2008 Civic Air Con issues...

wba31

Hi, hoping someone can relate to this issue and know how to sort it...

bought a 2008 diesel civic last year, noticed that when aircon was on and was in higher revs (80mph on motorway), it seemed to struggle to stay cold.
Yesterday, nice hot day, popped out to Ikea to pick up some bits and bobs, and at various points in the journey tried putting the climate on as i was too too hot (black car - never again!) but it would simply blow out warm air. I would leave it on for a minute or so, nothing but warm air. didnt even get the "aircon smell" that comes through.
This morning, car was telling me its 13 degress outside, tried the aircon, seemed cold. It was arctic cold, but it certainly kicked out cool air...

anyone know what the issue is here?
someone mentioned changing the pollen filter, may do that anyway...
Does it need regassing? my old man pressed his screwdriver against the valve last summer and the sound of gas was there, so he ruled it out, but there was a thread on here last week with a link to a £32 aircon recharge...
does it sound like there is a bigger problem, with a thermostat or something?
or is the aircon on the 8th gen civic just that bad that it cant cope with hot weather and being on the motorway?

Quentin

If there is just a little gas in it will behave like this.

Regassing is the first step

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AdrianC

When was it last regassed, and do you use the aircon regularly through the year - or is this the first time since September?

wba31

AdrianC wrote: »

When was it last regassed, and do you use the aircon regularly through the year - or is this the first time since September?

not sure when it was last regassed, it hasnt been since i bought the car in jan 2013.
i have the aircon on over winter with the heater to keep the interior as moisture free as possible...

Slowly_does_it..

The pressure in the system has to be quite high for the AC to kick in, far more than what "pushing a screwdriver against a valve and hearing a noise" pressure.

When the engine is running, set the AC to as cold as possible and see if the clutch is engaging on the the AC pump. There are three little nuts sticking out of the end of the pulley, these do not spin when the pump is off, and do spin when the pump is on. If it does not engage, get the system re-charged.

forgotmyname

He checked the pressure by letting some pressure out? I hope you dont let him near your tyres....

Whats the minimum working temperature for your aircon? Everyone says make sure you use it over the winter. But below a set temperature it wont work anyway. The lights may come on but it wont engage the compressor.

Mine is around 5 degrees C.

Quietmanc

Lots of info here :http://www.civinfo.com/forum/electronics/116353-air-con-relay-changed-still-no-joy.html

wba31

forgotmyname wrote: »

He checked the pressure by letting some pressure out? I hope you dont let him near your tyres....

Whats the minimum working temperature for your aircon? Everyone says make sure you use it over the winter. But below a set temperature it wont work anyway. The lights may come on but it wont engage the compressor.

Mine is around 5 degrees C.

It was a quick test to see if there was pressure, he wasnt trying to be mr accurate...

wba31

Thanks everyone for your help, have booked the car in to have the aircon recharged on thursday morning using the voucher posted by *j* last week. Will see how that and changing the pollen filter goes.

When driving home from work last night it was blowing out cold air, not super cold, but cool enought to suggest it may just be low gas pressure as the civic forum suggests