I have a question on how far to fill up my AC. Under the hood it says 22 is the max, but on the refill kit I have, that's down in the "low" area. I'm at about 40 (green) now normally but when it kicks in, it goes to 60 (red). What do I do?

 

if it works fine then dont mess with it. nygga

 

Hopefully you're not all this site has to offer.

 

well does your ac work fine?

 

That's not the point. I just bought the car and want to make sure everything is where it should be, "nygga".

 

did you recharge it with the car off?

i think thats what happened.
try discharging it with the car off.
then turn car on and ac on full blast while recharging untill it turns green


at least thats what my uncle did to his car...o.O

 

Honda's specification of 22 is the number of ounces by weight to use, starting from completely empty (vacuum). Charging by pressure is not the best way to do it. If you're going to try a very quick and dirty "top up" charge, charge until it starts running cold, then a couple ounces more, then stop.

The single gauge on the low side is pretty much useless for optimizing the charge condition. Better results can be had by measuring the high side pressure with a real gauge manifold that has 2 gauges. But again the best way is to evacuate to a full vacuum then weigh in 22 ounces.

If it is just a little low on charge the compressor will run constantly, it will not cycle on and off. If compressor is cycling on and off and the low side line is good and cold, the system has a usable charge and should be making cold air. But if you don't have cold air from the vents under that condition, very common for the heater to not be turning off fully, causing the heat and A/C to fight each other.

Also never charge a "stop leak" or other additive, they don't work. Use plain R-134a only. If there is a leak you will need to find and repair it, stop leak does not work and will often ruin the whole system.

 

Well, I went to Firestone while I was up in the city because my AC was HOT (was not driving an hour back home with that)... they had no idea what was wrong. They emptied out my system and put in pretty much exactly how much they took out. But, everything is great now, colder than ever. Weird. Maybe air in the system? I'm stumped. It was an easy 50 bucks to part with though, it's too hot here.

 

Alright, update. Flash forward to yesterday, my A/C starts blowing hot again. I go to the Firestone here on post and everything checks out as far as levels and no leaks goes (they put dye in it Saturday). But the guy tells me he thinks it's my compressor and they hand me an estimate for $750 bucks. $450 for the compressor and clutch, $41 for the drier.

But this morning, my A/C is blowing colder than hell. I don't understand what's going on here. If it was bad, I'd think it would just not work. Any ides?

 

Likely the clutch gap is too wide. If that's the case, every time you press the button the condenser fan will start and the engine idles up slightly, but the compressor doesn't always engage. Confirm that power is going to the compressor clutch wire.

The clutch is magnetically operated. When the gap is too big, the magnetic force from the electromagnet coil behind the pulley isn't always sufficient to pull the plate in. The situation is usually worse when it is hot under the hood because that reduces the coil's effectiveness.

This is a simple zero-parts fix. The gap can be adjusted with the system charged. Remove the nut on the compressor shaft and slide the clutch plate off. Take some of the shim washers off the shaft and reassemble. You may need to unbolt the compressor from the engine to get access to the clutch, but don't disconnect the refrigerant lines.