Just bought this 96 1.6L non V-Tec 2 door Civic, and I'm having a problem with the AC...every time I turn it on it pops the 20A Condenser Fan Fuse under the hood! I checked out the wires and they look OK as far as I can see! Just need to figure out whats throwing the fuse! When I got the car they had a wire running from the power wire of the condenser fan, to the power wire of the cooling fan, I took it off cause the car was getting hot while sitting still cause the cooling fan was not coming on! but now the AC don't work?? It did work the first 2 days I had the car till I took that wire off! Now it just blows the fuse when u turn the AC on, the air blows, the condenser fan turns for like a second or 2, then you can hear the fuse pop and the fan stops and the AC just does not get cold..... I am not good with these lil imports! I'm a V8 man! PLEASE ANY HELP WOULD HELP A LOT!

 

The fuse runs the condenser fan and the A/C compressor. Disconnect the compressor and see if fuse holds. Same thing with the condenser fan. Fan should spin freely by hand. Resistance of the compressor coil should be 3 or 4 ohms.

 

yes i did this, and with the compressor unplugged the fuse does not blow, so i ran a fused wire from the power wire of the compressor to the batt, and it popped. so the short or what ever is in the compressor it self! so what im wondering is do i need to replace the whole compressor and clutch or what?

 

Probably the clutch coil is burned out. Before you conclude that check for frayed wires on the compressor itself, particularly where they go under the pulley to the clutch coil. The coil can be replaced without changing the whole compressor.

Since you just got the car though, you should next check with gauges to see if there is any refrigerant pressure left. If the refrigerant is all gone there is a leak you'll have to deal with in addition to the clutch issue. Sometimes when the coil burns out it will overheat and melt the shaft seal in the front of the compressor, causing the refrigerant to leak out. In that case you're best off replacing the whole compressor.