noise, or the squirrel cage missaligned..

Good Luck and let us Know!

Hi,
I own a 1998 Honda Civic, 81000 miles. The Air conditioner blows hot air and shows no sign of cooling down. The heater was working fine during winter, but the cooler is giving me a hard time this summer.
Is there anything i can check before taking the car to a mechanic ? I bought this car about a year ago when it had 71000 miles. I have never changed the coolant or done any service on it other than the regular oil changes.
Kindly advise.
Thanks,
Sarath

[quote:cfb99d55fa="Sarath"]Hi,
I own a 1998 Honda Civic, 81000 miles. The Air conditioner blows hot air and shows no sign of cooling down. The heater was working fine during winter, but the cooler is giving me a hard time this summer.
Is there anything i can check before taking the car to a mechanic ? I bought this car about a year ago when it had 71000 miles. I have never changed the coolant or done any service on it other than the regular oil changes.
Kindly advise.
Thanks,
Sarath[/quote:cfb99d55fa]

Have the freon check maybe its leaking somewhere.

three or four weeks ago i put two cans of artic freeze ultra synthetic r-134a in my wife's civic. the ac worked ok if it was a cool cool day but barely cut it if its hot out. the last couple of days it been in the 90s so i decided to put one more can in. after most of the can went in to the system the engine start shuddering and almost stalling. the a/c pump will kick on and off. if i shut the a/c off it runs fine. when i took it for a test drive and turned the a/c it would turn on for a sec then shut off again causing a sudden drop in power. is it possible to put to much refrigerant in the system?

Yes, you can, the correct full charge is 1.38 Lbs or .8Kg of refrigerant, you will have to get the system vacuumed down, checked for leaks and the correct volume of refrigerant added.

Mark (mhpautos)

i have a 1998 honda civic with 64000 miles on it and the air conditioning was working fine like its supposed to now the blower only works on high and most of the air comes out on passenger side under the glove compartment what could cause this.thank you for any assistance.

Hi sgtackley,

The blower motor working only at maximum speed normally is due to a faulty fan motor resistor. Check if the blower resistor is broken for the 1st to 3rd speed.

The air coming out behind glove box means there is a leakage of the sealings between the fan motor and evaporator and evaporator is clogged or air is leaking between the evaporator and central heater housing.

Remove the glove box to check where the air is leaking from.

the a/c started blowing warm air when stopped at lights or going slow.Once I get up speed it starts to cool but not enough. I tried using the freeon,no help. Wouldn't take it at all. What could be the problem?

Hi anngl,

Check if the condenser fan is working.

Overfilling of freon would also cause the problem when the compressor keeps disengaging and engaging.

Yes I think this maybe the problem.That's talking money too isn't it? Thank you for replying back to me... Have a great day.

You're welcome.

If the condenser fan is not working, then it definitely means money needed to get it replaced.

Ok, I know this is going to sound dumb. But I have two fans on my car. Which one is which? If you're facing the car say under the hood.which one is the radiator and the other air fan?One of them does click on when the ac is on. But the other has not and my temp. gage seems to rise but not all the way to half way. When the car gets warmer the air from the ac gets warmer also... Got any other ideas, something I may can check myself or have a friend check? I will have the fan checked also.. Thank you........ It's actually an integra engine.

The one on drive side is the condenser fan. It should work with the AC compressor.

The other is the radiator fan and it would work only when the temperature to activate the fan switch is reached.

If the compressor and fans are working, then you would need to get the AC system high and low pressure readings to understand what could be wrong.

Noises problem
1998 Honda Civic 4 cyl Automatic 136000 miles
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When my car is idle with the a/c on you hear a rhythmic screechy, mechanical type noise it seems to be near the accesorry belts which i had checked out and are fine. Also, every once or so often, from the moment i start the car, it blows warm air and i can be driving about 10 min and then the cool air will kick in. i went to a mechanic where he checked the compressor for leaks, he said it wasn't leaking but suggested I replace it although i strongly doubt its the compressor if not it wouldnt be cooling. Someone else told me it could be something with the pulley mechanism or a bearing. I dont know what to do!! It get worse and worse as the weeks go by. :[

Hi becca0wnz,

If the crankshaft is incorporated with a damper, most probably it is faulty.

With engine started, does the pulley run out of lateral, (looks like it is waving )from top?

Ok, I have noticed the one on the driver side is not working at all. I have checked it . So it looks like it is the fan. Wow, I think I need to go have a dianostic check on it. The other comes on quite frequently. So it must be the fan. Thank you again for keeping in touch. And for your helpful advice.

Thank you for trying to help me out. How do I look for that? Because i can hear the noise but not see where its coming from.

You're welcome.

Yes, that seems to be the problem and to test the fan, you can disconnect it and apply battery voltage to the terminals. If fan works, the you would need to test the relays.

Hi becca0wnz,

From the belts look at the engine pulley, if it moves in a wavy pattern with the engine running, then it should be replaced.

yes I will do that. Actually I did a little switching around with those under the hood and it does seem to get cooler from start now. It was taking time to cool then gets warmer as slowing down. But it does cool at on start now.Thank you for the advice. I will test that fan tomorrow..You've been very kind.I really do appreciate your help!!!

is that expensive to replace or is it something i can do on my own with the civic manual? Will the part be available at any auto parts?

The main aim of our site is to help and we take it as our responsibility to assist as much as we can.

Keep me posted of any outcome.

Hi becca0wnz,

I don't know about the price and it would not be easy for you to replace it.

You need a special tool to hold it to remove the centre bolt which is torqued at 150 lbs.

Before doing anything, you need to confirm the part causing the noise. There is also the idler bearing and did you check the tension of the belt?