A/C problem

[sccchiii]

I get very little cold air out of the vents even when the temp is set to 60 degrees and the a/c is on. Also the very little cool air I do get seems to be coming out of the passenger side vents. The sight glass for the a/c line is very white and cloudy. I was told with the r-134a that this was normal but I am starting to wonder if I have a leak in the system somewhere. Is the sight glass suppose to be cloudy, with the old freon systems I think that meant a low freon condition???????

 

[drew]

See here:

http://www.nsxprime.com/FAQ/Troubleshooting/climatecontrol.htm

'00 is R134a. You are low, the questioni is why???

Drew

 

[Malibu Rapper]

Buy a good recharge kit from Pep Boys. Should cost you about $45 and the refill procedure is pretty easy and inexpensive from thereon. You probably have a slow leak somewhere and you can weigh the cost between finding and fixing that leak or just refilling every year or so. I opt to refill, not a big deal for me and my last refill has lasted for over a year...

 

[hlweyl]

That is, IF you are low on freon. Does it get cold when set to full cold and fan on high? Does it seem to get colder when you are driving?

Usually you will see bubbles in the sight glass if the freon is low. Could be something as simple as a bad fuse for one of the condensors or a bad climate control board.

good luck

 

[hondatech_v1.0]

Yeah I agree, you shouldn't start adding refrig. until you figure out if it's even low..
I wouldn't use a sight glass to diagnose any A/C system, it's unreliable. Even more so in a R134a system. Most R134a systems don't even have a sight glass...

 

[sccchiii]

It ended up being a leaking schrader valve. I recharged it and everything is cold again!

 

[Malibu Rapper]

It ended up being a leaking schrader valve.

Did you have a leak test done to see where it was leaking and what did you do to fix it? Just tighten the schrader valve?

 

[sccchiii]

I had one of the honda techs at my dealership put dye in the system. The valve was leaking the dye so I replaced it then recharged it.

 

[drew]

Was there no cap on the valve?

Extremely common to find the valve leaking, a cap keeps it sealed.

Rather that evacuate the whole system I would have put a new cap on (they have o-rings inside) and checked for leaks. If none: recharge and you are good to go for a few more years.

The caps are VERY important, so if you don't have them: get them!

Drew
/actually has an MVAC license

 

[hondatech_v1.0]

I notice that many times when I have used dye in A/C systems that when disconnecting the hoses after adding dye the dye tends to gather at the service ports making it seem like they are leaking. I hope he made sure....
I only use dye in last resort type of situations. It's messy and takes awhile to really get into the system and show you the leak. I haven't found anything better than Honda's recommended leak detector the Yokogawa box, it picks up the best for me. It's really good at finding smaller leaks other methods miss.